I am disgusted at The Argus for its part in promoting the censorship of violent pornography. Brighton and Hove is the most liberal city in the country if you are gay but what about if you are a sado-masochist?

This sexual disposition is common and there are, to my knowledge, at least four regular events for sado-masochists here.

Most people I know who are into S&M are big softies - often married or in long-tern relationships - who enjoy consensual power exchange as part of their sex lives. This will sometimes involve various forms of symbolic violence and the use of S&M porn.

The proof that violent pornography promotes violent behaviour is inconclusive at best. I'm sure I would find the sort of stuff Graham Coutts looked at distasteful but the proposed ban will serve to put those who practise S&M into the same category as paedophiles.

It's undeniable that a lot of people would have signed Liz Longhurst's petition because they felt sorry for her and wanted to help.

So do I, but I would ask those people to think again - the unwitting result of their actions may have been to stigmatise a perfectly harmless section of society.

-name and address supplied