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 …

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 …

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, …

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 …

AND IN HAPPIER news for sexual diversity, we have all been gifted a humbling welcome video from John Berry, the US Ambassador for Australia. Obama’s decision to appoint Berry, the first openly gay man to serve as ambassador to a G20 nation, seems a far cry from the situation here in Australia. Berry is a …

Founding editor of Archer Magazine, Amy Middleton, offers a personal response to the outcome of the 2013 Australian federal election. I’VE OFTEN WONDERED how democratic leaders responsible for atrocities throughout history were elected by the people they would come to oppress. I used to put it down to corruption and dishonesty in the democratic process. …

For someone who is set apart from the majority by an obvious point of difference, the incessant questioning from the public can become exhausting. Example: I’m a woman in a relationship with a woman. I’m also gluten-intolerant. Each of these traits sets me apart from the majority and I often have to remind myself, during …