Ari Kane

Materials from Ari Kane are a part of The Rikki Swin Collection.  

Ari Kane, also known as Ariadne Kane, was born in 1936. Kane holds a Bachelor of Science in Biophysics, Mathematics and Chemistry, and undertook graduate work in biophysics. Kane also holds a doctorate of Education from Institute for Advanced Study of Sexuality and is an assistant professor of sexology at the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco. Kane also runs Theseus Counseling Services which specializes in gender issues.

Kane's "emergence from the closet" occurred in 1971. Ariadne Kane oversaw the restructuring and relocation of the cross dressing support group, the Tiffany Club (later the Cherrystone Club, then the Mayflower Club). In 1975 Kane founded the Human Outreach and Achievement Institute (later named the Outreach Institute for Gender Studies), an organization dedicated to public education and to working with the health professionals who serve the community.

The same year Kane also founded Fantasia Fair (which is still being held), which was originally an annual gathering for cross dressing men, their partners, and medical and other professionals working with the transgender and transsexual community. Fantasia Fair now welcomes trans men.

UVic Transgender Archives holds the Kane papers (part of the RSI collection) including Kane's business records, and correspondence; Outreach Institute records including workshop information; Ari Kane's Fantasia Fair records including correspondence, event and planning records; and Theseus Counseling Services records (access to confidential and personal information of identifiable individuals, is subject to a research agreement to protect personal privacy).