Netflix’s ‘Special’ Brings Disability and Gay Sex to the Forefront

By Mathew Rodriguez A simple matter of budget ended up making one of the most revolutionary queer stories on television. Ryan O’Connell, Will & Grace writer and author of the memoir I’m Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves, was not attached to star in the show he’d write and create when he first pitched …

3 Reasons You Feel Sad After Sex & What To Do About It

By Kelly Gonsalves After having sex, most people usually experience a host of positive physical, mental, and emotional feelings—a sense of euphoric high, satisfaction, relaxation, and perhaps a warm intimacy with their partner. But sometimes, a person may instead feel the opposite. Immediately following sex, they’re hit with a wave of negative emotions: They feel …

What porn taught us about sex, romance and ourselves

For a generation that went through puberty in the digital age, sex-ed often began in front of a desktop. But what happens when porn is your teacher? By Tyler Griffin Whenever eight-year-old Gabrielle Clarke watched Rihanna or Christina Aguilera music videos on YouTube, she would get an intense feeling of desire she couldn’t explain. She …

How genes and evolution shape gender – and transgender – identity

By Jenny Graves Mismatch between biological sex and gender identity, culminating in its severest form as gender dysphoria, has been ascribed to mental disease, family dysfunction and childhood trauma. But accumulating evidence now implies biological factors in establishing gender identity, and a role for particular genes. Variants – subtly different versions – of genes linked …

Sexual desire can spark a real connection

Sex helps initiate romantic relationships between potential partners, a new study finds. by Sandra Knispel-U “Sex may set the stage for deepening the emotional connection between strangers,” says lead author Gurit Birnbaum, a social psychologist and associate professor of psychology at Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in Israel. “This holds true for both men and women. Sex …

Here’s Everything Science Discovered About Sex & Relationships In 2018

By Rebecca Strong I’ll admit it: I was known to doodle in the back of chem class, and I dipped out of physics whenever I could. Simply put, science has never been my thing — except, however, when it involves the dating realm. With each study that’s released, I eagerly read the findings, hoping that …

Disabled people must be able to express our sexual needs. Our health depends on it

By Samantha Renke Sex. We all know what it is — and when most of us think of it we think of pleasure, love, passion and mostly a darn good time. However for some, sex can have a huge impact on their entire lives, affecting their wellbeing, confidence, self worth and sense of belonging. Early …

The early-20th century German trans-rights activist who was decades ahead of his time

By Elizabeth Heineman The Trump administration continues its assault on transgender rights. In July 2017, Trump sought to bar transgender people from serving in the military. Then, this past October, The New York Times obtained a memo indicating that the administration was considering narrowly defining gender “as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at …