Events

This Revolution Will Not Be Privatized

One of the best signs at the Occupy Wall Street‘s ongoing protest that is spreading like wildfire across the country right now said, “This revolution will not be privatized.” Well, what do we actually mean by that?

In the last 24 hours, Occupy Together has increased by almost 200 more cities, up from 749 to 928 cities, including Washington, DC. Wildfire. It’s about effin’ time. A movement like no other that has been 40 years in the making by my clock.

This week, Occupy Wall Street’s NYC General Assembly issued an official declaration. This is the American people standing up for the U.S. Constitution and the egalitarian principles it represents, here and abroad.

This is and always has been a public matter, of the people, by the people, and for the people, our joint struggle for universal pluralism, expressed by true democracy, not what passes for democracy today. It’s definitely not what the Values Voters Summit 2o11 speakers and politicians will be talking about tomorrow at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. They are billed as “upholding traditional values” and “protecting America” while they spout hate and homophobia and seek more and more draconian limitations on our constitutional rights. We’ll be outside there to call these bozos out, will you?

Occupy Wall Street and Occupy DC came together in irresistible solidarity yesterday with Stop The Machine, a 4+ day, long-planned event focusing on ending the wars, the killing, the corruption, and corporate greed that is ruining human lives and the natural environment. The mood of the crowd was summed up by one speaker at the microphone last night (paraphrased), “The economic collapse is good news because it tells us that this system is finished. The CEOs and politicians responsible should be jailed. No election in 2012, we need to start from scratch and never again allow class and race determine who can survive. Our environment has been ignored and we have a chance to fix it but that is not possible under this system.” He went on to say, “Nothing short of revolution is acceptable, an end to biggest police state (America) ever created. Like past successful revolutions where the people were pit against enormous odds, we will end this system once and for all.”

Yes, the meek will inherit the earth.

Liberty? Justice? Equality? Love? Truth? Freedom? Who will keep them alive if not us?

If not us, who will put an end to the coercive systems we have allowed our government to wield against its own people and innocents abroad? When will we stop the state-sponsored murders and corruption America has spawned? And who if not us can replace them with the voluntary associations of autonomous individuals? We can do it. We can envision a better world and make it a reality. We have ideas and we have skills.

Asking for the end of repressive government systems, such as War (the only thing to justify massive spending budgets and expand economic slaves to fill body bags without end) will be replaced by something better. It’s not anarchy, but anarchism that oversees the progressive ecology that replaces bad policy and legislation, all repressive, coercive systems, with something better. That something better focuses on helping the most number of people, not just the elite. This is the essence of progressive improvement of civilization.

Reproductive choice is a good example. Activists have worked and are working dutifully and passionately to extract this human decision from the grips of the state, religions, corporations, and even entrenched social customs. We know that it is private choice between a woman and her doctor, that’s it and that’s all it should ever be, a completely voluntary association.

To change our current system, to Stop the Machine that oppresses the 99% who wish to live in peace on a clean planet, we engage in envisioning, articulating, and advocating for better ways to do things, built to serve all of humanity, not a small global gang of greedy and bullying busybodies that stand in the way of all happiness. All of these movements, Rebuild the Dream, Occupy Together, and Stop the Machine are the spirit of Madison,Wisconsin, to the nth degree, and we applaud them. Power to the people. The truth will set us free.

At VenusPlusX, we have pointed out before that sexual freedom is the bedrock of all freedom because it brings to every human’s heart and mind the physical, mental, and spiritual “feeling” of freedom that no one can assail or strip. It’s a bodily guarantee that we carry inside us. Each person experiencing sexual pleasure or orgasm, for the first time or throughout a lifetime, knows in both heart and head what freedom feels like. Everything we do, our search for our own happiness, tries in some way to recreate a bit of that dynamism inherent in sexual pleasure because we know what we are looking for, that feeling of at-one-ment, peace, joy, and satisfaction, the drive to move forward towards a better life.

Right now many movements are coming together in force to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat. We are doing this without uniformity (not needed) but with passion for a newfound unity of purpose, long overdue.

Wildfire.

Southern Comfort—Historic Gathering

What is “gender non-conforming?” “What does a transexual person have in common with a part-time cross-dresser? or with a transgender person who identifies as neither?” “Can transgender and gender non-conforming people, cross-dressers, transexual men and women who have undergone Sexual Reassignment Surgery (SRS), and other segments of this diverse cohort group ever speak as one?” To feel the power of collective action that is sleeping beneath us? “What are the limits of working in coalition with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and interesex people?” “What are the shared policy priorities we can all work on together, in unity without uniformity?

These are just a few of the brain-twisting questions we heard and engaged in while attending Atlanta’s Southern Comfort Conference, our second year at this awesome and inspiring event. There were many firsts in this 21st gathering, now closely associated with the name of Robert Eads, a transman who died 13 years ago in Georgia because not one doctor would agree to treat his ovarian cancer. Eads’ case was internationalized with the release of the 2001 documentary film Southern Comfort, which received awards at the Sundance, Seattle, and Berlin film festivals. Talking to some social workers from Japan, I found his cause and the American trans movement is known in Asia as, simply, Eads. Just now, the CAP 21 Theatre Company in Manhattan is presenting a new musical, Southern Comfort, based on the 2001 documentary.

Southern Comfort was featured last year in Chaz Bono‘s history making documentary, Becoming Chaz, about his transition from Cher and Sonny Bono’s daughter Chastity to the Chaz he always knew he was. Bono attended last year’s conference and met many of us, and at the same time has emerged as a fierce advocate for trans and equality rights. This year he called into the Saturday night gala to say hello to everyone by phone, saying he couldn’t be there this year because he’s in training for his groundbreaking appearance on TV’s popular Dancing With The Stars.

This year, Southern Comfort broke all attendance records and must be credited with bringing together the largest gathering of trans men ever, 60 among a crowd of nearly 1000 dominated by feminist expression. Noteworthy to the media was the first-ever joint seminar with the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) that comprised Southern Comfort’s last day.

You can call this one of the happiest week in the calendar, where all these segments get together in an environment of safety, acceptance, and celebration. It is the courageous lives of these most tolerant, compassionate, relatively highly educated people on the front lines of obtaining full legal equality and the freedom they deserve to live their lives as they choose and in peace. It’s the happiest because it’s a taste of a world totally free from sexual oppression, free from government interference, man-made religious precept, and outdated social customs and discrimination. While the questions we wrestle with often disable an otherwise productive unity of purpose among this most select community of gender benders, every encounter leads to more shared understanding of what we are fighting for.

For this and many other reasons we are trying to get an online national conversation going about building trans unity and trans leadership. Together we can bring the rest of the world to understand that gender freedom is a crucial and unfairly maligned gateway to creativity, truth, and love. Together we can move the political debate forward, influence state and federal policy and lawmaking, and bring about trans-inclusive legislation that will save so many lives.

We welcome guest bloggers and cross-posts, or just leave a comment here or on Facebook or Twitter. Let us know what you are doing to educate and advocate for trans equality. If you work with one or more organizations, are they making trans rights a priority? What will bring about comity among superficially different segments of the trans community? What are the shared policy priorities that will have a universal appeal, not only in the gay and trans community, but to all Americans and citizens abroad?”

 

Ugandan Bishop Christopher Senyonjo Calls for Compassion

Compassion is not religious business, it is human business, it is not luxury, it is essential for our own peace and mental stability, it is essential for human survival.  Dalai Lama

The other evening I received an email inviting me to meet the man commonly refered to as the ‘Desmond Tutu’ of Uganda – Bishop Christopher Senyonjo. Bishop Senyonjo’s unfailing support for the LGBTI people cost him his job in the Anglican Church of Uganda and everything else but his integrity. To his fellow Anglican Bishops and church leaders, he is a useless, good for nothing person, BUT to the LGBTI community, he is a savior and that is what keeps him standing. When the Kampala tabloids called for the hanging of LGBTI Ugandans, they included his picture.

He has been aggressive in his fight against the Ugandan Parliament’s “Anti-Homosexuality Bill,” which calls for imprisonment and death. Against all odds, he has gone on to create a safe space where the LGBTI/straight allies find refuge while the rest of the population turns against them: St. Paul’s Reconciliation And Equality Centre-Kampala.

St. Paul Reconciliation Centre pursues a holistic approach to the challenges in Uganda, providing essential services while also seeking systemic change and fostering genuine reconciliation for LGBTI persons and other marginalized groups. Its programs include business development, HIV education and services, counseling, and support for expanded schools, LGBTI advocacy and dialogue, an LGBTI legal resource team, and a sanctuary safe house for activists who frequently need to go into hiding.

Whenever he is around town, I get to see him, and over the weekend had another opportunity to listen to him speak at All Souls Episcopal Church in Washington, DC. Throngs listened to him talk about Compassion and call for all people to be tolerant of everybody like Jesus was.

He thanked Americans for their good heart and for sacrificing their huge taxes towards helping the disadvantaged populations around the world, including but not limited to the LGBTI community in Uganda.

Anyone who wants to contribute to this cause…please visit the center’s website.

“The only weapon we can use to fight our battles isn’t guns, atomic bombs, or missiles, but compassion.” Bishop Christopher Senyonjo

 

This week’s hot stuff (9-22-11)

The Take Back the American Dream conference, organized by the Campaign for America’s Future with support from Rebuild the Dream, will be happening on October 3 – 5 in Washington, DC. Find out more and register online. The American Dream Movement is growing stronger by the day, and it’s not going away until everyone can find jobs, afford to go to college, retire with dignity, and secure a future for our children and our communities.

Rainbow Response Coalition in DC is a grassroots organization addressing the needs of LGBTQ people with regard to domestic violence. This deeply sensitive work joins LGBTQ leaders domestic with violence service providers and government agencies to increase the awareness about Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) amid the relationships of LGBTQ individuals, and educating within the LGBTQ communities and beyond. We encourage you to get involved and support Rainbow Response Coalition.

We hoping to make it to the The Singularity Summit 2011, a TED-style two-day event at the historic 92nd Street Y in New York City, October 15-16. This is all about the development of new technologies ramping up more and more rapidly, an exponential expansion of technology wherein technology feeds on itself making unpredictable progress, otherwise known as “the singularity,” a term coined and popularized by inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil. Joining Kurzweil as a speaker are visionary scientist Stephen Wolfram, IBM manager Dan Cerutti, longevity expert Sonia Arrison, author David Brin, neuroscientist Christof Koch, PayPal founder Peter Thiel, MIT cosmologist Max Tegmark, AI researcher Eliezer Yudkowsky, MIT polymath Alexander Wissner-Gross, DARPA challenge winner Riley Crane, Skype founder Jaan Tallinn, economist Tyler Cowen, television personalities Jason Silva and Casey Pieretti, and robotics professors James McLurnkin and Robin Murphy. The Singularity Summit was founded as an academic forum for discussing the “big picture” questions in industry, economics, and ethics raised by the prospect of such a profound event.

Fantasia Fair is a week-long celebration of gender diversity and according to its website it is also the longest-running annual event in the transgender world. Every October it is held in Provincetown, Massachusetts, this year October 16-23. We have only heard rave reviews of this gathering which attracts hundreds of gender-queer and transfolk from across the country. There is a whole circuit of similarly themed conferences, one called Be All every year in Chicago. Many people we have spoken to here with us attending Atlanta’s Southern Comfort Conference are heading north for Fantasia Fair because there is nothing like person-to-person contact to help forward our common cause.

Out & Equal‘s 2011 Workplace Summit in Dallas is coming, October 25-28. “Individuals, human resources professionals, diversity managers, employee resource group (ERG) leaders, and allies have the perfect platform from which to make powerful connections, share best practices, and formulate a strategy that allows for a powerful demonstration of their commitment to equality in the workplace.” Find out more about this and the many other thing this organization is accomplishing.

We marvel over The American Equality Bill which calls for equal non-discrimination protections for sexuality and gender, and would apply nationally to every state by adding “sexual orientation and gender identity” to all existing federal civil rights legislation.  As endorsements add up for this idea, Representative Jared Polis (CO-2) is also working on an LGBT Omnibus Equality Bill to be introduced sometime in October. If you want to get involved in working towards such a bill and help free our society from sexuality and gender oppression, go to Equality Giving or Facebook.

It’s Vicky’s birthday again, Victoria Woodhull that is (September 23, 1838 – June 9, 1927), the radical suffragette that founded the sexual freedom movement. Each year, Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance produces a report, the State of the Sexual Freedom in the US, and presides over Sexual Freedom Day filled with informative presentations, the “Vicky” Awards to outstanding sexual freedom pioneers, and a sumptuous gala in the evening. Alison and Dan are members of the Alliance’s Advisory Board, and VenusPlusX returns as a Sexual Freedom Day sponsor. Some tickets are still available, but make a note for next September 23 to attend this must-go event.

And. we can’t pass any opportunity to draw your attention to People For The American Way and its crucial work fighting right-wing extremism in this country. Please check out “Right Wing Watch” on their website, one of many features that will spur you into action.

Last but not least, a shout out and message of love and deep admiration for all the dedicated and impassioned individuals who comprise Servicemembers Legal Defense Network and played such a vital role in seeing through the September 20 repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” It’s a brand new day. Thank you.

If you your site or blog isn’t yet on our general Stuff We Like, or would like to be featured here on our weekly top ten, please let us hear from you.

This week’s hot stuff (9-15-11)

Voto Latino along with the National Council of La Raza are playing an increasing central role in advocating for progressive causes across a spectrum of stakeholders, not just for immigration, but all struggles for economic and social justice including labor rights and equality rights. These are the leaders of America’s new majority and so much the target of the old white men who would have it otherwise. We will soon be hearing from Gloria Nieto who will be writing on the intersection of race, gender, and sexual politics.

In doing research for a story Zain Rivzi is preparing this week, about what it is like to be gay in Iran today, we came across the now resurfaced Iran Human Rights Blog. Zain is asking if you know that the only way two men can be coupled in Iran is if one of them undergoes sexual reassignment surgery? The penalties for homosexuality is imprisonment, torture, and death, which are worse, but the result is an entire class of transexuals who easily fall into poverty and prostitution. Prostitution in Iran is technically legal under government issued “temporary marriage” documents, but in any calculation it’s a mess, and a mess that we need to care about.

The Organization for Refuge Asylum & Migration (Oram) is a fierce and heroic advocate for refugees fleeing sexual and gender violence and provides free legal advice and representation. They are looking for interns and volunteers and you can “adopt a refugee” to see someone through the passage of safety and resettlement.

Doing work on America’s streets to prevent the spread of HIV and protect the lives of prostitutes living at society’s edge, Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive (HIPS) works tirelessly to break the chain of poverty, prostitution, and HIV. We salute them, support them, and urge you to get involved in this life-saving work.

Returning again this year, we’re off to Southern Comfort Conference next week. This most excellent and exuberant gathering draws nearly a thousand gender non-conforming and trans folks and their allies spending a 4-day weekend sharing wisdom and seeking common ground. Check out the days of programming that are punctuated with all sorts of social events; this year, the conference joins the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) International Symposium on September 26. You’ll want to come, or at least put it on your calendar for next year. Scholarships are available. We will be hosting several events there including several scheduled Live Twitter Chats on the subject of Transunity and Transleadership. If there ever was a time to join hands to end transphobia, it certainly has to be now.

The last week in September we are headed to Arse Elektronika (AE) for a something, as they say, completely different. Nonetheless it is related to sexual freedom. AE is an international conference founded in Austria and held each year in Europe and in San Francisco. It is an exposition of the future of sexuality, gender, and technology. As transhumanists we are interested in the individuals and companies on the forefront of this industry’s great potential. because they have a built in interest in the struggle for sexual freedom and may want to become involved in in VenusPlusX’s grant-making programs. Consider that future sex is safe sex and future sex technology will find more of a market as sexual repression ebbs away and disappears.

We are again highlighting DC Trans Coalition, and its recently released preliminary findings in a Needs Assessment that was undertaken last year. Must reading for all those who advocate for the rights of trans people, and other sexual minorities. Around here, we say, “If you advocate for the T (as in Transgender, Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual people, TLGB) you are advocating for everyone. We hope you will take an interest and support the DCTC’s exemplary work.

Planning for January’s Creating Change Conference (January 25-29, 2012, in Baltimore) is underway and looking for volunteers and presenters. The next planning meeting is September 15 at 7:oo PM at the MCC Church conference room (401 W. Monument Street, Baltimore, MD 21201).

Few dig as deep as Michelle Meow at Swirl Radio out of San Francisco, “a fast-paced show . . . from the epicenter of the gay universe.” Check it out.

And, last but not least, a shout out to our favorite news aggregator  for giving the Huffington Post a run for their money, The Raw Story.

If you your site or blog isn’t yet on our general Stuff We Like, or would like to be featured here on our weekly top ten, please let us hear from you.

Newly expanded VenusPlusX rolls out

We are expanding with our retooled website to fulfill VenusPlusX’s mission to help usher in “The New Age of Sexual Freedom” – a world free from the global culture of racial, sexual, and gender oppression and violence driven by governments, religions, corporations, and social custom.

We aim to do that with the site’s new utilities and capabilities, bringing the voices of our diverse allies via our campaigns, initiatives, educational and advocacy programs, and grassroots organizing.

Some highlights . . .

  • New videos daily as part of our Sexual Freedom Project. LilMike will bring us videos, poems, essays, artwork, and other original submissions from readers on the topic of sexual freedom, or anything else that is covered by VenusPlusX. And, there is a free VenusPlusX t-shirt for participating.
  • Join a national conversation on Transunity and Transleadership, addressing lots of challenging and urgent questions, with our Guest Feature Editor, Jos Truitt. Jos, Alison, and Dan will be hosting several live twitter chats next week at Atlanta’s Southern Comfort Conference.
  • Zain Rizvi, Adrianna Midamba, and other international activists join Kushaba “Moses” Mworeko’s Global Sexual Freedom Watch, widening our response to the imprisonment, sexual mutilation, and murders of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, the severe curtailment of women’s rights, human trafficking, and the steady eradication of anyone who is HIV+ — in 100s of countries. Use the annotated bibliography as a resource and to get involved. Fundraising to support LGBT US asylum seekers is also on deck.
  • Jack Diehl will be giving us his wry take on his favorite news stories everyday.
  • And, Dan Massey will continue to write on the broad topic of Transhuman Erotic Freedom, adding to his large archive from the past year. Includes an annotated Table of Contents. Prepare for The New Age of Sexual Freedom.

I will be reporting on America’s general problem with sex and gender, and how this is connected to violent oppression across the globe through flawed government laws and policies, often exploited by American businessmen and politicians. I’ll also be charting the grassroots to help focus “boots on the ground” when/where needed.

Please let us know what you think of the new site and ways we can improve it. To help expand our reach, add us to your blog roll, tell your friends, and “Like” us on Facebook, “Like-Favorite-Comment-Subscribe” to our YouTube videos, “Follow” us on Twitter, and post or email your uncensored comments.

We are here for you, take off to the new age of sexual freedom.

VenusPlusX September Expansion Announced

Visitors! Let us know what you think of our expansion to fulfill VenusPlusX’s mission to help usher in “The New Age of Sexual Freedom” – a world free from the global culture of racial, sexual, and gender oppression and violence driven by governments, religions, commerce, and social customs

We aim to do that through multiple and international voices participating in our campaigns, initiatives, educational and advocacy programs, and grassroots organizing, all expanding this month with venusplusx.org’s new utilities and capabilities.

We are especially proud of our new roster of Feature Editors, Guest Editors, and Guest Bloggers, such as…

  • Zain Rivzi, Adrianna Midama, and other international activists join Kushaba “Moses” Mworeko in widening response to the imprisonment, sexual mutilation, and murders of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, the severe curtailment of women’s rights, and the steady eradication of anyone who is HIV+ 100s of countries. And, keeping up-to-date a useful annotated bibliography as a resource to anyone who will get involved. Fundraising to support LGBT US asylum seekers is also on deck.
  • Dan Massey will continue to write on the broad topic of Transhuman Erotic Freedom, adding to his large archive developed over the last 6 months, with an annotated Table of Contents for your use. Prepare for The New Age of Sexual Freedom.
  • Jack Diehl will be giving us his wry take on his favorite news stories everyday. And be sure to check out our new Sexual Freedom Project: LilMike will bring us videos, poems, essays, artwork and other original submissions from readers on the topic of sexual freedom, or anything else that is covered by VenusPlusX. If your submission is featured on the site, we’ll send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt for participating.

One of the good results of expanding our online presence, and the new staff to support all these editors, is that I will at last have the time to devote myself two subjects that tie in with all this.

For one, reporting out my research into self-styled American Fundamentalists groups (that include, sadly, current U.S. Senators and Representatives) involved today in exporting hate and homophobia in the name of religion to boost their own (and their associate’s) commercial interests. And it’s all courtesy of your tax dollars.

Second, my passion, is bringing to life the real victims of sexually-motivated violence against women and people who are LGBT, and honoring their sacrifice by putting grassroots “boots on the ground” to bring public and media attention around concerns and demands for immediate relief from police bias, full federal equality rights, and the passage and enforcement of trans-inclusive legislation throughout the United States.

We hope you will find our new features and expanded utilities both interesting and enticing, To help expand our reach, please Like us on Facebook, Like-Favorite-Comment-Subscribe to our YouTube videos, follow us on Twitter, and email your uncensored comments to us at columbia@venusplusx.org.

Newly designed and greatly expanded website coming

Just thought I’d let everyone know that we have been working hard all summer to develop campaigns and initiatives to help usher in “The New Age of Sexual Freedom” – a world free from the global culture of racial, sexual, and gender oppression and violence  currently supported by governments, religions, commerce, and social customs.

In a few days, we will go dark for 24 hours to upload our newly designed website with expanded content and new resources. We are especially proud of our new roster of Feature Editors, Guest Editors, and Guest Bloggers, such as . . .

Kushaba Moses Mwreko and Adrianna Midama will be writing more about global sexual freedom, and keeping up their annotated bibliography for anyone needing a quick education on international issues.

Dan Massey will continue to write on the broad topic of Transhuman Erotic Freedom, adding to his large archive developed over the last 6 months. Prepare for The New Age of Sexual Freedom.

Guest Editor, Jos Truitt, will moderate a national conversation on Transunity and Transleadership, addressing lots of challenging questions. And, later this month, Jos, Alison, and Dan will be hosting several live twitter chats at Atlanta’s Southern Comfort Conference later this month.

Jack Diehl will be giving us his wry take on his favorite news stories everyday. And be sure to can check out Tiye Massey‘s daily post of one of our latest YouTube video (or guest blog) featuring anyone of you who can answer, “What does sexual freedom mean to me?” If you send your written or video story or call us up on Skype-record, we’ll send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt for participating.

One of the good results of expanding our online presence, and the new staff to support all these editors, is that I will at last have the time to devote myself two subjects that tie in with all this. First, reporting out my research into American fundamentalist groups (that include, sadly, current U.S. Senators and Representatives) involved today in exporting hate and homophobia in the name of religion but only for their own (and their associate’s) commercial interest, all on your tax dollars. And, bringing to life the grassroots’ boots on the ground fighting for immediate relief from police bias and full federal equality rights.

We hope you find these new feature interesting and enticing, and look forward to getting your comments on the new site once we go live next week. In fact, we crave your criticism so we can do a better job.

Alison Gardner, co-founder of VenusPlusX

 

VenusPlusX hosts August 3 Meet the Author Dr. Gloria Brame

You’re Invited: Meet & Greets in DC on Aug 3

Filed By Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | July 31, 2011 11:30 AM

http://www.bilerico.com/2011/07/youre_invited_meet_greets_in_dc_on_aug_3.php

If I’ve seemed a little scarce around here lately, it’s because I am. My new book, , The Truth About Sex just came out. It’s my obsession! I have barely left the house in two years but I’m heading to Washington DC next week to talk for the first time about the research, theories, and ideas that went into my book.

In the morning, I’m delivering the keynote lecture for the annual CARAS conference on alternative sexuality. CARAS is an academic forum but BDSM/poly/queer community members are welcome to attend. That night at 7 pm, The Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance, and the sex futurists at VenusPlusX are hosting a private book reception/literary salon for me. Both events are open to the public on a limited basis, and both require either registration or direct contact.

Please consider yourself invited to either or both! There’s a rumor going around I’m just an AI program, so here’s your chance to prove I’m real.

Americans talk a lot about sex, but they don’t always know what they’re talking about. Why do we think one type of sex is better than another? Why do we let inhibitions and sexual confusion hold us back? Does sex addiction exist – and do you have it? Has achieving orgasm become a pointless endeavor? Could sex break up your relationship?

If you’re in Washington DC on Wednesday, August 3, join the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance for an evening talking about these issues and more with the author of The Truth About Sex, A Sex Primer for the 21st Century Volume I: Sex and the Self, by internationally renowned sex therapist, bestselling author and sex blogger/historian (Gloria’s Oversexed MindThe Bilerico Project), Gloria G. Brame, Ph.D.

Email to attend book reception: DEADLINE Monday, August 1

#NNLGBT Photos & Videos

Tomorrow we are turning our Netroots Nation LGBT caucus (#NNLGBT) into another strategy session that will build on our work yesterday, Wednesday’s LGBT pre-convention. But tonight (it’s late but still Thursday here in the Twin Cities), a special shout-out and gratitude to Carlos in DC for these great photos and videos from Wednesday. Enjoy.

http://carlosqc.wordpress.com/2011/06/16/the-2011-netroots-nation-lgbt-netroots-connect-pre-conference-videos-photos/

So tired tonight, that’s all. Tomorrow, Friday, we will catch up reporting news, thoughts, impressions, and maybe some inspiration too.

–Alison