The first time I ever went to a swingers club, I didn't go there to swing. I was a professional BDSM switch and I used to occasionally work with a Mistress. She called me and asked if I wanted to do some public play with a cross-dresser from out of town. He could never go out dressed where he lived, so being seen by others was a great turn on.
He was tall with great legs. Cross-dressers always have the best legs. They make me jealous. He was all dressed up in heels and hose, in a red dress, with a blond wig. We went to 2Risque in Atlanta, Georgia. Everyone there was friendly and open to us doing a little BDSM play.
He sat down on a barstool and I took a 30 foot latex strap about 3 inches wide and tied him to the chair with his legs spraddled wide open. I then took a knife and cut off his hose, and played with him with various toys. The local swingers were kind enough to stop by, fondle him, and give him lots of sweet attention. We had a great time, and he went home very happy.
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein published in 1961, won the 1962 Hugo Award
This was the first book I ever read that had swingers in it. Well, it wasn't called swinging, but the orgies and communal living certainly inspired the generation who decided to throw off the shackles of conventional sexuality. It is considered to be the most socially influential book ever written by Robert Heinlein.
The main character, Valentine Michael Smith was the child of the first Mars expedition. The crew died on Mars and he was raised by Martians. When he returns to Earth in his twenties, he is human in appearance, but culturally an alien. His otherworldly views and experiences take a hard look at human behavior. It asks why do we do the things we do and should we continue in the same way. Politics, religion, sexuality, marriage are all examined through alien eyes. The book actually spawned a pagan church.
It made me think about what I do and why I do it. When I read it, I was still in a very narrow minded church. Though I continued in the religion another 15 years, it did change how I looked at religion. I decided that religion was like being made into a bonsai tree. My essential nature could not be changed. A maple is a maple is a maple. What I hoped was that the strictures and limitations of my church could be used to concentrate and distill my essence into something beautiful.