What to Do When You Want More—or Less—Sex Than Your Partner

By Justin Lehmiller [A]nyone who’s ever been in a long-term relationship knows that, when it comes to sex, we aren’t always on the same wavelength as our partners. Sometimes we’re in the mood, but our partner isn’t. Or maybe it’s the other way around. Either way, it’s usually not a big deal—unless it starts happening over …

Sex Education Based on Abstinence? There’s a Real Absence of Evidence

By Aaron E. Carroll [S]ex education has long occupied an ideological fault line in American life. Religious conservatives worry that teaching teenagers about birth control will encourage premarital sex. Liberals argue that failing to teach about it ensures more unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. So it was a welcome development when, a few years …

What it’s like to talk to your doctor about sexual health when you’re bisexual

There’s a misconception that bi people are just going through a phase — but what if our doctors believe it too? By Kate Sloan “Are you sexually active?” I’d been dreading this question since losing my virginity to a female friend a few weeks earlier, not long after my 16th birthday. Somehow, the harsh fluorescent …

The Surprising Conclusion From the Biggest Polyamory Survey Ever

It’s a win-win all around. By Tanya Basu [H]istorically, polyamory has been seen as a surefire sign of a failing relationship: If your partner is sleeping with others, even with your permission, your relationship is fizzling towards its demise. If you couldn’t satisfy your partner, your relationship was doomed. But as of late, polyamorous relationships …

How to Talk to Your Younger Sibling About Sex

Since older siblings can sometimes be the best sex-ed teachers, here are four important topics to cover and a few links about how to get the conversation started. By Abby Wolfe [P]ositive sexuality is at the forefront of conversations being had by student activists on college campuses. Dismantling the societal constructs of traditional masculinity and …

What gay trans guys wish their doctors knew

Vancouver study peers into the lives and troubles of trans MSM By Niko Bell [S]peaking to gay and bisexual trans men, the word “invisibility” comes up a lot. Invisibility in the bathhouse and on dating apps, invisibility among cisgender people, straight people, trans people and gay people. And, too often, invisibility in the doctor’s office. …

Trans Writer E. Parker Phillips Finds Poetry in He/r Fluid Identity

By Liz Tracy [A]t a Yale writing workshop in 2003, one of E. Parker Phillips’ college classmates said Phillips’ erotic poem reminded them of a Calvin Klein ad. Phillips, who identifies as genderqueer and uses “s/he” and “he/r” pronouns, doesn’t remember the poem itself, only one line from the work about a lesbian sexual awakening: …

LGBTQ kids are missing out on sex education—and it’s up to schools to change that

by Ana Valens [L]ast year, California officially mandated LGBTQ history lessons in public schools, vowing to teach “the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans” and their impact on both the state’s and the country’s history. This was a victory for LGBTQ rights, because it’s a rarity; in most states—in all but nine to …