OK well I hope the information helps in making your decisions and good luck going forward. x

I think it’s wise to look at this situation from a slightly different persepective for a moment. Opening the Scally versus Alert issue up to the public vote is a very bad move that has the potential to create a division within the night and also to polarize the views of punters. This could create an air of negativity within the night itself and surrounding public perception of it and consequently could negatively impact on the success of alert and see a depreciation in crowd turnout. Democracy can be a very good thing, and taking onboard the views of your regulars is generally good business savvy. I sincerely believe that you have created this poll and debate with good intentions to be fair to all, but this will come at a price, for when you are asking people to select which side of the camp they fall into (are you for scally or against it?) two political parties are created. There will be those who are scallies alongside those who may attend in leather and rubber but get turned on by scallies with people who prefer a diverse night, and you will have those who aren’t attracted to scallies and want alert to be leather/rubber/skin only, and with the vote neck-and-neck whatever decision Alert now makes, has the potential for alienating half of its patrons. Bad times. But let’s look at the underlying issue here. Some Alert atendees have suggested to the organisers that they would like to see Alert without scally wear, the motivation for their dislike is unimportant, and debating it will not change their views, if anything it will make them more rigid. What I find interesting is why the organisers are paying heed to intolerant people? I feel a fetish night, particularly one which attracts a predominantly (but not exclusively) local clientele, should be striving to create a safe space for people to express and experiment with their fantasies using whatever mode that person chooses. At the same time the club night organisers in my opinion should create the club THEY want, and if people don’t like it then tough shit. If you want to have a fisting floorshow to the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy then so be it it’s your night. Make your own decisions and create the night that YOU think is perfect. Designing a night by popular consensus will only lead to watered down direction and in attempting to please everybody you will make nobody happy because it will be middle of the road and will suffer a lack in it’s own originality and innovation. With the chance now that by making a decision for or against scallygear that you could ruin the positive atmosphere, may I suggest a third option? At Alert I would really love to see a progressive and responsive door policy, more in line with fetish nights on the continent than those in London. By this I mean, anybody who has come out for a fetish night (in whatever fetish wear they wish to participate in - trackies, trenchcoat, trellchem or tutu) should be allowed entry to the night.

Diversity here is the key to creating a popular local fetish night that can grow to the next level and create a culture of positivity and experimentation. Trying to become like Hard-on will have devastating consequences, as the Manchester fetish scene is vastly smaller and with the exception of Pride doesn’t attempt as many sex-tourists, so a dwarved local imprint will always be unsatisfying. If people want to go to Hard-on, then there are great public transport links between Manchester and London. By offering something different and more diverse with a bit more colour and panache I think you stand of chance of building up a successful empire. The contrast in alert works really well, if it was monochromatic and only guys in leather or rubber gear, these guys wouldn’t look so enticing as everybody would look the same, and the attraction would wear off. People who attend alert all share a common passion for sexual activities that fall outside of the missionary, we should be united by this. The whole argument is about surface, and whilst gear is a big part of fetish, we as fetishists should understand the desire to be accepted for our turn-ons, so lets not persecute other people for theirs. Lets try and make Alert a celebration in pervery, whatever that may be, rather than a leather rubber tea party. So Dear organisers, please consider a dynamic and responsoive door policy, the world has enough rules in it, particularly ours, and creating further sets will only fragment your night and allow negativity to creep in. (kink anybody?) Simply refuse admission to people who haven’t turned up for a fetish night, and remember that variety is the spice of life and the key to the longevity, growth and popularity of Alert : )

Alert! Reply:
Scallydandan - thanks for your comments and thoughts on this matter. I don’t entirely agree with all your points, and certainly not that opening the debate was a bad move. Time will tell I suppose, but we hope that people on both sides of the argument are sensible enough to embrace the debate. After all, if there had only been 2% support for either argument then the matter would have been conclusive and nobody would have complained. We could have taken a completely unilateral stand on this and simply imposed a decision, but we chose not to do that and I feel that has actually been a very positive thing to do. If you read the thread you will see that by far the greater number of comments have been pro-scally and indeed those members have presented eloquent and compelling arguments. Yes, Alert! is our night, and ultimately we stand or fall by any decisions we make, but we would rather be open about the process. We would never have fully understood the depth of feeling or support for the scally movement without this poll. We ran a similar poll when we were considering introducing the dress code in the first place. Was that a mistake too? We also have to deal with realities here. We want Alert! to remain different from other club nights in the city and as such we are the only night with an enforced fetish dress code. But what is a fetish? Should we allow someone in wearing a suit and tie? A French Maid’s outfit? Wrapped entirely in cling film? One man’s fetish is another man’s normality. We have to draw the line somewhere if only to be able to police the dress code. If someone turns up in denim jeans and an Adidas top and says “this is my fetish”, do we let them in? Look at what we DO allow – we believe the dress code is broad and inclusive and we do interpret it each month when people arrive dressed in ways that challenge the rules. I remember the time before we had any dress code and we had far too many people turning up in casual street clothes to perv at the ‘freaks in fetish gear’ – THAT is certainly not the crowd we want to attract. Yes, we have our own views on all of this, but now those views are much more informed and we feel we will be able to make a decision that is right for Alert! going forward. As you imply, we’ll never please all the people all the time, but at least this way everyone has had a chance to express their view.

Surely people who choose to wear scally gear have a fetish too?? I am a big advocate of the dress code, and quite rightly think it should be enforced, however I think that it is wrong to stop people who choose to dress as scallys coming in. Jeans and t-shirts, quite rightly should be stopped, but who says scally gear is any less of a fetish than rubber/skin/leather/boots??

I dont have an issue with what people wear at Alert, as long as they make an effort! Whether that be Scally, rubber, leather, naked. Just as long as the outfit is an outfit and not a collection of clothes. I often see guys walking round in trackie bottoms, trainers and topless - having taken off a polo shirt… And to me, thats not gear! I understand how people may see the scally outfit as a no effort option - I dont necessarily agree especially if its a full scally outfit. Over the past couple of months, there seems to have been a lot of new, younger, guys at Alert, and I have friends who want to come along to the next alert. They have the money to buy the rubber, leather or whatever, but maybe they dont have the money to waste if they dont like it (Fetish gear, or Alert)… So maybe scally gear is a valid alternative for them to see if they like it all. If Alert puts barriers like the scally gear rule up that slow down or stop new people coming along, then how long can alert continue