The ‘Keep It Real Online’ campaign wants parents to talk to kids about porn — but where to start?

By Tracy Clelland The hugely successful “Keep It Real Online” video aimed at getting parents to talk to their children about pornography has gone viral and been praised around the world. But my 16-year-old son asked an interesting question when he looked at the campaign website: Why does it say talk “to” your child? Shouldn’t …

Keeping Kids Curious About Their Bodies Without Shame

It’s natural and entirely harmless for young children to explore. But it’s also important for parents to set boundaries. By Jenny Marder A mother received an awkward email from her son’s kindergarten teacher last fall. Her 6-year-old and his friends had been caught unzipping their pants and flashing each other during lunch. The behavior was …

How Quarantine Helped Me Overcome Stigmas Surrounding Queer Dating

By Meggie Gates I’ve been out since I was 19, and insecure since the day I was born. I’ve shied away from intimacy my entire life, something psychologists label “avoidant attachment” and my mother calls “frustrating.” I am 26, I do not like to be touched, and incidences of sexual assault have only heightened that …

Free BDSM porn film from Erika Lust will teach you so much about fetish and kink

As well as being realllllly hot, it tackles some of the most common miscoceptions about BDSM. By Paisley Gilmour Indie porn director Erika Lust is best known for her ethical production processes and feminist erotic films. From VR porn allowing people to live out their sex party fantasies, to this free porn she released which …

The Forgotten Origins of the Modern Gay Rights Movement in WWI

In the winter of 1915, a German soldier died in a field hospital in Russia. We don’t know his name, but he helped revolutionize the way people advocated for gay rights. By Laurie Marhoefer One of the World War I’s most enduring legacies is largely forgotten: It sparked the modern gay rights movement. Gay soldiers …

13 Necessary Queer Literary Classics For Every Bookshelf

From Virginia Woolf’s Orlando and James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room to Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Color Purple and Ocean Vuong’s 2019 debut — the queer literary landscape is vibrant, expansive and ready to be explored. By Rosalind Jana The history of queer literature is a long one. From Greek poet Sappho to Irish playwright Oscar …

A very, very beginner’s guide to understanding BDSM

By Mary Grace Garis Even as BDSM comes to popular light via media portrayals and increased openness about intimate habits and preferences, much about the sexual practice remains misunderstood and incorrectly presumed to be negative and abusive—especially in those media portrayals. This is perhaps most recently depicted in that degrading scene in Hulu’s Normal People, …

17 Totally Normal Things to Experience in Your Relationship Right Now

The good, the bad, and the irritating. By Anna Borges It doesn’t take a scientist to know that the coronavirus crisis is rife with stressors and challenges that would shake up even the healthiest of relationships. Maybe the pandemic is acting as a pressure cooker for relationship problems you already had or maybe it’s serving …