Dear Miss Adventure,

I've been kinky, happy and healthy for as long as I can remember, but my friends continually question my mental state or probe my background for abuse.  Is there a political or social action cause I can join to turn the world around to my point of view? - Sexy Sane Switch in Ipswich

Dear SSSI,

Like Miss A always says, "If creative sexual expression among consenting adults is wrong, then I don't want to be right."  Yes, SSSI, there is something you can do to change the hearts and minds of your friends, starting with your doctor.  Currently, there is an online petition in circulation, sponsored by Susan Wright of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, that asks the medical community stop labeling "kinky" behavior as a disease.  It reads, "We, the undersigned, support the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) own goal of making its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) a scientific document, based on empirical research and devoid of cultural bias. A diagnosis of a mental disorder can have a severe adverse impact on employment opportunities, child custody determinations, an individual's well being, and other areas of functioning. Therefore we urge the APA to remove all diagnoses that are not based upon peer-reviewed, empirical research, demonstrating distress or dysfunction, from the DSM. The APA specifically should not promote current social norms or values as a basis for clinical judgments."  This shift in definition to reflect the reality of people like yourself is invaluable.  Go to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/DSMrevisionpetition%20or%20ncsfreedom.org and make it happen.

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