Once again, Chuck Hurley has come forward to state consensual BDSM relationships are disrespectful to its members (“Cuffs fights for BDSM rights” Feb. 18). Not to let reality get in the way of ideology or anything, but I have to ask, how many members of the BDSM community has Mr. Hurley talked to?

I’ve talked to several hundred and heard over and over how a healthy BDSM relationship has allowed them (male and female, submissive and dominant) to bloom as a person and find a deep reservoir of self-respect and self-esteem.

Then, of course, there are the changes made by the American Psychiatric Association to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 2000 to the criteria for pathological sadism or masochism.

The leading group of psychologists in the country said masochism isn’t pathological unless it bothers the person or hurts their social functioning.

They said the same thing about sadism, under the condition it was practiced with a consenting partner. Maybe Mr. Hurley thinks the best minds in the mental health field are wrong, but the numbers back them up.

A recent study found members of the BDSM community do not have statistically higher prevalence than the overall society on any mental disorder.

When Mr. Hurley and I were on “Scarborough Country” together, he said BDSM “didn’t pass the smell test.” In other words, there’s just something intuitive that says BDSM is wrong. This, however, is the same thing that was said about gay rights 10 years ago (and today), minority rights 40 years ago and women’s rights 100 years ago.

In the context of relationships, this argument usually takes the form of “such-and-such a behavior threatens the family.” Again, this is used against BDSM and gay marriage the same way it was used against interracial marriage, women entering the workforce and women getting the right to vote. None of these has or will “break the family,” they simply make good rhetoric for an otherwise weak position.

Duane Long Jr.

President of Cuffs

Senior in Psychology, Philosophy and Sociology