Once a subculture that was largely condemned by societal norms and outcast as a paraphilia, bondage, domination and sadomasochism (BDSM) culture is booming in popularity thanks to everything from the bestselling Shades of Grey series to Rihanna’s “S&M” to Donald Draper’s obsession with getting punished during sex on Mad Men.

And Long Beach itself has always had a vibrant albeit mostly underground BDSM scene. But now they’re taking it to the… coffeeshop.

This Saturday, Mr. Long Beach Leather 2012 himself, Nikolas Keith, will host a night of erotic S&M readings at Hot Java along with a panel dicussion on BDSM. He’ll be accompanied by an array of leather staples: Don Mike, president of the LA Band of Brothers and recently granted Sainthood by the influential Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence; Don Sir, active in the BDSM scene since 1995; Mistress Shaw, professional dominant and BDSM educator; and Olga, another professional dominant who shares her partnership with a slave.

Keith sees this as a larger part of his role within the leather scene that goes beyond his title.

“My title, in my opinion, is community oriented verses a bar title where one represents a single location,” Keith explained, “so I wanted to do something outside of the leather bar scene that would be of interest to everyone gay and straight.”

Inspired by a friend who threw an event entitled “Stories in Leather,” Keith opted to mimic the event by reading clippings from the popular Grey series, amongst other stories.

There is, of course, a caveat outside the hopes that listeners will be turned on and engaged: education and inquiry. For many outside the scene, they are curious but ultimately lack resources or comfortable spaces to ask questions openly. In addition to the BDSM classes being offered by The Center, Keith hopes that people–after being enticed with the readings–ask questions.

Keith’s philosophy is that, though the trending popularization of BDSM culture is building, American adults often reach an age where the discussion of sex openly becomes uncomfortable. However, despite their discomfort with such discussions in public, resorting to a book like the Grey series permits them a private moment to engage with their offbeat desires and fetishes–and, in the words of Keith, permits them to have an alternative to “the vanilla Joy of Sex.”

“BDSM not about who you play with, but how you play with the person you are with,” Keith explained. “It’s like the spice that has been on the shelf for years in which few have purchased, but is now the spice everyone wants. But not everyone knows the correct way to use it. This event is to provide people with resources for direction and where ingredients can be found to help them make the best use of the spice.”

Spice indeed. 

Shades of Erotic S&M will be held this Saturday at 7:30PM. While free to the public, a $5 donation is being suggested and encouraged. The event will be held at Hot Java, located at 2101 E Broadway. For more information, contact Nikolas Keith at 562-270-4525 or email him at nikolas.mrlbleather.2012@gmail.com.

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