Gay Male SM Activists (GMSMA) [Edit]

Gay Male SM Activists (GMSMA)
was an organization founded in New York in 1981, and ended in 2009. SM means sadism and masochism.

The British group SM Gays, founded later in 1981 (in July) was patterned after GMSMA.

Most attribute the term safe, sane and consensual and the acronym SSC to David Stein, who first used them in August 1983 for GMSMA. In his essay entitled “Safe Sane Consensual: The Evolution of a Shibboleth”, Stein states the term was created “to distinguish the kind of S/M I wanted to do from the criminally abusive or neurotically self-destructive behavior popularly associated with the term ‘sadomasochism’.” (S/M and sadomasochism both mean sadism and masochism.)

Honors

In 1990 and 1995, GMSMA received the Large Club of the Year award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards.

In 1993, Leather Pride Night by GMSMA, The Eulenspiegel Society, Excelsior MC, Lesbian Sex Mafia, and National Leather Association: Metro New York received the Large Event of the Year award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards.

GMSMA was inducted into the Leather Hall of Fame in 2022.