Love your partner and love to fool around with other people? Author Christopher Ryan says that’s perfectly natural. A psychologist and historian who insists that human beings are not cut out for sexual monogamy, Ryan's hitting SF next week (Wed/9-Thu/10) to talk about the evolutionary reasons for why that's so. Read more »

One morning in January 1917, 300 prostitutes marched into the church of their biggest detractor, Reverend Paul J. Smith. They were ready to show the anti-vice crusader what they were made of. The women were organizing in the face of what had become a decades-long dwindling of their rights, spearheaded by the reverend himself.

The world’s oldest profession flourished in brothels all over the city during the Gold Rush, thanks to all those lonely 49ers. But sex work has never been uncontroversial -- and the local practice quickly accumulated its own critics.

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When queer porn stars Courtney Trouble and Jiz Lee noticed that fisting scenes were being consistently edited out of conventional pornography, they knew something had to be done. Enter International Fisting Day, which will be born with an ecstatic shout this Fri/21. The actor-activists hit upon the idea of the day to expose the joys of fisting and mobilize bloggers, porn lovers, and supporters everywhere to share the good word about a good fist. We recently conducted an interview with Courtney Trouble via email. She was a-tingle awaiting her new holiday, set to coincide with Live Sex Show, the movie she shot at this year's Masturbate-a-thon at the Center for Sex and Culture (yes, it includes fisting galore). She says that sex-positivity is all about celebrating consensual sex that makes people happy. Fisting does just that -- so why do we still consider it obscene?

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As Folsom Street Fair (Sat/24) looms over us like a leather daddy with an itchy whip paw, the city readies itself for the roughest, naughiest, sweatiest weekend of the year. Yesterday, I ran all over the city checking in with the sex scene. I kept my clothes mostly on, but then it is only Thursday... 

Monarchy-Andrew Wedge fitting at Mr. S Leather

"This is Spartaaa!" I'm standing outside one of SoMa's crucial leather one-stops with an old hand local kink photographer Rich Trove (check his site after the Fair for shots of your flings in the sunshine) and a fashion journalist from the Chronicle. Guess which one is trying to explain to the other what a traditional S&M harness looks like? Read more »

Forget clowns, acrobats, and bedazzled animals and step right up to a stage full of erotic stimulation, play, and perversion at Fleur De Lis SF’s Very Sexy Circus. The sex-positive blogger is throwing the big-top themed bash as a finale to the year she spent documenting her exploration of sex in this city, with the evening's entertainment made up of the crazy pervs she met along the way. From BDSM eye-candy to bawdy comedy and hands-on educational demos, this show ain't no tight-rope and monkey act. 

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