Partner swapping comes out of closet.

Today’s partner swapping is more upscale, perhaps more accepted

Julian Guthrie, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 9, 2002

Swinging, the practice of swapping romantic partners, has had a makeover.
Gone are the big-hair, gold-chain ‘70s-style swingers who gathered in suburban tract homes. Today’s energetic couplings have made their way into mainstream resorts and upscale commercial venues.

“There are people who see the market potential and are opening clubs and agencies to cater to the lifestyle,” said Tony Lanzaratta, a former Los Angeles police officer who is executive director of NASCA, a national organization of swingers. “The lifestyle tour and travel industry has more than tripled in the last five years.”

For instance, more than 4,000 swingers recently took over the 17-story Radisson Hotel in Miami Beach, Fla. Each January, about 2,000 swingers take over a Jamaican resort called Hedonism. Thousands of swingers are expected at a national convention in Reno this month.

The typical swingers are in their 30s or 40s and have solid jobs and relationships—and disposable income, Lanzaratta said.

NASCA, known as the North American Swing Club Association, with over 250,000 active members has gone international and has been approached by a “major hotel chain” about opening five- star resorts catering to swingers, Lanzaratta said.

The movement has changed in other ways. Experts who have studied swingers say women now are the ones running clubs, organizing events and embracing this newfound libertinism.

WOMEN DRIVING MOVEMENT NOW
“Women are more liberated. They’re the ones who are driving this movement today,” said Dr. Ted McIlvenna, president of the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco.

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