In connection with Europride 2003 in Manchester our pansexual SM Human Rights Group "ReviseF65" would like to contact your organization as part of an international network building with the aim of removing fetishism, transvestism and sadomasochism as psychiatric diagnoses both nationally and internationally from the Classification of Diseases, ICD.

We will visit Manchester on August 20th to August 24th (at The Rembrandt Hotel, 33 Sackville Street, Manchester), and London August 25th to August 31st. In London we have no place to stay, and if possible we would like to get in contact with members of your group who might be interested in offering us private accommodation for some or all of the days.

Both in Manchester and London we need help to organize workshops focussing on the ReviseF65-project. We would also very much like to talk to people in your organization (and if possible; kink-friendly mental health professionals) about our project and other SM human rights questions.

If you are going to attend the Manchester Europride parade on Saturday, August 23rd, we also need your help to take visible part in it with our slogan: "Safe, Sane and Consensual: Remove SM/Fetish diagnoses". If you know of SM newspapers and magazines we would like them to make interviews and articles about our project.

The ReviseF65 project concerns both straights, gays and transgender people. Therefore our ReviseF65 group consists of SM/Leather/Fetish men and women representing organizations of Leather and SM gays, - lesbians, bi- and heterosexuals, as well as professionals in sexology, psychology and psychiatry.

Who are we - travelling to the UK?

Svein Skeid (on the right) is a gay SM/leather/rubber man and a pioneer within the SM movement, Honorary Gay Person in Norway 2003, and a honorary member of the SLM-Oslo leather organization.

Eric Barstad (on the left) is a female to unisexual SM/leather/rubber transgender person. Eric is the President of the SM/Fetish group Smia-Oslo and a member of the ReviseF65 group and SLM-Oslo.

From 1993 to 1997 members of our group campaigned and set about fund-raising (£ 2000) in favour of the gay defendants in the notorious Spanner Case, which started in Manchester 1987. We got the support of several dozen Norwegian political organizations - including Women's Rights groups and Trade-Unions, not to speak of the unanimous backing of the Lesbian and Gay movement. Take a look at our Spanner website www.smia-oslo.no/spanner.html (unfortunately only in Norwegian).

From 1998 our "ReviseF65" group has worked both on a national and an international level with the aim of removing SM and Fetish diagnoses.

The gay diagnoses were removed from the same F65 chapter in the U.S. in 1973, and have no longer applied the last twenty years.

But fetishism, transvestism and sadomasochism are still considered mental illnesses by The World Health Organization, WHO and most countries, despite the fact that US psychiatrists removed it from their DSM manual nine years ago, and Denmark, as the first European country, removed the diagnosis of Sadomasochism in 1995.

No doubt, these diagnoses are rarely applied, but still the stigma attached to them can be used to justify various forms of harassment of these sexual minorities. The ReviseF65 group can document a lot of examples of people losing their jobs, the custody of their children etc., because of their SM-love, lifestyle and self expression.

The ICD project is established with a mandate from the 1998 Convention of the Norwegian National Association for Lesbian and Gay Liberation (LLH). Our work is supported by the 1999 European Conference of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), the 2000 General Assembly of the European Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs (ECMC), by the Norwegian Association of Gay and Lesbian Physicians, and by the Norwegian Society for Clinical Sexology.

You can reach Eric Barstad at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it > This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or tel +47 41916167and Svein Skeid at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or tel +47 62413935. Snail mail: Svein Skeid, N-2412 Sorskogbygda, Norway.

If you want more information you can find our web site at: www.revisef65.org.

Regards,

Eric Barstad and Svein Skeid

PS: If you are going to attend SM Pride Festival Saturday August 2nd 2003; please tell us if you can offer private accommodation from Friday August 1st to Monday August 4rd.