Lessons in bondage... and paid for by taxpayers
A TAXPAYER-FUNDED charity is offering adventurous couples lessons in how to have kinky sex.
The number of people trying out roleplaying, dominance and submission in the bedroom has soared in the wake of the hugely popular erotic novel 50 Shades of Grey.
But experts say racy couples keen to spice up their sex lives with whips and handcuffs need to learn how to do it safely. Now a Scottish charity, LGBT Health and Wellbeing, will stage a Kink Q&A session at its Edinburgh headquarters to ‘dispel myths and find out about kink practices’.
The organisation, which received £163,580 in government funding last year, insists its charity aims to ‘improve health and reduce health inequalities’. But critics have branded the move ‘50 shades of wastefulness’ – and women’s groups warn it will simply encourage violence.
The erotic sexual practices of BDSM – bondage, discipline and sadomasochism – were once viewed as the preserve of a small minority of enthusiasts. But following EL James’s controversial novel 50 Shades of Grey, which has sold 100 million copies in 52 languages, interest has soared and sex shops now sell 50 Shades-branded bondage toys such as blindfolds and whips.
The Kink Q&A event on June 8 is being advertised as a way for the public to learn more about how to have kinky sex safely.
Funding for LGBT Health and Wellbeing comes from various public sources including the Scottish Government, NHS Lothian and the City of Edinburgh Council. Last night, Jane Fae of the Consenting Adults Action Network defended the LGBT Health Scotland move, saying: ‘BDSM seems to be a more civilised way to have sex because it’s about negotiation. It’s not like tumbling into bed drunk with someone on a Friday night.
‘But BDSM is a contact sport, and two inexperienced people in a room, with one trying to hit the other, is a recipe for disaster. If you were going skiing for the first time, you would look for an experienced partner.’
But Dawn Hawkins, of the US-based National Center on Sexual Exploitation said: ‘As BDSM is normalised, we will only see increased sexual violence, mostly against women.’
Eben Wilson, of TaxpayerScotland, said: ‘Taxpayers don’t promote fishing rod makers, knitting bees or dog agility – why should we promote whips, ropes and human obedience training? It’s a completely arbitrary use of taxpayers’ hard-earned cash.’