|
Walking into the restaurant, Allena Gabosch met me from across the room with an enormous smile. It was a smile that told me she was excited to talk, to have a chance to speak her mind. Her personality was just as charming as the smile foretold and, instantly, I was at ease about the conversation that was to ensue—a conversation based almost solely on sex.
Gabosch has been the director of the Seattle Sex Positive Community Center, more affectionately known as the Wet Spot, since its inception nearly six years ago. The Wet Spot is the first organization of its type in existence. It’s a center that not only offers a meeting place for people who are seeking alternative sexual outlets, but it also offers an enormous library, sex-positive classes and support groups for individuals seeking a lifestyle that allows them to safely explore their fantasies. It’s a place that fulfills “the need of people to express themselves sexually that’s safe.” Asked to head up the center by the founders based on her community involvement, Gabosch has been at the forefront of Seattle’s alternative sex lives for over a decade. Beginning her pro-sexuality career as part owner of the Beyond The Edge Café in Capitol Hill nearly ten years ago, she started working with the community by displaying erotic art in a public restaurant and hosting private BDSM nights on the premises.
This April, thousands of people will queue up at Consolidated Works gallery in order to take part in the third annual Seattle Erotic Arts Festival (SEAF). Created by the Wet Spot, with Gabosch as the curator, the festival has grown immensely in the short time since its beginning—proof positive that her efforts to create a safe community to support people and their kinky pursuits are a welcome effort. Last year, men and women from all walks of life came out in droves dressed in various forms of fetish attire and celebrated the art and joy of sexuality. She beamed at the thought that people could “step out of their daily mold and be sexual beings at least for one night and take part in the danger and excitement of being a little bit different than being Mr. and Mrs. Joe Suburbia.”
The fact that so many people aren’t afraid to support erotic arts is a sign of good things to come. The Wet Spot and its thousands of members are quickly outgrowing their Queen Anne location. Also, they’re applying for a new non-profit status that would allow them to write grants to expand their sex-positive class offerings and enlarge the SEAF. On top of that, she resides on the board of directors for the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom; an organization that works with lawyers around the country to help strike down age-old laws that are often used to discriminate against those who choose to have a non-traditional sex life.
With all the future plans for growth and community efforts she has planned, Gabosch casually mentioned that her long-term focus is as a public official. She confided that she’d love to run for City Council in the not-so-distant future and bring her passionate spirit to the people of Seattle. Her goal, at first, seemed daunting to me though it’s starting to make sense; speaking with her over lunch, her compassion and lovable personality won me over. When she claims that she has too much love in her heart for one person, you’d be ignorant to believe she was only speaking of sex.
The Seattle Erotic Arts Festival happens April 15-17. For more info, go to wetspot.org, seattleerotic.org, and ncsfreedom.org.
|
