The Outcasts was a social and educational organization for women interested in

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...

with other women that was founded in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1984. It grew partly from earlier groups, the

Society of Janus The Society of Janus is the second BDSM organization founded in the United States (after The Eulenspiegel Society) and is a San Francisco, California based BDSM education and support group. The Society of Janus is nonprofit, volunteer run and is ...

and

Samois Samois was a lesbian- feminist BDSM organization based in San Francisco that existed from 1978 to 1983. It was the first lesbian BDSM group in the United States. It took its name from Samois-sur-Seine, the location of the fictional estate of Ann ...

Gayle Rubin Gayle S. Rubin (born January 1, 1949 in South Carolina) is an American cultural anthropologist best known as an activist and theorist of sex and gender politics. She has written on a range of subjects including feminism, sadomasochism, prostitut ...

was a co-founder of the organization. Other members included

Dorothy Allison Dorothy Allison (born April 11, 1949) is an American writer from South Carolina whose writing focuses on class struggle, sexual abuse, child abuse, feminism and lesbianism. She is a self-identified lesbian femme. Allison has won a number of a ...

Pat Califia Patrick Califia (born 1954; formerly also known as Pat Califia and by the last name Califia-Rice) is an American writer of non-fiction essays about sexuality and of erotic fiction and poetry. Califia is a bisexual trans man. Prior to transiti ...

, and

Dossie Easton Dorothy "Dossie" Easton (born February 26, 1944), who has also written under the name Scarlet Woman, is an American author and family therapist based in San Francisco, California. She is polyamorous and lives in West Marin, California. Backgro ...

. In the 1980s and 1990s, The Outcasts sponsored community events such as Butch Fashion Shows, the first SF Dyke Daddy contest, many dances, and even a night to “take the perverts bowling”. They began promoting

safer sex In cryptography, SAFER (Secure And Fast Encryption Routine) is the name of a family of block ciphers designed primarily by James Massey (one of the designers of IDEA) on behalf of Cylink Corporation. The early SAFER K and SAFER SK designs share t ...

in 1985. By 1986 they were having newcomer orientations, had officers, bylaws and a logo as well as a newsletter, ''The Lunatic Fringe''. In 1986, The Outcasts joined Society of Janus and other groups in the San Francisco Pride Parade's first leather contingent. The Outcasts was disbanded in the mid-1990s; its successor organization The Exiles is still active. In 2012, The Exiles in San Francisco received the Small Club of the Year award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards.🖉

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Outcasts (organization), The 1984 establishments in California 1996 disestablishments in California BDSM organizations LGBT culture in San Francisco Feminism and BDSM Feminism in California Feminist organizations in the United States Lesbian culture in California Lesbian organizations in the United States Lesbian BDSM Organizations based in San Francisco Organizations established in 1984 Sex-positive feminism Sexuality in San Francisco