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 …

Cyndi Darnell is one of Australia’s leading qualified sex therapists and educators.

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 …

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 …

Claiming that one orgasm is better than the other doesn’t help anyone. We don’t need this kind of pressure.

The author of Sex in your seventies spoke to dozens of septuagenarians to find that sexuality is still varied and complex later in life. When two people, as a couple, do not have intimacy, it makes their relationship less warm. There can be too much sexual contact, or too little – you must draw a …

“The gender renaissance is upon us!”   These might be your thoughts if you’ve ventured out into select parts of the internet lately, or if you have a keen interest in the fashion world. There’s been extensive media coverage of public figures like Caitlyn Jenner, Laverne Cox, Nina Poon, Miley Cyrus and Carmen Carerra, and …

From an early age, children’s stories instil in us the values and expectations that shape the relationships we have over the course of our lives. The way desire is portrayed in some classic children’s stories resonates with how adult relationships are shaped: we’re taught we can only be ‘real’ if we are loved. As adults, …

I’ve been having a lot of discussions with people about the recent bashing of a friend of mine, a transwoman, an incident that received a great deal of attention in the media. For my friend, this has meant that her safety in the street is in question even more so than before, because suddenly everybody …

Queenie Bon Bon is a professional stripper, pleasure provider and fantasy maker. Her latest show, Power Up, is at Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Fresh from screening at both the Sydney Film Festival and the Melbourne International Film Festival, Sean Baker’s latest indie sensation Tangerine stars trans actress Kitana Kiki Rodriguez as Sin-Dee, a sex worker scorned and on the hunt for the cisgender woman who stole her pimp boyfriend. Set on Christmas eve, it also features the fabulous …

Sex is an art. And one that lesbians in particular have apparently, according to myth, taken a few decades to get their heads and legs around. Let alone actually in their beds. Today however, lesbian women have more orgasms, better sex and sex that lasts longer than their heterosexual female counterparts. And they’ve also mastered Lesbian …

Breaking gender norms by existing as a masculine-of-centre female presents far more challenges to other people than you’d think. It contributes to awkward situations, from enthusiastic thumps on the back from blokey blokes and playful physical flirtation from women (more unnecessary and often unwanted physical contact), to an expectation to take the lead romantically, which …

Whenever we think of AIDS, we are immediately drawn back to the 80s when its emergence was at the forefront of Australian media. To say that it was a difficult period would be a major understatement – people were getting the virus left and right, casual sex received a bad reputation and our government hoped …

“She let me come inside her,” my brother said as he walked into my apartment. “Who, one of my girls? Was this last night?” I replied in shock. “No, no. This was different, some French girl I met last night,” he responded, as he sunk into the couch and turned on the television. “Ohh that’s …

There is something thrilling about watching a cheater get caught. It’s a story with all the good stuff – transgression, deception, exposure, betrayal. The recent hack of infidelity hub Ashley Madison promises all those pleasures, on an unprecedented scale, with the bonus thrill of vigilante justice. Like so many internet-savvy Batmen, the hackers responsible have …

It was a bright day in Katoomba. I was there on a trip to see my family, and I had forgotten what sunny days there looked like. I guess I had pushed that aside among the memories of all the ‘shit’ that happened while growing up, engulfing most of my recollections of the Blue Mountains …

Walter Crasshole is a US-born writer and porn performer, and founder of new men’s sex website, Dandy Dicks.

No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would …

I am trans. I started hormone therapy four months ago, so I am still in the early days of my transition. This means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. To me, it means I’m trying my hardest to live an open, proud and authentic life. To some people, it means …

Amy Middleton is the founding editor of Archer Magazine. One of the beautiful things about Archer Magazine is how many diverse groups and individuals it brings together through its content. I’m not only talking about the different identities and communities that make up our readership, but also the gap this publication bridges between identity politics …

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 …