SEX POSITIVE: A Documentary About the Birth of Safer Sex

I just finished watching Sex Positive, a documentary about Richard Berkowitz, who (along with singer and activist Michael Callen and physician Joseph Sonnabend) is largely responsible for the safer sex movement as we know it.   The film is probably most interesting because it’s complex. Berkowitz isn’t portrayed as a flawless hero and his fight […]

Sex and the Snowpocalypse

Most of Saint Louis is covered in what looks to be snow but is actually tiny ice pellets, with the weathermen promising vast amounts of snow later. All around the STL-based blogosphere, people are writing, Facebooking, and Tweeting about the oncoming Snowpocalypse (also: Snowmageddon, Icepocalypse, or—as the National Weather Center is warning—Blizzard) and SEX+STL is […]

Bad Boys of St. Louis

Bad Boys of St. Louis is an announcement list for local events for men who are interested in playing with other men. The list is organized by DJ, a South City resident, PHD student, and teacher. “I teach college to pay the bills,” he says. I first met DJ at a SEX+STL coffee talk just […]

Shut Up and Love the Rain: A Personal Look at Being Queer

Way back in my introduction, I mentioned that I was a print fetishist. Few things excite me like a well-designed book, an exciting publishing experiment, or the results of an artist’s self-published endeavors. That last category is what I want to talk about today (and probably a lot in the future.) If you’re not familiar […]

Greta Christina at Skepticon 3

A few months back, Kendra and I both attended Skepticon 3, a Springfield, MO convention dedicated to skepticism. I think that Kendra and I both agree that one of the best things about the convention itself (excluding anything that may have happened in hotel rooms in between speakers and platforms) was Greta Christina‘s talk, Atheism […]

Finding Peace at The Facility

by Johnny Murdoc In lieu of a blog post today, I’m going to direct you to an essay of mine that was published this week. It’s my account of SEX+STL’s first fundraiser, and I think it’s relevant to share here for a handful of reasons. The most important is that we have another fundraiser coming […]

Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby: Part Two

by Johnny Murdoc In the last part, I wrote about primary method that my partner, Evan, and I used to facilitate discussions about sex, which involved regularly reading the weekly Savage Love column to one another. Reading about the real-world sexual issues of Love’s audience provided a great framework for discussing sexuality on a regular […]

Right On, Taylor Momsen…

by Johnny Murdoc So, I know it’s somewhat irresponsible to take a break from posting the next installment of a series—especially when it’s only the second installment—but I wanted to share this quote. (Also, I may have not actually written the second installment, yet. I promise(!) it will come around next week, though.) However, I […]

Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby: Part One

by Johnny Murdoc Whenever sex educators or advice columnists are confronted with problems between partners, their first recommendation is going to be communication. Recommending communication is easy because it’s true: there’s honestly nothing more crucial for correcting problems or making a change within a romantic or sexual relationships than communication. We all know that we […]

Department of Defense Releases Major Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Survey

by Johnny Murdoc Today should prove to be an important step forward for gay rights, as far as gays serving in the military is concerned. Just a short while ago, the U.S. Department of Defense released the findings of their thorough survey regarding the feelings of military personnel toward the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t […]

Sex Positive Podcasts

by Johnny Murdoc So. Today nearly conspired to keep me from blogging again, much like last Tuesday conspired to keep me from blogging last week. But I have persevered and you, dear readers, get to reap the rewards! Or, not, since this feels a little rushed. Hopefully, in the near future, I can get back […]

Sex Positive… MTV?

by Johnny Murdoc If you watch MTV these days, you can be forgiven for not realizing that the network was once on the vanguard of promoting safe and healthy sexuality. Shows like Jersey Shore do little to inspire the sex-positive conversation that we’d all like to see happen. During the 1990’s, when I was lucky […]