Formation of SoJanus

An excerpt from the "History of Janus"

see History of the Society of Janus (PDF file)

BackDrop - The Only Game in Town

In the early 1970s, the only SM "group" in the San Francisco Bay Area was the Backdrop Club.

This group catered largely to men and it was a for-profit group. Most of the women in BackDrop at the time were professional Dommes or submissives. Many people with an interest in SM, including Kaye Buckley (an early Janus member and currently a pro Domme in San Francisco) first came there to meet like-minded people. Kaye, who in those days was in a triad relationship with Amber Rae and Jay M remembers those days -

"Our introduction to other SM people was through Backdrop, a club then located in Hayward. As I began to evolve as a player, I started working at Backdrop professionally, first as a bottom, then as a switch. That is how the persona of "Kaye Buckley" came into being. Socially, the three of us were bothered by the het atmosphere, and etiquette (or lack) of the men assuming that if I was a bottom, it automatically meant that I was their bottom, and approaching me as such ..."

"However, to give credit where credit is due. I attribute the first year or so of working at Backdrop and participating in the social activities and events as being the kindergarten of our learning about SM safety, technique, and group dynamics. Robin Roberts (in my opinion) was very good at fantasy play. But it was clear that we needed to get to the next level."

While BackDrop did fill a "need" of some sort, it was clear that some "other" kind of SM group was needed in San Francisco. In response:

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The BackDrop Club and "Sessions" have always been a symbiotic relationship. It has always been my image to have a place where people who are interested in BDSM could go and play.

To allow the club to have a venue that is available to its members, the money charged for Sessions have paid the rent for "the clubhouse", and to provide the equipment, advertising, library and out-reach that created the San Francisco BDSM community that it is today.

For many years, the first contact that most people had with the BDSM community was by being involved in "Professional Sessions".

"The BackDrop Club" is, and always has been a zero-profit motive organization.

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