Next time you zip up your leather thigh-highs, pause to dedicate a moment of silence to Mistress Electra (aka Marcia Zimmerman). The local fetish-community icon died July 6 after a brief battle with leukemia. She was only 53 years old. Before her passing, she was actively involved with the Diabolique Foundation, a local kink-based nonprofit that raises funds for area women- and gay-centric HIV/AIDS orgs. At the group's annual BDSM/leather bash, the Diabolique Ball, the over-the-top dominatrix would most likely be found presiding over spanking booths, corralling animal-clad kinksters in a human petting zoo or zapping the sexually sluggish with a "youthful vigor and libido"-enhancing Violet Ray. One of her most enduring contributions, though, was founding The Ties That Bind Us, a weekly 12-step program for the kink community that continues to meet at Sexploratorium each Tuesday.
