Love and Sex 2023

With President Joe Biden reportedly gearing up to announce the emergency health order for COVID-19 is kaput come May, the world just kind of feels different now. We don’t think the pandemic is over, but we do think people have learned to operate a little differently, and in no arenas does that seem more apparent than love and sex. Relationships ended during the pandemic, and they flourished—people started to embrace sides of themselves they’d long left dormant.

And so, as we do every year around this time, we turned to the community to see what’s up in the love and sex spheres: Herein, you’ll gain insight into how polyamorous people operate, why teens are having less sex now than they used to and how the power dynamics of BDSM are actually super-hot. You’ll meet locals who embraced their solitude, changed their perspectives or met a more meaningful partner; you’ll learn why sometimes it makes sense to pack it all up, head to the country and learn to live homesteader style—y’know, so long as love’s involved. We’re coming out of the dark winter months and out into the light again, we’re getting ready to laugh and love and live and bone. It’s about damn time.

Open Call - Everything you think you know about poly relationships is probably wrong

The Kids Are Alright - Teen sex is down, and that’s a good thing

Hurt (So Good) - A quick and dirty primer for the BDSM curious

Save the Date - Did the pandemic change how we date?

Soil Webs - Queerness and querencia