Kinksters are a bundle of contradictions when it comes to taking risks, setting responsible boundaries, valuing our freedom to explore without judgement and being told what to do. This is particularly true when it comes to our use of all kinds of mind altering substances, and that can make it hard for us to talk about the problems that drug use brings to our kinky sex, and our lives. But with so many in our community who are either in recovery or would probably benefit from being in recovery, the very complex issues of drug use and addiction need to be better understood if we are to give each other the support we need around our play and our drug use, particularly because most experts would agree that improving his or her connectedness to a community is one of the most important elements of an addict’s recovery.

This is an extremely relevant discussion for all of us, whether sober or not, in recovery or not. We’ll kick off with an interview with Luke Adams, author of a forthcoming book called ‘Sobersexual: How to be dirty when you get clean,’ and then we have an amazing panel of people to continue the discussion, speaking from personal experience in recovery, years of scholarship of both kink and addiction, and practice in therapeutic approaches to helping people be filthy, kinky, sober fuckers.

Luke Adams

Luke Adams says that among the many names people call him, "ethical slut" and "Daddy" and "Sir," are three he actually appreciates. Luke provides psychotherapy on issues ranging from our many moods, to sex, to drugs, to our relationships. He has published considerably in community and professional media on: biomedical HIV prevention (one [http://www.ebar.com/columns/column.php?sec=guest_op&article=347]
two http://ebar.com/openforum/opforum.php?sec=guest_op&id=491), sex that is hot, healthy, and kinky https://youtu.be/fRJ0Pff61SQ; delinking drugs and sex http://ebar.com/columns/column.php?sec=guest_op&article=400; how the unsubstantiated notions of "sex or porn addiction" actually harm clients [http://livingmorefully.com/sex-addiction-porn-addiction-concepts-are-failing-clients/];
and the ethics and character of kink and polyamory. He is writing a forthcoming book titled: "Sobersexual: How to be dirty when you get clean."

Luke has been a longtime advocate for leather and fetish life, as well as for for acceptance for polyamorous families. He's been at this from his first encounter with the Defenders in Washington, DC in 1982. Reared in community service by leathermen, Radical Faeries, progressive activists, and the circle of democratic socialist organizers around Harvey Milk, Luke holds masters-level degrees in spiritualist ministry and transpersonal psychology along with numerous certifications.

A "Kink-Aware Professional," Luke is an addiction specialist, mental health counselor, Gnostic priest, and an accomplished hypnotherapist and psychic medium. He conducted his psychotherapy internships in integrated medical settings with Tenderloin Health (a past Center of Excellence for impoverished people living with HIV and co-occurring issues), Bayside Marin (a multi-diagnosis drug treatment and rehabilitation center), and San Francisco City Clinic (through the Minority AIDS Initiative Targeted Capacity Expansion). Luke Adams is cofounder with Chad Tynan of the not-for-profit organization, Emerge™ —The Adams-Tynan Clinical Foundation. He currently works with clients in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and Chicago.

Richard Sprott

Richard Sprott entered the San Francisco leather scene in 1990, and after a few years joined the Defenders/SF. That led to involvement in the Leathermen’s Discussion Group, serving on the Board between 1999 until 2006; serving on the organizing committee of the SF Leather/Levi Weekend since its inception in 2001 until 2006; and being chosen as SF Leather Daddy XXIII in 2005. In 2009, he was chosen as Mr. Alameda County Leather 2009, a title produced by the Alameda County Leather Corps. 

In all of these capacities, he has organized major events, including “runs” with the Defenders/SF and LLW that had up to 225 people attending, and being one of the co-chairs for the local organizing committee for the Leather Leadership Conference in 2008, which had 340 people attending. 

He is also serving currently as the Executive Director of CARAS (the Community-Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities), a nonprofit corporation designed to promote scientific and scholarly research on BDSM sexuality, polyamory and other forms of negotiated non-monogamy. 

Richard has a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from UC Berkeley. He has a wonderful leather family supporting him: his husband Dave, his pup Spunky, his dog Chomper, his slave eric, his slave lyle and his slave-in-training, jason.

JoJo DeRodrigo

JoJo, is a Somatic Sex Educator and Somatic Sex Coach who uses Sexological Bodywork as a modality to assist individuals to connect with their erotic power. He has always felt really connected to sex and using it for healing and for pleasure.

As a young boy in Brooklyn, JoJo always enjoyed getting his other friends to get naked, role play and even just giggle and play, now he does that with adult males in workshops he facilitates around the bay area.

JoJo is also trained in Hypnotherapy, but enjoys using hypnosis in an erotic way, either with groups or one on one! It’s fun and a great way to explore fantasies, submission and role play! 

JoJo is very connected to the sober community and hopes to assist men and women who are feeling disconnected in sobriety with their sexuality, body image and even sexual fantasies. 

He is also enjoying his role as Mr. February in the 2017 Bare Chest Calendar!

Al Rham

Al Rahm Lujan is a Bay Area leather kinkster. He is an artist, activist, filmmaker and writer. He is Mr. 2017 Sober Leather and was first runner up in the Mr. San Francisco Leather contest. His writing has appeared in Drummer Magazine and Best American Erotica & Best Gay Erotica. 

Al’s film, SM in the Hood, is distributed by Frameline and his artwork has been shown at Oakland Museum and YCBA. He is a founding member of gay, Latino comedy troupe Latin Hustle. He is currently writing and directing a full length documentary called CLN SBR PNX-True Stories of Chaos, Redemption, Hope & Punk Rock. 

Al is a military veteran and spent a decade on the front lines of the AIDS pandemic working at Coming Home & Maitri Hospices. He is a single dad to a beautiful teen daughter. He is also active in LDG. Last year he raised funds for suicide prevention, the SF Aids Foundation and cancer research. He has coordinated Oakland's largest toy drive for the last 16 years.