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 …

OU WOULDN’T BE ALONE in feeling frustrated, isolated, devalued and depressed if you were suddenly labelled “asexual” at your next birthday. Millions of older Australians feel the same way when they’re suddenly assumed to be asexual at their 65th birthday. But research shows that older people are sexual and that sexual expression is important for …

The rotating image on Google today depicts six Olympic sports taking place against a rainbow backdrop, ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics. The Sochi games are shrouded in controversy due to recently established anti-LGBTI propaganda laws in Russia. Google’s homepage also features a quote from the Olympic Charter – a set of guidelines for the …

Send us your pitches for issue 2! We are on the hunt for writing that captures Australian attitudes to sexual diversity in 2014. (Historical and overseas content is welcome, as long as it has an Australian slant.) What we are looking for: * Archer values honest and open communication; real human stories; difference and sameness; …

KATHLEEN HANNA, THE quintessential outspoken feminist, musician and debatable leader of the riot grrrl movement, is back on the scene after years of silence due to a chronic illness. Her new band, The Julie Ruin, sets to be a more laid back musical experience in contrast to the hard-hitting issues tackled by earlier bands Bikini …

Alastair Lawrie is a Sydney-based writer and long-term LGBTI activist. He has been involved with both the Victorian and New South Wales Gay & Lesbian Rights Lobbies. AS EXPECTED, THE HIGH Court today overruled the ACT’s same-sex marriage laws. This means that the much-publicised marriages of couples who had used the five-day window of opportunity …

Guest blogger Rebecca Shaw is a freelance writer from Brisbane. She is a lesbian with a sense of humour who tells jokes on Twitter and over her comedy podcast Bring a Plate. YESTERDAY, A MOVIE called Bamboozled was crowned the winner of annual short film competition Tropfest. Basic synopsis: a man named Pete runs into …

The world’s first glimpse of Archer Magazine is happening in Melbourne this month. It’s going to be one hell of a party. LAUNCH OF ARCHER MAGAZINE: MELBOURNE WHERE: St Heliers Street Gallery Abbotsford Convent, Collingwood WHEN: Thursday, November 28 7pm WHAT: Life drawing by Michael Hawkins Readings from Archer Magazine by Dr Lauren Rosewarne + Aram …

Guest blogger Teddy Cook was invited by Archer to blog on the media’s use of language. THE TRANS* EXPERIENCE is as diverse as the population it represents. Remember this: we aren’t all ‘trapped in the wrong body’, we aren’t all desperate for diagnosis and surgery and hormones. We aren’t all connected to your ideal of …