| Founder: | Cynthia Slater, Larry Olsen |
| Founding Location: | San Francisco, California |
The Society of Janus is the second BDSM organization founded in the United States (after The Eulenspiegel Society)[1] and is a San Francisco, California-based BDSM education and support group.[2]
The Society of Janus is nonprofit, volunteer run and is devoted to the art of safe, consensual and non-exploitative adult power exchange. They publish a monthly digital newsletter called Yellow.
The Society of Janus was founded in August 1974 by Cynthia Slater and Larry Olsen.[2] According to the Leather Hall of Fame biography of Slater, she said of the Society of Janus:[3]
A group called Cardea, a women's discussion group within the Society of Janus, existed from 1977 to 1978 before discontinuing. A core of lesbian members of Cardea, including Pat Califia, who identified as a lesbian at the time, Gayle Rubin, and sixteen others, were inspired to start Samois on June 13, 1978, as an exclusively lesbian BDSM group.[4] [5] Samois was a lesbian-feminist BDSM organization based in San Francisco that existed from 1978 to 1983, and was the first lesbian BDSM group in the United States.[6]
The Society of Janus was one of the founding coalition partners of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, which was founded in 1997.[7]
In 2004, the Society of Janus Hall of Fame was established.[8] [9] Some of its inductees are: Guy Baldwin, Patrick Califia, Dossie Easton, Janet Hardy, Viola Johnson, Midori, Fakir Musafar, Charles Moser, Gayle Rubin, Cynthia Slater, Jim Ward, Mollena Williams-Haas, and Jay Wiseman.[10]
In 2014, the Society of Janus held their 40th Anniversary Dinner, Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Play Party, which was awarded "Best Organization Anniversary Event" at The SF Leather Community Awards for that year.[11]
In 2017, the art installation known as the San Francisco South of Market Leather History Alley was installed; in it Society of Janus cofounder Cynthia Slater is honored with a metal bootprint displaying her name and a short statement about her.[12] [13]
In 2018, the Society of Janus was inducted into the Leather Hall of Fame.[14]
The records of the Society of Janus are housed at the Leather Archives & Museum in Chicago.[15]