What the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom is, what it's trying to do, and why we put our name on its list.
Off The Traxx is a Coalition Partner of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF). You'll find us on NCSF's partner list. This page explains what that means, and what it doesn't.
Who NCSF is
NCSF is a national advocacy group for consenting adults in the BDSM, leather and fetish, swing and polyamory communities. Susan Wright founded it in 1997. It is run by volunteers, and nobody there draws a salary.
Its aim is a country whose laws, courts and culture give consenting adults in those communities the same rights as everyone else.
It is a coalition in the literal sense. NCSF counted about 110 clubs, groups, events and businesses as Coalition Partners at the end of 2025, and the partners vote at its annual meeting.
What NCSF is trying to do
Most of NCSF's work is unglamorous and practical. These are the parts that matter most to a club like ours.
- Help when something goes wrong. NCSF's Incident Reporting & Response program takes reports from people facing discrimination at work, a custody fight or divorce, being outed or doxxed (having your personal details posted online), or a consent violation. It also helps groups with consent policies, licensing, insurance and press trouble. It aims to reply within two days, and NCSF says it keeps the identity of anyone who asks for help confidential. It doesn't give legal advice, and it doesn't investigate or rule on specific incidents. What it does is support you and refer you to professionals who can help. It handled 226 reports in 2025.
- A directory of kink-aware professionals. The Kink and Polyamory Aware Professionals (KAP) directory lists therapists, doctors, lawyers and others who say they understand kink and non-monogamy. It's free to search. One honest caveat: professionals list themselves, and NCSF doesn't verify or endorse them. Check credentials the way you would with anyone.
- Getting the law to recognize consent. NCSF's Consent Counts campaign wants consent to be a valid legal defense for consensual BDSM that causes no serious injury. In 2021 the American Law Institute, an independent group of judges, lawyers and law professors, approved an "explicit prior permission" defense for its model sexual-assault law. A model law isn't law anywhere until a state adopts it. NCSF is aiming to start taking it to state legislatures in 2028. Consent Counts also publishes sample consent policies and guides that groups can build from.
- Keeping private clubs private. NCSF's Freedom and Privacy Project, started in 2025, helps private clubs that local officials try to regulate or close as "sexually oriented businesses." Six private clubs got that help in 2025.
- Changing how professionals see kink. NCSF campaigned from 2008 to change the psychiatric manual. Since the DSM-5 in 2013, consensual kink on its own isn't diagnosable as a mental disorder. NCSF still trains lawyers, therapists, police and domestic-violence services, and answers press stories about kink.
Why we joined
We were already sending people there. Our glossary already names NCSF's directory as the place to look for a kink-aware therapist, doctor or lawyer. Becoming a partner puts our name behind a resource we were pointing people to anyway.
Some problems are bigger than a club. Our response team takes reports about anything at our events, and about anyone in the local scene, member or not. What it can't take on is a custody fight over your kink, or trouble at work because of it. Those are problems NCSF has worked on since the late 1990s. It doesn't go to court for you, but it can point you to lawyers and therapists who understand kink.
Consent is our floor. It's the first rule in our Code of Conduct. Getting the law to treat consent the same way is slow work, and Consent Counts is where that work happens. We want to be counted in it.
Kink-aware help is thin out here. In November 2026, NCSF's directory had just eight listings for the whole of Idaho. We'd like that number to be bigger, and we'd like East Idaho on the map when NCSF decides where to spend its time.
Partners get a vote. Coalition Partners are NCSF's voting members. A small club in East Idaho now has a vote.
What it doesn't mean
- It isn't a seal of approval. NCSF asks partners to back its mission, admit adults only and pay dues. Being on its list doesn't mean NCSF has checked how we run things. Judge us by our rules, our vetting and how we handle problems.
- NCSF doesn't run us. Our rules, our vetting and our response team are our own. NCSF doesn't vet our members or set our policies.
- We don't share anything about you with NCSF. The partnership is between the club and NCSF. No member names, no lists, no reports.
- NCSF doesn't investigate what happens at OTT. Our response team does. If you want something at OTT dealt with, tell our response team. You can also go to NCSF for confidential support and referrals, or to the police. You don't need our permission for either.
- It doesn't mean member dues. Partnership costs the club $100 a year. Partners also hold one fundraiser for NCSF a year, and giving to it will always be optional. We don't charge membership dues, and this doesn't change that.
- We back NCSF's mission. We don't speak for NCSF, and NCSF doesn't speak for us.
Using NCSF yourself
You don't have to go through us for any of this.
- Find a kink-aware therapist, doctor or lawyer: kapprofessionals.org. Free to search.
- Get help with discrimination, custody, being outed or a consent violation: NCSF Incident Reporting & Response.
- Join NCSF yourself: the basic level is free and needs only an email address and your state. Use a personal email if you'd rather keep it separate from work. Join NCSF.
- NCSF on FetLife: the NCSF group.
NCSF aims to reply within two days. If you or anyone else is in danger or hurt right now, call 911 first. Thinking about hurting yourself? Call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, any time.
The basics
- NCSF founded: 1997
- Who it serves: BDSM, leather and fetish, swing and polyamory communities
- Coalition Partners: about 110 at the end of 2025
- Run by: volunteers
- Website: ncsfreedom.org
- What OTT members pay for this: nothing