I was aware of how intertwined with our history bdsm is, im not ignorant on the subject at all. I also read the part about getting rights in the past correctly as well. Your missing the point of my argument. just because something was present alongside the gay community doesnt mean it was actually helpful. Yes bdsm and leather dadies were prominent in the community when many rights were won. But correlation is not causation and I would argue that rights could have been gained quicker without such perversion being present. David Thorstad and his work was a large factor in gaining rights, but should we continue to associate or define ourselves with him and his ideas?

And yes, its is super demeaning to say bdsm is homophobic to criticize as it reduces gay people to being fetishists. Just becuase the gay community unfortunately has a high rate of fetishists doesnt mean that fetishes have anything to do with being gay, straight or any orientation.