New theatre company TBC Theatre is making its production debut in Melbourne this week. Loveplay, written by Moira Buffini, is an exploration of love and sex through the ages, opening on July 2nd. We asked director Stu Duffield for some insight into starting a theatre company, and how sex scenes affect a live audience. Q: …

“I REALLY DIDN’T see it as abuse, because domestic violence had always been sold to me as a heterosexual man hitting a heterosexual women.” Diversity is a powerful thing. Generally speaking, it is a positive force in the LGBTI community, but experiences diverge when it comes to domestic or family violence (DFV), occasionally making abuse …

Last week, following a call from our distributor, it came to my attention that a handful of newsagents have refused to stock Archer in their stores. A friend went looking for Archer’s second issue in a Melbourne suburban newsagent, and found it had been hidden in a drawer, restricted from view due to its content. …

STARTOUT AUSTRALIA IS a new organisation to support gay, bisexual, trans and queer youth – a group that StartOut calls DSG (Diverse Sexuality and Gender). Archer speaks to Brendan White, one half of the duo behind StartOut, about sexuality, mental health, and the need for a new acronym. Q: What was the idea behind StartOut? …

OVER THE LAST month, the familiar nexus between sport and homophobia has found its way into the news twice: Miranda Devine wrote an article for The Daily Telegraph, and Michael Sam was drafted to the NFL. In an article headlined ‘NRL bosses are totally gay,’ Devine argued that Mitchell Moses’ two-week suspension for calling a …

After its groundbreaking first issue, Archer Magazine has established itself as Australia’s primary voice on sexual diversity. The second issue, highly anticipated by sex-based subcultures and deep thinkers across the country, is launching at this year’s Emerging Writers Festival, to capture the attention of the incoming generation of Aussie readers and writers. LAUNCH OF ARCHER …

THE HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED second edition of Archer Magazine launches on 5 June at the Melbourne Emerging Writers Festival. Archer #2 is packed with compelling stories of sex, in all its glory and curiousness, plus gender, identity and lifestyle. Archer’s new design reflects the time that has passed since issue #1. The new look is bold, lush …

IN JUST OVER two weeks, the third Asia Pacific Out Games kicks off in Darwin, Australia. There’s been no bidding war over who will televise the games, nor any slow motion ads showing athletes with muscles rippling, faces contorted with determination. For most people, the Asia Pacific Out Games, like the Gay Games and the …

Music in itself is pretty gay. It’s often melodramatic, sometimes camp and always likely to incite singing, dancing or jazz-hands – stereotypically gay behaviour by pop culture’s own yardstick. It’s therefore ironic that the medium has been sparse on gay content. Until now. A shift is underway and it reached a crescendo with Macklemore. His …

THAT SEXY SHOW is one of the more sex-focused events at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Teams of comedians, including Triple M’s Geraldine Hickey, battle it out for points in a game show with a sex-positive slant. The show is the brain-child of 24-year-old Honor Eastly, a performer and comedian with a penchant for …

I[/dropcap. WAS EXPOSED TO the sex-toy market a lot earlier than most. My mother started an adult toy business when I was in my mid-teens. In the beginning she specialised in hen’s nights and Tupperware-style parties, replacing plastic containers with rubber fists, rabbits and vibrating eggs. When I left school for university, I approached my …

SO YOU AND your squeeze have had the talk. You’ve decided to open up your relationship. Time to hit the local bar/kink party/games night, and soon you and your sweetie will be snuggling up with a hot bisexual babe. Right? Not quite. Changing your relationship structure always comes with surprises. If you consider the tips …

When journalist Josephine Sargent moved to Sydney for an editing job, she was thrown in the deep end of sexual diversity. THE PHONE rang. It was my mum. Mum: Hello darling. Your aunty just rang. She saw you on the news. Josephine: Really? Yay! Mum: In a bikini. Rehearsing for that gay and lesbian parade on …

Indeed, real sex often breaks the natural flow of fiction, disrupting our enjoyment of two otherwise pleasurable – or so one hopes – activities: having sex and watching a movie.

THE 24TH MELBOURNE Queer Film Festival (MQFF) kicks off tonight. For the next 11 days cinemas throughout Melbourne will light up with some of the best LGBTI films from Australia and abroad. There are over 150 films to choose from, so the team at Archer has come to your service and picked the top 5 …

UNMARRIED SEX. PORN. Sex toys. Brothels. Heterosexuals dabble in these practices with as much freak and fervour as homosexuals and yet somehow it’s the gay person who threatens heterosexual relationships, the gay person who devalues the sanctity of marriage. I’m not interested in writing a defence of same-sex marriage. I am, however, fascinated by assumptions …

Marry Me depicts the everyday experiences of an average Aussie gay man: arguments with family; flawed, drunken sexual encounters; the use of sex-based phone apps and the coveted afternoon beach visit when it all gets a bit much.

TONIGHT, ARCHER FOUNDER Amy Middleton will talk about sexual diversity and the language we use to describe it for Melbourne Free University. As the person in charge of hand-picking articles for Archer’s blog and print edition, Amy spends a lot of time in the community speaking to people about their varied approaches to sexuality, sex …

NEW LEGISLATION WAS recently passed by the legislature in the US state of Arizona that would allow businesses, under the pretence of religious beliefs, to refuse service to gays and lesbians. The bill, which was eventually vetoed by the Governor, would have created segregation within the state. We could have easily seen “NO GAYS ALLOWED” signs …

Archer intern Erin Stutchbury is a Melbourne-based writer and grammarian. She is a multiple Mardi Gras attendee and general gay scenester and event-goer. AS THE WONDER that is Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras enters its final weekend and you prepare to don your glitter, sequins and rainbow dust for one last shake-down at the parade, …

A Guide to the Yarra River’s Beats by Sam Wallman. Sam Wallman is a Melbourne-based cartoonist. He has published four books of drawings, in which he captures the ridiculous, the visceral and the personal aspects of politics and society. His latest book  is entitled Pen Erases Paper. View more of Sam’s artworks at his website: http://www.penerasespaper.com

Guest blogger Abby Corson comments on controversial Australian beauty pageants and the dangers of sexualising children, both for the girls on show and society at large. Fake tan. Spider eyelashes. Push-up bras. Acrylic nails. No, I’m not describing a night out in Hollywood. Disturbingly, these are all common attributes of the underage entrants of the …