Obsidian is Born

Obsidian was created by two Black kinky queers - Aunjel and Smoky - who wanted to create a space in the Los Angeles kink community for queer people of color. Aunjel is a trans man transplant from the east coast, who was looking for a kink community to join. Smoky is a queer femme who had tried multiple dungeons around the area and was frustrated by the fact that nowhere felt comfortable or safe. They met through mutual friends and quickly decided together that something had to be done.

Obsidian was born a couple months later in February 2018. For its first event, Obsidian ran the kink booth at a FUBU take over of a Cruise LA event at The Eagle in Silverlake. Obsidian’s first year also included two play parties and a summer munch. By the second play party that year, Obsidian sold out their 50 person space at Dungeon East and the need for spaces like Obsidian in the community was clear.

Obsidian Grows

That December, Obsidian took on two new leadership members - Josie and Pup Orion - who began by helping with the first Kinky Bazaar in December 2018. As Aunjel's small business began to grow, he phased out of leadership, though his impact is always felt.

In 2019, Smoky, Josie and Pup Orion successfully pulled off 10 events including three play parties, a special pride party, workshops, month-long intensive class series, and the now annual Kinky Bazaar.

Obsidian out grew it’s early on 50 person party space after selling out in April, and then selling out a 100 person kink themed pride party at Ivy Manor. In late 2019, Obsidian began partnering with Threshold Dungeon, and became one of their community partners.

Then 2020 Happens

Obsidian had 2020 all planned out! Four play parties, and monthly events/series for the rest of the year. But then Covid-19 hit and Obsidian had to switch gears very quickly. The organization replaced in-person events with online ones. First there was the Quarantine Lecture series; a volunteer labor of love to provide a source of income from our community. Obsidian then followed that up with an incredibly successful 15 hour Virtual QTBIPOC Kink Pride event. Obsidian has been given the opportunity to connect with it’s community across a much larger space and time via the internet. The immediate takeaway from the online class series has been a renewed commitment to making Obsidian’s in-person events accessible online to it’s extended community. As of the end of 2019, Obsidian estimates Los Angeles membership to be between 300-400. This is 3 to 4 times the number of Obsidian’s largest event in 2018. This number is approximated through our newsletter and event sign up sheets throughout 2019.

Growing Again

Before Paradise 2020 was even over, it was clear that Obsidian needed to grow more in order to keep up with the demands of the community. Smoky, Orion, and Josie then took on five new leadership team members. Sunshine and Row joined the core leadership team, Bettie joined as the official advisor, and Fix and Son were brought on for specific roles as well. As we, and namely our social pup Orion has witnessed, it is clear that Obsidian has already had a major impact in the Los Angeles BDSM scene and beyond. As LA Pup 2020, Orion has been traveling around the globe, and often receives affirmations of our success beyond LA. He is asked, for example, when Obsidian is planning to start chapters in other cities (not for a while, sorry). You kinky QTBIPOC may have also noticed the impact of Obsidian along with our partner BIPOC groups and friends. There is a movement of people in our community who are doing the hard background work to carve out spaces for queer people of color in what has historically been a straight, cis-het, white BDSM space.

QTBIPOC Community

Obsidian's goal and vision, from its origin, has been to make kink spaces accessible to Queer and Trans Black, Indigenous, and People Of Color and their partners through its events. Obsidian play parties emphasize consent (and as of 2019 SOBER consent), and exploration. Obsidian aims to make its parties friendly to newbies, and wants parties to be a place where the Obsidian community can come together to play safely, make connections, meet friends, and hopefully find future play partners. Though Obsidian started with play parties for QTBIPOC and their white partners, the organization is now moving between splitting events between queer and BIPOC exclusive, and events where queer BIPOC can invite their white partners. Another way Obsidian emphasizes education is through workshops, which are always led by queer BIPOC. Obsidian aims to provide continuous and accessible education for it’s community. Obsidian aims to provide it’s followers with the abilities to move forward in their kinky journeys, however they choose. All Obsidian events are queer exclusive spaces and are always led by queer BIPOC with an emphasis on trans, non-binary, black and indigenous folx. All of Obsidian’s events are sliding scale, and there is ALWAYS a pay-what-you-can option, even if it is not specifically listed on our flyers.

Looking Forward

Looking forward, Obsidian aims to continue to grow, to continue to carve out space in BDSM for QTBIPOC, and to continue to lead and connect. Obsidian is currently making moves to make the organization more of a force. With an eight person team at the helm, Obsidian is looking forward to finish 2020 via virtual parties. Then Obsidian is setting its sites on more programming, bigger events, and other exciting updates and endeavors! Follow us on IG, FL, FB, and our newsletter to keep in touch and stay informed!