FetLife

MEMBERSHIP TYPES

Types of membership shall be Active Full, Alumni, Founding, Associate, Honorary Members, and Pledge.

Active full members are those who have been accepted into the club and whose dues are up to date. 

Once approved for active membership, all active full members must pay annual dues, regularly participate in business meetings and events, and adhere to the basic tenets of F.I.S.T.  Active full members must demonstrate active support of F.I.S.T by engaging in F.I.S.T. service or social activities. 

All active full members have the privilege of:

  • Voting at any business meeting in person or by digital vote
  • Wearing a full F.I.S.T back patch
  • Being present and having a voice at any business meeting
  • Membership rates at events; and
  • Holding office in F.I.S.T
  • First year members are ineligible to be on the Leadership Committee
  • First year members are eligible and encouraged to participate in committees

Alumni members are those who have previously been active full members of F.I.S.T, have remained in good standing with F.I.S.T, but who do not wish to maintain active membership. You need to be an active full member for two years prior to going to Alumni. Alumni may choose to pay dues or not.  Alumni, paid and unpaid, will remain on F.I.S.T.’s membership roster. Alumni status, paid or unpaid, is used to signify inactive status. 

All Alumni members have the privilege of:

  • Wearing a full F.I.S.T back patch

Founding Members are those individuals who were F.I.S.T members prior to 1999, have remained in good standing with F.I.S.T, but who do not wish to maintain active full membership. Founding members who have paid their club dues have the privilege of active full members.  Founding members who have not paid their club dues have the privilege of Alumni members.

Associate members are individuals ‌that‌ ‌would‌ ‌like‌ ‌to‌ ‌actively‌ ‌participate‌ ‌in‌ ‌F.I.S.T. ‌activities‌ ‌‌but‌ ‌‌not‌ ‌commit‌ ‌to‌ ‌full‌ ‌membership.‌ ‌

An Associate is any individual who has completed a written application for Associate status, is recommended by an active full member, has completed one act of service for the club, and has been voted into the club at a duly called meeting by unanimous vote of the full members present.  Associates‌ ‌are‌ ‌required‌ ‌to‌ ‌follow‌ ‌the‌ ‌rules‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌club.‌

Once approved for Associate membership, all Associate members must pay annual dues, attend at least one open or F.I.S.T. only event a year, volunteer for at least one F.I.S.T. sponsored event once a year as a volunteer, and lend service support to the organization. This service could include: advertising assistance, commenting on posts, meme creation, participating in discussions for planning, purchasing seats at F.I.S.T. sponsored tables at other events, and the like. 

Associate members have the privilege of:  

  • Being present at F.I.S.T. events including open business meetings.
  • Wearing an associate F.I.S.T back patch
  • Member rates at events if dues are paid

Honorary member bestowed upon persons who have gone to extraordinary lengths to support F.I.S.T. This designation is not gender limited. There is no requirement for Honorary members to attend meetings or events. There is no dues requirement.  Honorary members must be nominated by a minimum of (3) full members and voted into the club at a duly called meeting by two-thirds (2/3) of the full members present.  

Honorary members have the privilege of:

  • Wearing a small F.I.S.T back patch
  • Being present at events as appropriate; and
  • Membership rates at events


BECOMING A MEMBER

Active Full Membership shall be open to applicants who are in agreement with the values, purpose, policies and procedures of F.I.ST.

Individuals who wish to pledge to become members of F.I.S.T. must submit an application to the F.I.S.T Leadership Committee to request pledge status. Application submission may be done in person or by F.I.S.T.’s website.  Applications are greatly strengthened by the support of a F.I.S.T. sponsor or mentor.

The applicant will be interviewed by a panel of active full members. The panel will then bring a recommendation to the membership as to whether the applicant should become a F.I.S.T. pledge.  The membership will then vote by the planned voting mechanism on the applicant and the applicant will become a pledge with a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of the members present that have voting privileges. The pledge will then be matched with a mentor.  Applicants will then be notified as to whether or not they have been accepted as a pledge. They will be notified if they have been matched with a mentor. 

When the mentor believes they are ready, the pledge will be invited to attend a meeting of the club where they will be presented to the club by the mentor. The pledge will be presented to the club for vote by all present active members. The pledge requires unanimous vote of all votes cast in order to be accepted as a full member. The new member will then be eligible to wear the club back patch. 

Pledge status should last no longer than one year or may be determined by the number of events attended or projects the pledge has participated in as part of their pledge process.  Exposure to members and club service is expected. One project per month not to exceed 8 projects nor fall below 6 projects is the measure. Projects that extend beyond 1 month count as multiple projects (i.e. a three month project counts as 3 projects).  Pledge status may be extended at the discretion of the membership if extenuating circumstances exist which have prevented the Pledge from moving to full membership.

 

MULTI-CLUB MEMBERSHIP

Full members of service backpatch clubs can be dual full members of F.I.S.T., with the agreement of the other club's leadership.  Full members of social backpatch clubs cannot be dual full members of F.I.S.T.  For example a person cannot be a full member of the SF Exiles and of F.I.S.T., however they can be an associate member of F.I.S.T. and a full member of the SF Exiles.  One can be a dual full member of the Boys of Leather and F.I.S.T., so long as the Boys of Leather consent and do not have a full backpatch as part of their club.  (Organizations as they are constituted as of 11/2011).  Following the agreement of both clubs, a person seeking F.I.S.T. membership must follow standard pledge procedures.  

 

RECIPROCAL MEMBERSHIP


As a F.I.S.T. member you can attend other group's events at members prices and (sometimes) with member privileges who we have reciprocal agreements. F.I.S.T. members are bound by the group's rules.

For events, reciprocal members don’t need vetting. Your backpatch or digital member card will suffice. However, this means that you represent F.I.S.T. in a way. We ask that your behavior reflect our club values. 

For many F.I.S.T. members who travel, reciprocity becomes a way for our club to ‘vouch’ for you in other clubs, events, and organizations. If you are in a city with a reciprocal group, we strongly encourage you to reach out to them beforehand to find out information about events and current policies.

AUXILIARY GROUPS

From time to time F.I.S.T. may authorize the creation of auxiliary groups that are directly affiliated and in connection with F.I.S.T.

 

ANNUAL DUES

All Active Full, Founding, and Associate members are responsible for paying annual dues.  The amount payable and the schedule for payment will be clearly communicated by the Leadership Committee.  At this time, the dues structure is:

$35 per year for Active Full and Founding Members

$25 per year for Associate Members

All dues are collected at the beginning of the year, no later than the first business meeting of the year.  Extensions of up to two months may be granted by the Treasurer.  All active full membership privileges expire at the end of the calendar year and revert to match Alumni privileges until dues are paid. All dues payments shall be made to the Treasurer. In the case of financial hardship, any F.I.S.T member may request a dues waiver from the Treasurer. In the highly unlikely outcome of a Dues Waiver being denied, the member may go to the F.I.S.T Leadership Committee.  Any such request(s) will be held in strict confidence by the Treasurer and Leadership Committee.  

 

RESIGNATION

A member may resign from F.I.S.T. at any time.  Upon resignation of membership, the member loses privileges of membership and may not display the club back patch.

 

MEMBERSHIP CONDUCT 

Members of all types must abide by these Rules of Membership:

Safety: Members will conduct themselves in any public or private play environment in a manner consistent with SSC (Safe, Sane, Consensual), RACK (Risk Aware Consensual Kink), or other standards as they see fit, so long as their conduct is ethical and does not bring unwanted physical harm to another including precautions against the spreading of disease or infection.

Consensuality: Members will only initiate physical and/or sexual touch with another when explicit and enthusiastic continual consent exists.  Members will only initiate any other kinds of play when the same consent exists.  Members will respect the physical, emotional, and mental integrity of all others.

Confidentiality: Members will not disclose, without the consent of the Member or Pledge involved, the fact that any of their club Sisters/Brothers maintain membership in F.I.S.T., or participate in F.I.S.T. in any way, to anyone outside of F.I.S.T. and our extended leather community.  F.I.S.T. members are aware that many of us have jobs and families which would be jeopardized should our involvement in F.I.S.T. be disclosed, and will protect our fellow club Members and Pledges from such nonconsensual disclosures. 

Photography or recording devices are strictly prohibited unless you have obtained the verbal consent of all parties that appear in the photos. Specific consent for posting any photos to social media must be obtained. Consent can be revoked at any time.Consent for each image needs to be obtained.

F.I.S.T. materials, membership, or information, may not be used for financial gain of members or non-members. Any materials used for publication may not be published, distributed outside of F.I.S.T. without prior written permission of the Leadership Committee.

Service: F.I.S.T. will actively involve themselves in service to our larger leather community. Such service is a condition of initial pledge procedures and a choice of active membership in F.I.S.T. We are a social and service club where all levels of experience, interest, and expression of BDSM occurs in a safe space, locally and nationally.


Disciplinary Actions. For willful and egregious violation of the rules of safety, consensuality or confidentiality, revocation of membership is mandatory. For other forms of misconduct penalties may include warning, probation or revocation of membership.

Membership Revocation & Disciplinary Procedure. A Member with a complaint against another Member that may warrant Disciplinary Action should bring the matter to a member of the Leadership Committee. The Leadership Committee will immediately notify the Ombudsman or appoint a neutral qualified Ombudsman for this circumstance.

The Leadership Committee, led by the Ombudsman, will further review the complaint and situation to ascertain if any of the clauses in the Disciplinary Actions clause apply to the situation, taking the required action if so. If they do not apply the Leadership Committee will determine the best path forward for the club. Every effort should be made to protect the privacy of the parties involved. Other parties should only be included on an as-needed basis.