On this month's episode of Asking for a Friend, host Dr. Laura McGuire sits down with Sarah Luna, a Texas-born sociocultural anthropologist, professor, and award-winning author, to discuss her coming out experience in San Antonio, her research on migrants, sex work, and missionaries, and her latest project on sapphic and transfeminist activism in Mexico City.…
In the inaugural episode of the Asking for a Friend podcast, host Dr. Laura McGuire sits down with Drew Gurza, disability awareness consultant, podcaster, and co-author of The Handi Book of Love, Lust & Disability, to discuss ableism in queer dating, the nuance of coming out, the sex tech industry, and how sex work is part of disability justice. Follow Drew on Instagram @drewgurza, on Twitter @drewgurza, and at andrewgurza.com. You can subscribe to their podcast, Disability After Dark, on all…
Southerners, if you ever find yourself venturing north to the Big Apple, I highly recommend following in my footsteps and making a visit to the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art.…
Blue skies and warm light surround me, as the rich, delightful smells of a homemade breakfast fill the high-rise apartment. Across from me sits James Stevens, his warm, rugged mouth smiling as he talks. The only sign that we’re in the middle of downtown Houston is the low hum of the city below us. He tells me about the architectural and developmental differences between East and West Berlin, his European home for the past three years. Stevens is passionate about…
Sex work is term and concept that is, at best, misunderstood and vilified at worst. While almost everyone has benefited from sex workers’ labor at some point in their lives, few acknowledge this fact or think about the lack of support or rights that these artists and healers have in western modern society.…
Sex work, sexual assault, or human trafficking? How can we tell the difference? Dr. Laura McGuire tackles these questions and more in this month's Asking for a Friend!…
It’s the last Friday night of the month, and a burlesque troupe dressed in pirate-themed garb takes the stage at Numbers night club in Houston. The dancers of Dem Damn Dames slink their way through tantalizing choreography, peeling off layers of costume jewelry, dresses, and hats. During an interlude, dancers swing to a piano- and drum-heavy tune about pirate code.…
All of this is done over web camera—the physical and legal protection of which I am grateful. On camera, there are no STDs, no vice squad, and a far lower risk of being followed home by fans. Online, my clients and I explore our common kinks and sexual tastes while preserving the delicate balance of our vanilla off-camera lives. For numerous reasons, many of my clients need to keep their desires to be dominated and sexually-controlled private. They have jobs…
Julien, Endy, and Mai sit down with trans porn starlet Valetina Mia, who dives into her dating woes and deconstructs the stigma surrounding sex work. Plus, in the wake of Hurricane Harvey's devastating aftermath, the Veer Queer crew attends a fundraiser for Avenue CDC, an organization on a mission to build affordable housing, as well as to serve the neighborhoods affected by the disaster. …
