Chances are, my parents knew something was up. The day after Mum told us she was leaving Dad, we went for a miserable walk – just the two of us. In that blank sadness, a shot of adrenalin hit me when she said: ‘and maybe soon you can start talking to me about what’s going …

Want to learn erotic yoga, navigate non-traditional relationships, or sensually tie up the babe you met on New Years Eve? You might want to try Sydney’s Festival of Really Good Sex. Entering its fifth year, the festival promises five days of interactive workshops, films and discussions spanning topics like Mindfulness, Physicality, Creativity and Imagination, Movement and …

 “If you’re very serious when you’re talking about taboos, you’re very unlikely to put other people at ease.” – Dion Kagan, Archer Magazine #5 launch To celebrate the launch of Archer Magazine’s fifth issue, we heard readings from three writers that appear in the new edition, and interrogated their work with a short Q&A. Their articles revolve around …

We’ve had a big year over here, at Archer HQ. We launched our ageing issue and our culture issue, expanded into the US, toured the UK and Europe, and won an award from the United Nations. Our team also doubled in size, to about 12 volunteers plus a whole heap of supporters. We always keep an eye on what our readers …

Strolling up and down Oxford Street, you don’t have to think too hard about who advertisers are trying to target. On one corner, two perfectly coiffed, blonde-haired, blue-eyed boys soap each other down on a poster for a foam party. Across the street, a flyer depicts a sea of half-naked, white, muscled men packed onto …

Following the release of her memoir, Reckoning, actor and comedian Magda Szubanski chats to us about sexuality, creativity and family. This article was originally published in Archer Magazine #5, buy your copy here. A: When was the first time you saw a gay or lesbian character that you identified with in a positive way? MS: …

I remember it clearly: falling for a Leo in the heat of summer. It was a season of trespassing, skinny-dipping, telling secrets on rooftops and sharing sloppy kisses when no one was looking. Winter had hurt me. Years of putting others first, of unspoken things, had caught up to me. I was exhausted. On the …

The legacy left by Kat Muscat, Archer contributor, beloved friend and amazing auteur, is one of the best I’ve come across. As a writer and activist, Kat had enormous networks, but she didn’t just exist within these communities. She was a nurturer and mentor, who made deep connections with an unimaginable number of people in different circles. The words tattooed on Kat’s …

Have you ever had sex that was just kind of meh? The kind of sex where there wasn’t anything particularly wrong with it, there just wasn’t anything great about it either? Maybe even the kind of sex that you completely forget about after the fact? We tend to see these types of sex as ‘bad’ …

Sam Orchard is a New Zealand based self-described ‘geeky transguy’, and author of webcomic Rooster Tails, a weekly autobiographical comic of his life as he transitions. Kirsty Webeck caught up with him to discuss his work.  KW: You’re the mastermind behind Rooster Tails webcomic, tell us all about it!  SO: Rooster Tails is an autobiographical webcomic …

It’s half past five on a Saturday night and I’m in bed, surrounded by books and pens and cups of tea, tapping away on my laptop. It’s been a long time since I shared this bed with anyone, so long in fact that an imaginary line divides it in half, one side for sleeping, the …

Sandra Daugherty is a podcasting, workshop-teaching, sexual-shame-fighting “sex nerd” based in Los Angeles, California. After just missing her in L.A., Amanda Bloom got her on the phone to find out about what’s new and exciting in the world of sex, gender, relationships, and general sex nerdery. Find Daugherty’s podcast, Sex Nerd Sandra, on Nerdist and …

The proliferation of the term ‘body positivity’ in queer and feminist circles has enabled a radical change in the ways beauty is constructed, understood, and obtained. Queer communities reject heteronormative love and beauty standards. As a result, discussions of body positivity have a much larger presence in these areas. This determines how body positive discourse …

Theatre maker Kai Bradley, creative director of The Fashion Market AU Natasha Jynel, and Monique Hameed—project officer for the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health—have come together to coordinate and facilitate a ground breaking project for queer identified women from refugee and migrant backgrounds.   Archer caught up with Natasha Jynel to find out more.  A: Tell us about your project: …

At lunch time, the mother and daughter behind me in the queue pointed and whispered. They thought I couldn’t hear them, but I could. On my walk home from work I got stares – a few of them were accompanied by winks or smiles, but most felt highly judgmental at best, hostile at worst. It …

“Porn Star Runs for Lord Mayor,” the headlines said, alongside a photograph of me in fuchsia and black latex with a hot pink PVC flogger. If I was going to come out, I may as well do it in style. I’m quite sure my parents knew all along. I started taking my clothes off in …

I remember the first time I really noticed that sexuality was important to older people. I was working as a nurse unit manager in a residential aged care unit when a nurse reported that John, one of the male residents, was masturbating while she assisted him to shower. She felt she “shouldn’t have to put …

BUY ARCHER MAGAZINE #5 HERE “There is a strange combination of terror and freedom I feel when objectified…” Love affairs with our bodies. The stigma associated with butt sex. How religion impacts sexuality. Plus, stories of sexuality and gender from Malaysia, China, USA, rural Australia, Zimbabwe and more… Welcome to Archer Magazine #5. * Marriage equality by Dennis Altman * Sex …

Cyndi Darnell is one of Australia’s leading qualified sex therapists and educators, spearheading progressive and inclusive sex education workshops and seminars for adults. She has a passion for speaking, public sex education and has presented her work to acclaim across Australia as well as London, NYC and L.A. Archer caught up with her to talk …

I’ll never forget the first time I was asked to define my sexuality. Now when I say define, I don’t mean ‘realise’ – because that happened many years earlier when I staged my first polyandrous lesbian wedding between Skipper, Barbie, and a Ginger Spice doll, while Ken officiated wearing neon green leggings and a white …

Guilty pleasure doesn’t entirely sum up my relationship to porn. Ambivalence, the deep type that derives love and hate from the same source, maybe better describes it.

Trigger warning: this article contains descriptions of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, as well as family violence. This is only the second time Jay* has told her story right through, and it’s a strain. It’s her friends’ relative indifference, after telling them of the sexual violence, that stings the most. “If the violence had been …