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- Invasion of Privacy Charges After Death of Tyler Clementi – NYTimes.com – The Sept. 22 death, details of which the authorities disclosed on Wednesday, was the latest by a young American that followed the online posting of hurtful material. The news came on the same day that Rutgers kicked off a two-year, campuswide project to teach the importance of civility, with special attention to the use and abuse of new technology.
- Twitter, Facebook, and social activism : The New Yorker – Gladwell disputes the usefulness of social media in motivating and coordinating high-risk activism. A very interesting look at the difference in utility between strong ties and weak ties. (via @sitps)
- 500 Internal Server Error – 500 Internal Server Error
- It Gets Better. Also … Grief. Please #stayalive. – Sugarbutch Chronicles – That’s five. Five people, five boys, who could have grown up to be part of our world, part of our community, part of gay activism, or who could have, at the very least, grown up. Five boys since school started less than a month ago.
- The future of sexology comes to San Francisco with the Arse Elektronika conference | io9 – . I love this array of crazy science fiction/science/sex presentations that straddle the line between academic credibility and outright perversion.
- Dr. Logan Levkoff: Sex Educators Unite to Support University Sex Weeks | Huffington Post – Though Brooks appeared to be concerned for students' and colleges' reputations, she offers no voice for the student organizers of these events or their faculty supporters (and hints at no discussion with them either). In an effort to present their voices, I reached out to sex educators, college student groups, and faculty members from various universities. Every educator and group contacted was frustrated by Brooks' mischaracterization of their events and their work. Many of them were outraged that the individual leading the charge against sex-themed programming was an economics professor with no experience in sexuality education. We decided to respond and together composed a Letter to the Editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education. It was sent it to the editors on September 16th.
- Assistant attorney general blogs against gay student body president – CNN.com – For nearly six months, Andrew Shirvell, an assistant attorney general for the state of Michigan, has waged an internet campaign against college student Chris Armstrong, the openly gay student assembly president at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
- Sexy Books: Celebrate your freedom to read during Banned Books Week | Examiner.com –
- Internet Pornographers Now Suing Pirates | Mashable – The producers have targeted users who downloaded titles that prominently feature transsexuals and “barely legal” 18-year old girls. Since the lawsuits are on public record, the defendants’ porn-viewing habits would be exposed.
- Why Folsom St. Fair is Fun, Sexy and Important | Charlie Glickman – One of the key pieces of sex-positivity can be summed up by the acronym YKINMKBYKIOK, which stands for “Your Kink Is Not My Kink But Your Kink Is OK”. Once you realize that your turn-ons and your squicks come from within you, once you realize that it has less to do with what someone else is doing or saying than you think, you can discover much more sexual freedom within yourself.
- Bronx Teacher Reassigned After Article on Sex Job – NYTimes.com – A teacher at a Bronx elementary school has been reassigned after writing on a Web site about her past as a sex worker. In a short online article in The Huffington Post on Sept. 7, the teacher, Melissa Petro, criticized Craigslist for shutting down its “adult services” section, which carried sex-related advertising.
- Sex and The Male Psychology — Catherine| Gamasutra – It's been a while since I've seen sex in a game and been taken aback, but I was genuinely awed when I realized it was happening again as I watched this trailer. The topic of true sexuality was certainly being addressed here, focusing not only on Vincent's sexual orientation but also the world within his dreams. Whether Catherine is just a symbol or a flesh and blood woman, the scenario being portrayed so far suggests that we are about to participate in a journey through his psychosis to seek the answers — and that is something new indeed.
- The Dirty Little Secret of Feminine Desire… | Pamela Madsen | Psychology Today –
- Dan Savage Creates YouTube Channel to Help Gay Teens | Mashable – Sex advice columnist and gay rights activist Dan Savage has launched a YouTube channel called “It Gets Better.” He’s soliciting videos from fans who want to provide support and encouragement to gay teens who face adversity, discrimination and bullying in high school.
- Band Aids, Saving Face, and Endangering Sex Workers: The Craigslist Saga | Waking Vixen – Removing online spaces for this community building, which often starts with advertising, drives independent workers underground and forces them to rely on groups that do not have their best interests at heart.
- Five myths about prostitution | Washington Post – But as the Craigslist controversy proves, it's also one of the fastest changing. And as a result, most people's perceptions of the sex trade are wildly out of date.
- What’s Happening with Google Instant Didn’t Happen Overnight | Tony Comstock’s Kōan of Silence – So now everybody knows — there are some things that Google doesn’t want to show you. This is not news.
- Google Instant: No Sex — and No Violet Blue | violet blue ® :: open source sex -
- Instant Censorship, Google Style | Sex In The Public Square – To Google my challenge is different: Don’t filter nudity or sexual health results in the name of filtering pornography. Don’t filter in the first place. Your users already have the ability to control their search settings. Don’t censor them automatically. Don’t be evil.
- Google Instant Blocks Sexy Searches: See What Basic Terms Google Thinks Are NSFW – As The Register observes, Google Instant “includes a blacklist for words and phrases involving what the company considers ‘violence, hate, or pornography.’” Whereas querying for neutral terms like “weather” or “restaurant” offers up a dropdown menu with suggested terms and presents a page of relevant search results, the streaming search tool does not work with “NSFW” search terms, which cause the page to go blank.
- Dependable Pleasure | Pamela Madsen | Psychology Today – Food doesn’t tell you that you are fat and undesirable.
- Lauren Weinstein’s Blog: Unintended Consequences: Google Instant and the “Suicide Search” (and a Solution) – The effect my friend noted, and that I verified with various other searches, is a fundamental aspect of how Google Instant is implemented. Since GI continuously updates pages of result listings as the user types, they are presented through Google’s estimation of what the most appropriate results might be for partial search terms as they are being entered in real-time…The “problem” appears with words that are partial elements (substrings) of other words and terms. Human nature being what it is, the GI interface tends to suppress the previously standard behavior of typing a newline after entering a search query.
This month, the National Coalition Against Censorship is holding a series of programs called “How Obscene is This! The Decency Clause Turns 20,” to highlight the effects 1990s attacks on culture continue to have on art and society and to reassess the state of art funding.
This Monday, there will be a free screening of Destricted, a collection of short films by visual artists, all exploring the boundaries between pornography and art. This will be the exclusive national pre-release screening of the film. Destricted has screened at the Tate Modern in London in 2006, Critics Week at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as the Sundance and Edinburgh Film Festivals.
The films are as follows:
- Balkan Erotic Epic – Marina Abramović
- Hoist – Matthew Barney
- Sync – Marco Brambilla
- Impaled – Larry Clark
- We Fuck Alone – Gaspar Noé
- House Call – Richard Prince
- Death Valley – Sam Taylor-Wood
Watch the trailer for DESTRICTED.
7:30 Discussion with Amy Adler, the Emily Kempin Professor of Law at NYU, documentary film director Tony Comstock, Andrew Hale, Destricted‘s Founder, filmmaker Marilyn Minter, and Neville Wakefield,one of Destricted‘s Producers.
8:30 Larry Clark’s Ken Park (2002), a film about the abusive home life of several skateboarders in California. Ken Park’s controversial sexual content has led to the film being banned in Australia and to its very limited distribution in other countries.
See also Comstock’s post, “Me and Destricted go back aways...”
Location: SVA Theatre, 333 West 23 Street, NYC
The event is free and you can RSVP here: http://decencyclausefilm.eventbrite.com/
*Image: Marilyn Minter, still from “Green Pink Caviar,” in Destricted.
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Four nights of fetish fun in The City That Never Sleeps!
The NYC Fetish Tribe Experience is an innovative approach to expanding your kinky horizons while simultaneously providing the most unique opportunity to explore The Big Apple ever offered.
We will deliver an interactive experience epitomizing the Tribe philosophy of inclusion and cooperation coupled with non-stop opportunities to socialize and play as you create meaningful connections with like-minded kinksters and discover the sights and sounds of the greatest city on Earth.Prepare to be taken beyond the convention model, to exceed the party concept, and to be part of the groundbreaking NYC Fetish Tribe EXPERIENCE!
Join us over Columbus Day weekend, October 7-11, for a fetish event unlike any other, designed to get you out of the dungeon and into (gasp!) the light of day! We have arranged many excursions designed for you to experience some of the best of what New York City has to offer while you mingle and meet folks from around the country and make new kinky friends.
Don’t worry! You’ll still get all the classes, demos, seminars, parties and play, play, play you’ve come to expect from a multi-day fetish convention!
Often imitated, never duplicated, Tribe parties have redefined the standard by which all fetish parties are measured. The NYC Fetish Tribe Experience delivers four knock-out nights of non-stop party power play! NYC Fetish Tribe parties have become legendary in New York City and across the country. People travel from all over the US to experience the now infamous “Tribe Vibe”. Make no mistake we take no credit, for ultimately it’s all about the people and attitude of tribesman that make it work so well.
Day time fun excursions include:
- Play croquet in your finest undergarments on the lawn of Governors Island. Hosted by NYC TNG (Saturday at 2 pm.)
- Sunrise Bondage and Bagels on da Brooklyn Bridge – hosted by KinkyJews . Do not miss this photo op. (Saturday Morning 5 am after Impact party.)
- Be on TOP of the Empire State Building. See NYC like never before. Be Kink Kong! (Sunday at 1pm)
- Classes for beginners and experts alike ) on suspension, rope, steel, whips, floggers and much more taught by NYC’s leading BDSM sexperts. (Sunday at 4:30 pm.)
- NYC original Turkish bathhouse – Relaxation, sauna, plunge pools, steam rooms, spa treatments and more with an old time NYC flare!
- Organized Fetish shopping tours (“I just love what you are not wearing”)
….and the Parties!?!
Do you want to PARTY until 4 am? NYC Fetish Tribe parties have become legendary in New York City and across the country. People travel from all over the US and the world to experience our one of a kind events. Often imitated, never duplicated, Tribe parties have redefined the standard by which all fetish parties are measured. The NYC Fetish Tribe Experience delivers four knock-out nights of non-stop party power play!
- Nocturne. Tribe mixer and cabaret show (Thursday Oct 7) The Chandelier Room-Downstairs at 249 west 30th St
- Impact play party and Rubber latex showcase (Friday Oct 8) Location-Rebel nightclub Upstairs 251 west 30th ST
- Dress to {xcess-Costume ball (Saturday Oct 9) Location-Element-225 East Houston St
- Suspension-a play soiree’ (Sunday Oct 10) Location-The Delancey lounge-168 Delancey St
Fetlife RSVP: http://fetlife.com/events/20510
Thursday: Sinclair Sexsmith will be teaching “A Dyke’s Secrets for Cunnillingus” at Purple Passion.
Friday thru Sunday: 2nd annual Sacred Sex Roundup. I’m teaching a class on Sunday.
Saturday: LSM meets for dinner and socializing before going to Submit. With the Butch Voices Conference in town, the Submit Party will be hopping!
Sunday: Suspension party at The Delancey. Woot!
Maitresse Madeline and Mckenzie Lee on WhippedAss.com
CineKink, “the kinky film festival,” presents a special screening of film and video shorts from New York directors for a celebration of sexy Gotham. Dark and gritty, sleek and sophisticated, steamy and … well, come and take a bite for yourself!!
Where: The LGBT Center, 208 W. 13th St (7th/8th Ave), NYC
Cost: $10 door/$8 advance/$6 CineKinksters
Program includes:
TAXI: DOMME
A wealthy New Yorker hires a sophisticated domme to tease and torment her in the back of a taxi. (Directed by Marie Angel, 2009, USA, 7 minutes)
COVERAGE
The events and subsequent media coverage of September 11th, 2001 create a sexual obsession that threatens to destroy a relationship. (Directed by Jef Taylor, 2008, USA, 29 minutes)
WALKING THE DOG
April will do anything to please her boyfriend. And he knows it. But when he pressures her to go to a secret sex club, things get out of hand. (Directed by Luigi Campi, 2009, USA, 11 minutes)
BALLOONS
Bal – loon [buh-loon] –noun: A bag made of thin rubber or other light material inflated with air and used as a children’s plaything…or so you thought! (Directed by Charles Nuckolls, 2009, USA, 15 minutes)
TAXI, EPISODE SEVEN: SAFETY
A woman finds herself happily entwined in the back of a New York City taxi. (Directed Marie Angel, 2009, USA, 7 minutes)
Sponsors:
National tour sponsors for CineKink 2010 include B-Side Entertainment, MakeLoveNotPorn, National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, njoy, Scarleteen and Tied Up Events.
Admission:
$10 door/$8 advance/$6 cinekinksters
Purchase advance tickets:
http://bitetheapple.eventbrite.com/
Presented in conjunction with the release of the 2011 NYC Sex Blogger Calendar
Thursday: The TES Queer SIG hosts an open forum about “The State of New York Queerdom.”
Friday: Eric Pride will be at DomSubFriends with a demo at Paddles on “Interrogation: The Border Between Play & Reality.” Also at Paddles later in a separate space is the Switch party for women and trans.
Saturday: Two good parties: TES and Stimulate.
Sunday: Rawhide Bar hosts “Guard,” a monthly Fetish CODE night 6pm to Midnight with special guest Bryan Slater, give-aways, demos and 2 for 1 drinks if you are in gear. 8th Ave at 21st Street.
Wednesday: The TES Bondage SIG invites you to share your knowledge at: ” Rope Tips and Tricks – A Bondage Experience.” Bring rope. This will be very hands-on!
Amber Rayne on hogtied.com
NEW YORK SACRED SEXUALITY ROUND UP WRANGLES SEX EXPERTS FROM ACROSS THE USA
SEPTEMBER 23 – 26, 2010
SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 Sex educators Anton Diaz (SexySpirits.com) and Reid Mihalko (ReidAboutSex.com) founder of CuddleParty (cuddleparty.com) have teamed up to organize the 2nd Annual Great N.E. Sacred Sexuality Round-Up in Times Square this September 23-26th!
Come enjoy 4-Days of heart-felt lectures, workshops, performances, party events, promotions, and networking with the world’s leading Tantra Teachers and Sacred Sexuality Educators.
“The Sacred Sexuality Round-Up is a smorgasbord of sex ed enlightenment,” exclaims sex and relationship expert Reid Mihalko. “Porn and television are terrible teaching examples for adults to be better, more confident partners in bed. At the Sacred Sexuality Round-Up, we’ve created 4-days for adults to meet, greet and learn from the world’s top sex and spirituality teachers face-to-face. View the detailed event schedule, presenter bios, and purchase tickets to attend in person or watch the live internet broadcast at http://SacredSexualityRoundUp.com.
“The Sacred Sexuality Round-Up is the first Sexuality Expo to broadcast live on the Internet from Times Square! So just in case you and your loved ones are a bit too shy or you can’t get to New York City, know that the magic we’re creating in Times Square will be beamed around the globe,” says Round-Up co-producer Richard Anton Diaz, who dedicated his non-for-profit corporation Sexy Spirits to creating and implementing more effective education in sexuality, intimacy, and conscious communities. “The Sacred Sexuality Round-Up is completely in line with what I’m most passionate about and I’m thrilled that men and women get so much out of it.”
The 4-days kick off with a Thursday night “Club Tantra Lounge” party. Meet the organizers, teachers and gurus and schmooze and dance the night away with other sexy spirits in preparation for the weekend festivities. Friday evening things get more serious with the “Women and Power Symposium,” an all-women panel open to a co-ed audience exploring the feminine connections between sexual, financial and romantic freedom. Saturday and Sunday are filled with dozens of lectures, presentations and workshops from our expert presenters (Sheri Winston, Amy Jo Goddard, Kamala Devi, Rachel Cherwitz, Isis Phoenix, et al) covering the spectrum of spiritual sexuality. Everything from transformational breathing, to healing a broken heart, to being in a committed couple and tantric, to sensually satisfying pregnancies and energetic clothes-on sex, and even sacred spanking will be covered. Saturday night: Don’t miss out on the Triple Goddess Puja, an enlightening social ritual with deep-rooted traditions designed to explore the spiritual side of sensuality and intimacy without ever having to take your clothes off!
The Sacred Sexuality Round-Up, because of its mature content, is only open to adults 18-years old and older. Anyone interested in learning more, purchasing tickets or watching the internet broadcast can visit http://SacredSexualityRoundUp.com. Media interested in booking an interview with any of the Round-Up presenters should contact Reid Mihalko at reid (at) reidaboutsex.com and 917.207.4544.
Location: Reflections Yoga Studio
250 West 49th Street, 2nd floor, NYC 10019
Website: http://SacredSexualityRoundUp.com
by Mark Fass
A Manhattan judge has ordered the New York City Police Department to shine a light on the hazy legal line separating bondage, domination and sadomasochism from prostitution.
In a decision last week, Supreme Court Justice Carol R. Edmead directed the NYPD to provide the Urban Justice Center’s Sex Workers Project with documents regarding police investigations of several Manhattan bondage, domination and sadomasochism clubs between 2006 and 2008.
The judge, however, ruled that the police department is not required to turn over a copy of a confidential Vice Enforcement Division manual, which sets forth the procedures used by undercover agents to identify, engage and arrest suspected prostitutes.
“Disclosure of this information…would ‘furnish the safecracker with the combination to the safe,’ as it would alert the potential violators of the prostitution laws to the unique factors and methods the undercover police officers are likely to use to communicate with the other members of the team,” Justice Edmead wrote in Urban Justice Center v. New York Police Department, 400988/2010 (Subscription reqd).
The Sex Workers Project, which provides legal services and policy advocacy for people who work in the sex industry—exotic dancers, dominatrices and pornography actors, among others—considers the contested documents essential to understanding how the NYPD interprets and enforces New York Penal Law 230.00, the single-sentence statute that prohibits engaging in “sexual conduct” for a fee, but fails to define “sexual conduct.”
Since NYPL 230.00 was enacted in 1969—”prostitution” had previously been treated as a form of vagrancy, according to the annotated McKinney’s Penal Law—the definition of “sexual conduct” has slowly been teased out by the courts. Homosexual intercourse is “sexual conduct,” courts have ruled, though “lap dancing” is not—so long as the person providing the lap does not touch the dancer’s naked breasts or buttocks.
The case law provides scant guidance regarding bondage, domination and “fetish for a fee” services. Only a single reported opinion, the 1994 Brooklyn Criminal Court decision People v. Georgia A., 163 Misc.2d 634, addresses whether such acts constitute prohibited “sexual conduct.”
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