The queer community has developed a tendency to enforce certain notions of sex positivity to the detriment of the true personal and sexual liberation of some of its members. This mimics the oppressive elements of the world of heteronormative dating that queer sexual politics is apparently different from. Manifestations of sex positivity, along with an …

Over the past couple of years, more than any other time in my adult life, I’ve made some important discoveries about my sexuality. This period has been marked by an increased interest in new and different forms of sex. It has been marked by my entry into what I call the ‘fetish life’. I am …

Constance and Eric are a US based photography duo who take intimate portraits of couples, groups, and individuals. Darryn King caught up with them for Archer to ask a few questions about their work. Constance and Eric – how did the idea actually come about to photograph couples during the most intimate of acts? It …

In 2004, then-prime minister John Howard introduced the Marriage Amendment Bill, which incorporated the common law definition of marriage – “the union of a man and a woman to exclusion of all others” – into both the Marriage Act and the Family Law Act. It thereby gave Australia’s same-sex marriage movement its impetus. Australia now …

I passed by a familiar face at the top of the stairs. He smiled knowingly at me.   I remembered him from a one-time fuck some months ago – a face that had popped up on apps a few times, but had never materialised in the flesh again, until now. We spoke openly, the silence …

From 2015, Archer Magazine is being stocked in cities across the USA, including New York, Austin, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle. The world’s most inclusive publication about sexuality and gender, Archer Magazine shines a spotlight on individuals and communities ignored by mainstream media, representing diverse attitudes to sex and gender. Preview the mag here. It’s time to …

This article contains Orange is the New Black Season Three Spoilers. The first time I can remember seeing a trans person on TV was Silence of the Lambs. It was at a movie night with friends and we gasped and laughed and hid behind our hands as Buffalo Bill sneered “it puts the lotion in …

For all its downfalls and erasures, the coming out of Caitlyn Jenner did bring the discussion between the language of medicine and transgender people into my lab. A colleague recently approached me, I’m guessing because of my gay aura, to ask some questions about transgender issues. They didn’t have any opinions or judgements. They just …

How would we feel, Nietzsche wondered, if a demon visited us in our darkest hour to deliver the message that this moment, and every other from birth to death, would be lived again and again for eternity? Would the knowledge of a life that echoed throughout time lend it a crushing weight? Or would we be able to affirm each moment’s eternal recurrence? …

Good news for English speakers: the OED is considering admitting ‘Mx’ to the next edition – a gender-neutral alternative to Mr/Ms/Miss/Mrs. I’m generally pleased for the success of Mx (full form ‘Mixter’), as it is surely a mark of progress. I worry that it misses the issue, however, in being confined to bureaucratic purposes. If …

I’m just going to say this now: Fred Nile had no place on the queer episode of ABC’s Q&A. We held our first ever In Conversation with Archer event in Sydney last week. The topic was diverse identities, and how they are shaped by our age and the society around us as we grew up. …

“When you’re gay, it means you’ve gotta rebuild the rules you were taught that don’t apply.” – Paulmac, Archer Magazine #4 EVENT: In Conversation with Archer, Wednesday 10 June 2015 VENUE: 107 Projects, Redfern, Sydney HOST: Amy Middleton, founding editor of Archer Magazine PANEL: Paul Mac, Sydney-based DJ and music-maker; Teresa Savage, founder of 55upitty.com; …

    I had my hair permed for the first and last time when I was 10 years old. An hour or two after we returned home from the hairdressers, my mother caught me masturbating in the lounge room. In 1986, it was acceptable for 10-year-olds to get perms, but not to masturbate in the lounge …

I was born a blank canvas, a little grub writhing around on a bed of expectations. I grew up in a world attempting to socialise me to be a woman – to match the junk I had between my legs and that later grew upon my chest. Instead I grew up completely confused by what I was and wanted to be – I …

It’s taken me quite a while to get to the point where I’m comfortable writing and being open about something like this. For a long time, I had tricked myself into believing I wasn’t really bisexual, because there’s so much literature out there that reinforces the notion that it’s ‘just a phase’ or ‘just hormones’ …

“When you’re gay, it means you’ve gotta rebuild the rules you were taught that don’t apply.” – Paulmac, Archer Magazine #4 Join us for the first in our In Conversation with Archer series, on Wednesday 10 June at 107 Projects, Redfern. To celebrate the fourth issue of Archer, which focuses on ageing and sex, we’ll …

Over the past year, I’ve found my party second wind. After a few years of being horrified at the thought of going out two or three times a week, suddenly I won’t consider anything less. As a result, I go to a lot of different parties. Gay parties, lesbian parties, queer parties. Parties in warehouses, …

BDSM does not equal abuse.  It’s OK to be curious about your own sexuality and to venture into some of its more nuanced spaces.

The first burlesque show I ever saw widened my perspective and peripheral vision all at once.

The circumstances and specificities of sex work are different from one city to the next and from one worker to the next, belying the sensationalised generalisations that burden mainstream accounts of sex work. However, there are rough continuities in the industry and one of them is the mainstream desire to wring it out of the …

“I can honestly say that my love-life in my seventies was the best I have enjoyed in my long life.” Why does society assume older people are without sexual or gender identity, desire or the need for self-discovery? Archer’s groundbreaking fourth issue challenges that assumption. Featuring: * Sex over 70 by Doreen Wendt-Weir * Gender transition by Sally Conning …

Theatre is often renowned for pushing boundaries and challenging societal norms. There is even a common term for it – “breaking the fourth wall” – or in other words, when actors invade your space and actively acknowledge you as an audience member. This intriguing aesthetic of theatre makes it not only a unique art form, …