Seattle Sex Positive Community Center

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The Wet Spot / Center for Sex Positive Culture
dance, play, community center
Active or defunct:|Active
Located in Seattle, Washington, USA. Has own rather sizable building in the Interbay area.
info AT wetspot DOT org
Link on Seattle Weekly
Calls itself a "Sex-positive community center" ("SPCC"). Enormous range of activities ranges from workshops on both the physical and emotional aspects of sexuality and BDSM to play parties, dance nights, non-sexual social gatherings, offsite party at a heated pool, to more unusual activities like somewhat kinky life drawing sessions for artists or a weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meeting or a bunch of people watching (and heckling) porn films. Also various support groups (e.g. Women's Welcoming Committee, Slaves' support group). Runs an anual art show, the Seattle Erotic Art Festival (SEAF).
  1. Probably the best free circulating library of sexually related materials (books and videos) in the English-speaking world.
  2. It's run as a non-profit. You can barter volunteer time for almost admission to almost any events. Prices reflect the non-profit nature of the venue
  3. Both relatively public and relatively private play spaces
  4. Lots of cool equipment
  5. A club-worthy sound system
  1. Pretty equally mixed among gay and straight, male and female (with no small number in between in either category: with reference to the latter, Seattle is home to the Ingersoll Gender Center, so it has a lot more transsexuals than your typical scene)
  2. No alcohol, no smoking
  3. Located in an off-the-beaten-path part of town
  4. Very different rules on different nights
  5. Some evenings are VERY LOUD, especially the weekly Thursday night dance/play party known as The Grind
  6. Some evenings are very quiet, such as the monthly Sunday night bondage party
  7. One night a month of men-only, one night a month of women-only
  8. Range of permitted play at most of the play parties is extremely broad
  9. No guys wandering around wanking
  10. Members range from age 18 to definite OAPs
  11. Organization is also involved in BDSM activism and outreach
  12. Membership club, and you have to go through an orientation to become a member (but there is some accommodation for members to invite guests, especially out-of-town guests; also, out-of-town visitors active in the kink world can contact ahead for arrangements).
  1. The one thing unequivocally bad is that you can pretty readily tell that it is converted warehouse space.

The Seattle Sex Positive Community Center (commonly known as the Wet Spot or SPCC) is a non-profit, membership-based organization located in Seattle, Washington. The Wet Spot organizes events and provides space for several different sex-positive subcultures, notably BDSM, LGBT, swinging, and polyamory groups.

The Wet Spot

The SPCC's primary location is known as the Wet Spot. It is a nondescript 4400 square foot building near downtown Seattle, Washington. Membership is open to anyone over the age of 18 who has attended an orientation class and agrees to the organization's rules of conduct. There is also an annual membership fee. Volunteers organize and run most events. One of the few employees is executive director Allena Gabosch, who is frequently referred to by the members as "Mom".

The space includes a library including a wide variety of books on sexuality and kink as well as several flavors of pornography.

Activities

Specific regular events include:

  • BDSM socials and pansexual BDSM play parties every Saturday.
  • The Grind, a dance night featuring gothic and darkwave music as well as BDSM and sexual activities every Thursday.
  • Erotic City, focused on (usually heterosexual) sexual activity, on some Fridays.
  • Monthly homosexual focused men only nights and women only nights on Fridays.
  • Monthly massage nights on Sundays.
  • Monthly bondage parties on Sundays.
  • Monthly Polyamory potluck on Saturdays.
  • Various discussion groups, classes, and workshops.

The same physical space is used in various configurations for different events. Some have only tables and chairs, other prominently feature dungeon equipment with an adjoining social area, plus private spaces for those who wish to avoid voyeurs.


Annual events organized by the SPCC include:

  • The Seattle Erotic Art Festival.
  • The Gathering, aka Wet Spot In Paradise, an annual kinky campout.
  • Cirque du Noc, masquerade ball and carnival.

History

The Wet Spot was founded in 1999. Socially speaking, it is an outgrowth of Allena Gabosch's Beyond the Edge Cafe, which hosted BDSM-related events. Several regulars of the cafe started discussing getting a dedicated space for their activities. One famously quoted "It would be great if we could get 200 members". In fact, the idea became more popular than they envisioned - in its first year The Wet Spot registered about 2000 members. There have been approximately 9000 registered members as of 2006.

See Also

External links

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