Sexual Freedom League
Encyclopedia
The Sexual Freedom League was an organization founded in 1963 in New York City
by Jefferson Poland
and Leo Koch
. It existed to promote and conduct sexual activity among its members and to agitate for political reform, especially for the repeal of laws against abortion
and censorship
, and had many female leaders.
, he started a League there as well, specifically at the University of California, Berkeley
in 1966. Although Poland founded the League, he did not try to establish it as a conventional organization with membership lists, dues and meetings. Instead, he went around establishing various Leagues and allowing others to run them.
The League first made national news in August, 1965 with the "Nude Wade-in" led by Poland, 23, Ina Saslow, 21, and Shirley Einseidel, 21, at Aquatic Park
, a public beach in San Francisco. The S.F.L. was featured in an article in Time
magazine for March 11, 1966, which attracted thousands of curiosity seekers and a few active participants. In early 1966 Poland turned over the East Bay League to Richard Thorne, who proceeded to organize nude parties, which were thinly disguised sex orgies
. Thorne fled to Mexico
in the Summer of 1966 and later changed his name to Ohm and started a religion by that name.
Sloan's faction was recognized by Sproul Hall as an official, registered on-campus student organization under the modified name "Campus Sexual Rights Forum," because the Dean of Students would not agree to register it under the name "Sexual Freedom League." The Sloan group set up an S.F.L. information table on campus and distributed literature, held rallies and sold buttons to finance its activities on campus, while holding orgies (mostly involving Berkeley students) off campus. It was featured in articles in Time
, Playboy
, and Sexology
magazines as well as in numerous articles in the San Francisco Chronicle
, the Berkeley Gazette, and the Berkeley Barb
.
The other faction, the East Bay S.F.L., established headquarters in Oakland. Instead of holding nude parties it formed "circles," including the "Horny Men's Circle" and the "Wanton Women's Circle." Even so, the Coordinator (Chairman) of these circles, Lisa Lindvall, also participated in the sex orgies of the campus group. By December, 1966, the East Bay Sexual Freedom League, forced by competition from Sam Sloan's Campus Sexual Freedom League and also by the influence of an article in the September "Back to School" issue of Playboy
which Sloan helped to write, started holding nude parties and sex orgies again.
In January 1967, 24-year-old Lindvall suddenly died of cystic fibrosis
. Dutch
immigrant Alida Reyenga took over as Coordinator, but she often complained that she spent so much time working for the Sexual Freedom League that she had no time left for sex. In the middle of 1967, all of the files and membership records of the East Bay League were appropriated in a putsch by Tom Palmer and Virginia Miller, who formed it as a corporation, kicked out the discussion circles leaving only the nude parties. They also turned the East Bay League into a wife swapping or swinging
club, which was an anathema to serious and dedicated freedom leaguers. Later, Tom Palmer committed suicide and another person seized the membership records and tried to turn the East Bay League into a for-profit business.
, where she took up Scientology
.
While the East Bay versions were dying out, other chapters sprouted up all over California, and the San Francisco Sexual Freedom League emerged at the forefront. It was at first headed by Margo St. James
, who claimed to be a "former prostitute" and participated in social activism while she organized sex orgies, then taken over by Frank and Margo Rila. Frank, who edited the Sexual Freedom newspaper, eventually committed suicide.
Margo St. James ran for San Francisco Board of Supervisors
many times but all without success. She has often been criticized by anti-sex feminists such as Dorchen Leidholdt
.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
by Jefferson Poland
Jefferson Poland
John Jefferson Poland is the founder of the Sexual Freedom League, and a registered sex offender.-Sexual Freedom League:In 1963, he founded the Sexual Freedom League in New York City with Leo Koch. He then moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and focused his organizing efforts at the University of...
and Leo Koch
Leo Koch
Leo Francis Koch was a professor of biology at the University of Illinois, whose 1960 letter to the Daily Illini defending premarital sex provoked public outrage and prompted his firing from the university by President David Dodds Henry...
. It existed to promote and conduct sexual activity among its members and to agitate for political reform, especially for the repeal of laws against abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
and censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
, and had many female leaders.
Formation
When Jefferson Poland moved to the San Francisco Bay AreaSan Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
, he started a League there as well, specifically at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
in 1966. Although Poland founded the League, he did not try to establish it as a conventional organization with membership lists, dues and meetings. Instead, he went around establishing various Leagues and allowing others to run them.
The League first made national news in August, 1965 with the "Nude Wade-in" led by Poland, 23, Ina Saslow, 21, and Shirley Einseidel, 21, at Aquatic Park
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located in San Francisco, California, USA. The park includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility...
, a public beach in San Francisco. The S.F.L. was featured in an article in Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine for March 11, 1966, which attracted thousands of curiosity seekers and a few active participants. In early 1966 Poland turned over the East Bay League to Richard Thorne, who proceeded to organize nude parties, which were thinly disguised sex orgies
Group sex
Group sex is sexual behavior involving more than two participants. Group sex can occur amongst people of all sexual orientations and genders...
. Thorne fled to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
in the Summer of 1966 and later changed his name to Ohm and started a religion by that name.
Split
Following Thorne's departure, a rift developed. One faction wanted members to have open meetings and discussions about sex but not actually to engage in sexual relations. The other wanted to continue the tradition of orgies. The non-sex branch was headed by Linda Lindvall and the pro-sex branch by Sam Sloan, a student at the University of California at Berkeley.Sloan's faction was recognized by Sproul Hall as an official, registered on-campus student organization under the modified name "Campus Sexual Rights Forum," because the Dean of Students would not agree to register it under the name "Sexual Freedom League." The Sloan group set up an S.F.L. information table on campus and distributed literature, held rallies and sold buttons to finance its activities on campus, while holding orgies (mostly involving Berkeley students) off campus. It was featured in articles in Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, and Sexology
Sexology
Sexology is the scientific study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests, behavior, and function. The term does not generally refer to the non-scientific study of sex, such as political analysis or social criticism....
magazines as well as in numerous articles in the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, the Berkeley Gazette, and the Berkeley Barb
Berkeley Barb
The Berkeley Barb was a weekly underground newspaper that was published in Berkeley, California, from 1965 to 1980. It was one of the first and most influential of the counterculture newspapers of the late 1960s, covering such subjects as the anti-war and civil-rights movements as well as the...
.
The other faction, the East Bay S.F.L., established headquarters in Oakland. Instead of holding nude parties it formed "circles," including the "Horny Men's Circle" and the "Wanton Women's Circle." Even so, the Coordinator (Chairman) of these circles, Lisa Lindvall, also participated in the sex orgies of the campus group. By December, 1966, the East Bay Sexual Freedom League, forced by competition from Sam Sloan's Campus Sexual Freedom League and also by the influence of an article in the September "Back to School" issue of Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
which Sloan helped to write, started holding nude parties and sex orgies again.
In January 1967, 24-year-old Lindvall suddenly died of cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic disease affecting most critically the lungs, and also the pancreas, liver, and intestine...
. Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
immigrant Alida Reyenga took over as Coordinator, but she often complained that she spent so much time working for the Sexual Freedom League that she had no time left for sex. In the middle of 1967, all of the files and membership records of the East Bay League were appropriated in a putsch by Tom Palmer and Virginia Miller, who formed it as a corporation, kicked out the discussion circles leaving only the nude parties. They also turned the East Bay League into a wife swapping or swinging
Swinging
Swinging or partner swapping is a non-monogamous behavior, in which both partners in a committed relationship agree, as a couple, for both partners to engage in sexual activities with other couples as a recreational or social activity...
club, which was an anathema to serious and dedicated freedom leaguers. Later, Tom Palmer committed suicide and another person seized the membership records and tried to turn the East Bay League into a for-profit business.
Leaving the East Bay
The Campus Sexual Freedom League disappeared when Sloan left town due to an arrest in April 1967. The last of its 28 nude parties took place on Christmas Eve of that year. By then the East Bay League had also folded and Alida Reyenga had moved to Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where she took up Scientology
Scientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
.
While the East Bay versions were dying out, other chapters sprouted up all over California, and the San Francisco Sexual Freedom League emerged at the forefront. It was at first headed by Margo St. James
Margo St. James
Margo St. James , a self-described prostitute and sex-positive feminist, founded the organization COYOTE , which advocates decriminalization of prostitution.-History:...
, who claimed to be a "former prostitute" and participated in social activism while she organized sex orgies, then taken over by Frank and Margo Rila. Frank, who edited the Sexual Freedom newspaper, eventually committed suicide.
Margo St. James ran for San Francisco Board of Supervisors
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco, California, United States.-Government and politics:...
many times but all without success. She has often been criticized by anti-sex feminists such as Dorchen Leidholdt
Dorchen Leidholdt
Dorchen A. Leidholdt is an activist and leader in the feminist movement against violence against women. Since the mid-1970s, she has counseled and advocated for rape victims, organized against "the media’s promotion of violence against women", served on the legal team for the plaintiff in a...
.
Sources and notes
- Sex Marchers (with Jefferson PolandJefferson PolandJohn Jefferson Poland is the founder of the Sexual Freedom League, and a registered sex offender.-Sexual Freedom League:In 1963, he founded the Sexual Freedom League in New York City with Leo Koch. He then moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and focused his organizing efforts at the University of...
, Sam Sloan eds., first published by Ed LangeEd LangeEd Lange was an American author of several classic nudist pictorial books. He was very active in the Western Sunbathing Association and in the first stirrings of the Free Beach movement in the 1960s in California....
and his Elysium, Inc. in 1968), reprinted in 2006 ISBN 0-923891-13-7 - The Records of the San Francisco Sexual Freedom League by Jefferson F. Poland and Valerie Alison with preface by Herbert GoldHerbert Gold-Early life:Gold was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in Lakewood, a community he was later to memorialize in his first book, Birth of a Hero, published in 1951 by Viking Press. He moved to New York City at age 17 after several of his poems had been accepted by New York literary magazines...
, Olympia PressOlympia PressOlympia Press was a Paris-based publisher, launched in 1953 by Maurice Girodias as a rebranded version of the Obelisk Press he inherited from his father Jack Kahane...
, 1971 - Sexual Freedom Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc.
External links
- Guide to the Sexual Freedom League records at The Bancroft Library