Between studying and spanking
“My name’s Laura,” says a girl dressed in black leather, fishnets and knee-high boots. “And I’m not as kinky as I look.” York may just be kinkier than you think.
A minute later, it’s my turn.
“Hi, I’m Nick, and I’m also not as kinky as I look.” The group chuckles: I’m wearing a blue button-up shirt and tie.
Laura and I, as well as about two dozen other York students, are at a Trans Bisexual Lesbian Gay Allies at York (TBLGAY) workshop called “Stepping into the Scene: BDSM 101,” hosted by “sex geek” Andrea Zanin. The workshop, the first of its kind on campus, saw what was likely the largest public gathering of kinky or curious students in York’s history.
BDSM stands for bondage and discipline, domination and submission and sadism and masochism. The workshop explained some BDSM basics and dealt with fetishes, too.
But, while the turnout was good, I wondered what percentage of York kinksters these two dozen represented.
I wanted to know: How many kinksters are there at York?
“A lot more than you think,” says Sarah*, a kinky York student.
‘I know two girls who live down my street who are really into [BDSM] They’re best friends, but neither of them knows that the other’s into it’
—Sarah*, a kinky York student
Many kinksters, both on and off campus, remain closeted because they are afraid of what might happen to them – professionally, academically or socially – if they came out about their perverted proclivities. This makes it hard to approximate the size of the kinky population on campus.
