#VibesForIMsL

The East Coast has an entry in the Twenty-Fifth annual International Ms Leather.  Yes, you guessed it!  Sara Vibes is running for International Ms Leather 2011!

Sara Vibes was born and raised in New York City.  She is a black, polyamorous, queer, kinky, dandy, top-heavy princess.  Vibes is a musician, writer, sex blogger, and educator in training and flags silver lamé for star fucker.  She was abandoned in a hospital in the Bronx in the late 80’s weighing less than two pounds and addicted to crack.  She was adopted by a white Jewish woman with cerebral palsy from Brooklyn and a black Christian man from Jersey with spina bifida who both passed before she was 9.  Vibes’ mother was a social worker and sex therapist who specialized in sex and disability.  Her book selections encouraged and influenced Vibes exploration into sex and sexuality.

Vibes is an active member in BDSM and LGBT communities in New York City and beyond.

She is a founding member of Nina Hartley’s SexWise.me, a sex-positive online community, and worked as a curator and contributor of SexWise Magazine.  Vibes has been interviewed by Nerve magazine and appeared on Reid Mihalko’s “Queer, Poly, & Under 30″ panel at Dr. Carol Queen’s Culture in San Francisco.  She has taught with her partner Indigo at Playhouse in Baltimore and recently hosted “Sexxxy Game Night” at Dark Odyssey: Winter Fire.  She will also be a contributor to Perverts of Color Anthology.

Vibes will be traveling to kink and poly events throughout the year and documenting her experiences on her blog and on her column on Fearless Press, an online magazine on sexuality, relationships, kink and more.  Her mission is to make sex education accessible to everyone.  She currently works at Toys as a sex educator spreading sexual awareness to residents of NYC.  She hopes to rip the veil off of the shame surrounding sex and sexuality through self-love and exploration with people that care about each other.

WHY SARA VIBES?

Sara Vibes is making quite a name for herself in LGBTQ and BDSM communities as a sex educator, sexpert, and presenter.  At the young age of 22, she has already traveled much of the country visiting, volunteering, presenting, and schmoozing with leather, poly, and kink communities.  She has the ability to navigate her multiple identities as an adopted, black, bi-racial, poly, kinky woman and speaks about these identities in a way that is accessible for everyone.

Her mission as International Ms. Leather is to promote sexual freedom amongst people with disabilities.  “My parents were disabled and my mother worked as a sex therapist fighting for the rights of disabled people.  I intend to live out her legacy by telling her story and speaking for the rights of those who don’t have a voice.”

HOW YOU CAN HELP SARA WIN

IMsL Program Advertising

You can show your support for Sara by buying an advertisement in the IMsL program.  The wider the support for Sara on the pages of the program; the stronger her candidacy will appear.  Individuals and groups as well as companies and products can participate.  Over 800 attendees will see the program.

Advertisements can be as small as a business card or a full page.  By buying an ad, you are supporting not only Sara’s candidacy, but the IMsL contest itself and its function as beacon of Leather Pride and a way to spread awareness of Women’s Leather culture around the planet.

To check out sizes and prices go towww.imsl.org/newsite2010/mainpages/advertise.html Once you have selected a suitable ad size and format (and if you get this far YAY! thank you.), the next step is to send an email to Renee at reneeadvertising @ gmail dot com with your request.  It is important that you mention Sara Vibes because that way you receive a 10% discount.  Reservations must be made by Monday, March 28th, so please send Renee an email as soon as possible.  The following week she will be in touch with you about artwork and logos.

Sponsorship

This is an opportunity for an organization, company, or sole practitioner to support Sara’s run for International Ms Leather.  As sponsor, your company will be strongly represented at a five-day event and will appear in various publications.  There will be a maximum of four Sponsors, so individual messages won’t get lost, and for the right Sponsor, exclusivity is possible.
By supporting Sara, you can bring attention to your company, or a particular product or service, or simply be seen to support the Leather community.  Sara is a proud New Yorker and is looking for strong New York support, but her ties to New England and the wider DC area inspire Sara to be an East Coast candidate, rather than a New York candidate.  Sponsorship is invited from Kennebunkport, ME to Key West.

Personal Contributions

Running for IMsL is not cheap.  Airfare, hotel, food, great outfits, bribes for the judges…. all this costs big bucks.
Sara welcomes direct support and she will need it.  Cash, airline points, donations of items of spectacular clothing, all of these will help.  Sara has a registry at myregistry.com where you can buy select items of clothing to help her look her best!  You will be along for the ride as Sara competes for the title and then, if the points are in our favor, executes the duties that come with the title.  Contributions may be cash; check or Paypal, if that is more convenient.

Auction Basket

Among the requirements of the competition is the Auction Basket.  Contestants must put together an auction basket that is a unique representation of the contestant and their home city.  Sara’s intent is to create a basket full of awesome and she could use your help.  She seeks: books, DVDs, small artwork, leatherwear, toys, gift certificates and more.  If you would like to donate to the basket, email either saravibes @ gmail dot com or ayoung536 @ gmail dot com with the subject “Auction Basket” and we will send you a mailing address.

Support Sara’s run for International Ms Leather!  Please contact either saravibes @ gmail dot com or her partner and campaign manager Ashley at ayoung536 @ gmail dot com