Black Rose XXV and Monogamy in the Scene

I had the pleasure of having dinner this past weekend with the fabulous Mollena Williams, she of the clever catch phrase "It ain't just the hair that's kinky."  We were both educators at Black Rose XXV, a very well attended BDSM educational and play event here in Washington, DC.  And she is quite the leather celebrity, having served as International Ms Leather 2010.  People practically bow when she walks by.  She is funny and approachable. 

Mollena has been a BDSM educator for many years who now includes a class on being monogamous in the scene in her offerings.  I met her when she was speaking on this at The Floating World a couple of years ago and was shocked and dismayed at her reports of being marginalized and treated disrespectfully because she chooses to be monogamous and is not ready to jump into a group situation just because someone else wants to a taste of her lusciousness.  (And she IS luscious, make no mistake.)  Since that time I have been talking about that issue when I speak on polyamory and open relating at kink events, because it doesn't matter the setting or the situation, the last groups who should be discriminating against people within their own community are sexual minorities.  We all have to stick together!

Black Rose is the local BDSM membership organization in DC, and after a haitus of a few years, their fabulous team of organizers once against gave a high quality event with great educational programs and a lot of fun events in addition to their awesome dungeon space.  When I arrived on site someone greeted me almost immediately, guided me to my classroom, and made sure I had everything I needed for my class that was due to start soon.  Same thing the next day with my second class.  Now that's something I wish all event organizers would take a clue from.  It makes a huge difference when there is an extra pair of hands around, class starts in ten minutes, the projector isn't as simple to work as expected, and I still have to go pee.  So THANK YOU BLACK ROSE (specifically Alex McGeorge and Danielle) for making things easy for me.  I am proud to be a resource for open relating educational programs for this highly-respected organization.