Well, in anticipation of meeting someone off the internet I've been thinking about the basic safety procedure one would follow in this instance - primarily letting someone know what you're doing, where, when you'll be back, and possibly incorporating a safe call into that. Telling a friend is for some reason a more daunting prospect than telling my mum, hence I've been wondering how many of you have a parent, sibling or other close relative who knows about your interest in BDSM (supposedly without too much detail about what you actually get up to lol). How did you go about raising the topic? How did they take it? What was your reason for telling them?

Alternatively, if you have kept this aspect of your life private from family members, what have been your reasons for doing that? I think I view this kind of discussion the same as I'd view one where you'd be coming out as anything other than heterosexual since it's just a matter of sexuality really, and there's nothing to be ashamed of although it may seem taboo. Or is the idea of me telling my mum actually quite abnormal as far as it goes?

Experiences, thoughts and opinions all welcome. Thanks :-)