Cynthia Slater
(b. 7 August 1945 – d. 26 October 1989)
Founder of the Society of Janus
Cynthia Slater, along with Larry Olsen, founded the second oldest surviving SM organization in the United States - the Society of Janus. Her activism for women to be accepted within the gay leather scene in San Francisco during the late 1970's brought her to more mainstream attention. Slater persuaded the management of the Catacombs, a gay men's club in San Francisco, to open up to other groups. She was an early proponent of SM safety, and one of the major AIDS activists & educators during that time. Slater hosted Janus Society safety demonstrations during the late 70's, cultivating a space for women within the 'plurality of gay men' already present within the leather/kink/fetish Venn-diagramatic culture. According to first-hand accounts, she coined the term "SM 101", referring to the safety demonstrations and classes she presented. Slater also contributed to "developing and disseminating kink friendly safer sex technologies". It was in 1981 that "Dr. David Lourea and bisexual / leather icon Cynthia Slater presented safer-sex education workshops in bathhouses and BDSM clubs in San Francisco."
Slater was also recognized at the San Francisco South of Market Leather History Alley, where her bootprints are immortalized alongside 27 other important figures in San Francisco alternative culture history. According to the Leather Hall of Fame biography of Slater, she said of the Society of Janus, "“There were three basic reasons why we chose Janus. First of all, Janus has two faces, which we interpreted as the duality of SM (one’s dominant and submissive sides). Second, he’s the Roman god of portals, and more importantly, of beginnings and endings. To us, it represents the beginning of one’s acceptance of self, the beginning of freedom from guilt, and the eventual ending of self-loathing and fear over one’s SM desires. And third, Janus is the Roman god of war--the war we fight against stereotypes commonly held against us."
While most of her activities were local, in San Francisco, she influenced many of the people who later became active in broader contexts. They took her teachings, ideas, and lessons into regional and national organizations and events, especially in the late 1980s as these opportunities became more prevalent. By then, Cynthia had been diagnosed with HIV and was struggling with its challenges. Cynthia Slater died of AIDS complications in 1989, at the age of 45.
Inducted into the "Leather Hall of Fame" you can read a more detailed academic review of Cynthia's life and work.
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