ReviseF65

ReviseF65 is a committee that is working to get sexual sadism, masochism, fetishism and transvestic fetishism abolished from the World Health Organization's list of psychiatric diagnoses, ICD. The committee is also involved in general work against discrimination and harassment of sadomasochists.

The committee was started at the national convention of LLH - the Norwegian National Association for Lesbian and Gay Liberation - in 1998. As part of the background for ReviseF65 was a national survey among the members of LLH in 1996, where a big majority of the members replied that they were against discrimination of leather, SM and transgender people.

However, the ReviseF65 committee is working for all sadomasochists, not only the gay and lesbian sadomasochists.

The committee has members from LLH, several Norwegian SM clubs, and professionals in sexology, psychology and psychiatry in Norway and other countries.

The committee is working nationally in Norway, but also internationally. ReviseF65 is spreading information about sadomasochism and the situation of sadomasochism in connection with national laws and the ICD. Members of the committee have taken part in several workshops, congresses and seminars both in Norway and in other countries.

At its 1999 conference the umbrella organization for European gay and lesbian rights, European ILGA, issued a statement supporting the efforts to remove the diagnoses from the ICD. In 2000 the more than 50 member clubs of the gay leather umbrella organization European Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs, ECMC, decided to support the Revise F65 effort.

The leader of the ReviseF65 committee is Svein Skeid.

ReviseF65 is now by far the most active and visible group working with sexual politics and human rights for sadomasochists and fetishists in Norway.

Background Information

 * In 1995 as the first EU country Denmark has completely removed sadomasochism from its national classification of diseases.

Literature

 * Peggy J. Kleinplatz, Charles Moser: Sadomasochism - Powerful Pleasures; Haworth Press; ISBN 978-1-56023-640-5