Overview of the SM-Leather-Fetish Community

The "SM community" is not one community, but many.
This talk describes the pathways that individuals
have taken to enter the community and the historical
pathways that these communities have taken, both
together and apart. 

The SM community continues to debate its own 
nature.  As it becomes larger, more visible, and 
more connected, these debates seem to have gained 
significance for the individuals and for the social 
and political futures of the many components of 
the SM community.  As the SM community grows, its
activities have begun to impact related "sexual minority" 
"social minority" communities.