Speakers
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Aislinn Emirzian is a workshop instructor and sex coach based in San Francisco. She first became a sex educator at Smith College, and later worked with sex positive adult toy stores like Oh My Sensuality Shop in Massachusetts and Good Vibrations in California. Over the years, she has taught workshops on a wide range of topics, but prostate pleasure is her favorite! Find her at www.aislinnemirzian.com.
Aislinn Emirzian is presenting Take It Like A Man. Find Aislinn on Twitter.
Airial Clark is a San Francisco Bay Area-based parenting expert, sexologist and founder of The Sex-Positive Parent. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in both Anthropology and English Literature at U.C. Berkeley, she was offered admission to the only human sexuality master’s program in the U.S. at San Francisco State University. She completed research for her master’s thesis on race, family structures, and alternative sexuality in 2012, all the while raising her two sons as a single parent, who are now pre-teens. Ms. Clark is a contributing writer for several award-winning online media outlets including the Good Vibrations Magazine, Shades Magazine, Oakland Local and Fearless Press where she writes on the intersections of parenting, identity and sexuality. In collaboration with organizations, including the Center for Sex and Culture and the Center for Research and Education on Gender and Sexuality, Airial has led workshops where she provides parents and caregivers with the tools they need to become the resident sexuality expert for their families.
Airial is presenting How (and Why) to Be a Sex Positive Parent. Find Airial on Twitter.
Amy Jo Goddard has dedicated her life to helping people live more fulfilling and sexually empowered lives by having more pleasure, deeper intimacy and better sex. She has taught sexuality for 18 years to sexuality professionals, medical students, college students, and adults. Currently, she teaches her Women’s Sexually Empowered Life Program in New York City and she maintains a thriving private sex and relationship coaching practice.
She frequently travels to colleges, universities and conferences teaching workshops and speaking about sexuality. Amy Jo has taught courses relating to sexuality at the City University of New York and the University of California at Santa Barbara. She is director/producer of the forthcoming documentary, At Your Cervix, and she was host of CherryBomb.com‘s web stream program “Fresh Advice,” developing, researching, writing and performing over 60 episodes on women’s sexuality. She is co-author of Lesbian Sex Secrets for Men and a contributing author of All About Sex, among other writings. Amy Jo founded SPECTRA in 2012 to assist members of the sexuality field to develop and take their work to the next level in a supportive professional environment. You can find her online at www.amyjogoddard.com.
Amy Jo is presenting The Burned-Out Sexuality Professional. Find Amy Jo on Twitter and Facebook.
Ava Mir-Ausziehen is a self-identified ‘sex nerd’ and shameless smut enthusiast. She has a bachelor in Interdisciplinary Studies in Sexuality, completed the Amsterdam Graduate School of Social Sciences Summer Institute on Sexuality, Culture and Society, and is currently completing a Masters degree in Medical Anthropology with a Women’s and Gender Studies Option. She has worked and volunteered with an HIV/AIDS resource, prevention, and service centre, and has taught sexual education courses to high school students and community group members since 2005. Her dental dam demonstration is exceptionally vulgar and infamous among students. She is a presiding sex expert writing for Sssh.com, an erotic journal by and for women, and draws much of her expertise from 10 years of work in the adult industry both behind and in front of the camera. Her research and writing interests include grassroots safer sex organizing, sexual and gendered performativity, and how new technologies impact sex work and embodiment.
Ava is presenting What’s So Special About Sex?
Avory Faucette is a trans and queer feminist legal activist and an award winning expert in international social justice. Avory writes about sexuality, feminism, and gender from the perspective of a young, radical trans femme-inist. Zie uses teaching, writing, and activism to boldly challenge our conventional ideas of gender and sexuality and encourage a thoughtful dialogue among all different perspectives. Hir writing appears on the blogs Radically Queer, Sex Positive Activism, Queer Feminism, Girl w/ Pen. Zie has also been featured in xoJane, The Frisky, On the Issues Magazine, and Ms. Magazine online.
Avory is presenting Sex and Sexuality from a Trans Perspective. Find Avory on Twitter.
Carol Queen has a PhD in sexology; she calls herself a “cultural sexologist” because her earlier academic degree is in sociology: while she addresses individual issues and couple’s sexual concerns, her overarching interest is in cultural issues (gender, shame, access to education, etc.). She is on the board of directors of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation.
Queen has worked at Good Vibrations, the woman-founded sexuality company based in San Francisco. Her current position is Staff Sexologist and Chief Cultural Officer; her roles include representing the company to the press and the public; overseeing educational programming for staff and others; and scripting/hosting a line of sex education videos, the Pleasure-Ed series, for GV’s sister company Good Releasing.
She is also the founding director of The Center for Sex & Culture, a small non-profit sex ed and arts center, and is a frequent lecturer at colleges and community-based organizations. Her dozen books include a Lambda Literary Award winner, PoMoSexuals, and Real Live Nude Girl: Chronicles of Sex-Positive Culture, which are used as texts in some college classes. Her most recent book is an updated second edition of Exhibitionism for the Shy.
Carol is presenting How to Become a Successful Erotic Writer, Slut Shaming in Sex-Positive Communities, The Fifty Shades Phenomenon and Its Effect on Our Social Sexual Behavior and the CatalystCon Closing Keynote Plenary Address: Afternoon Tea with Carol Queen and Robert Lawrence. Find Carol on Twitter.
Cathy Vartuli is a sex-positive Emotional Freedom and Relationship Coach who helps people transform their traumas into their greatest strengths using love, laughter and inner guidance. She uses a practical yet intuitive approach to help you connect with your own power and guidance. She believes: “You already have most of what you need… you just need the skill and knowledge to access it and set it free.”
Cathy is a PhD scientist and engineer with 18 patents and author of over 50 scientific publications and 70 conference presentations. As a research scientist and engineer, she uses her skills in coaching to uncover practical, cutting edge approaches to help people find their sweet spots and get in their flow.
She is a certified AAMET Advanced EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) Practitioner, and offers a wide range of programs and services – from audio products and programs, to group and individual coaching. She’s been coaching for 6 years and has worked with over a thousand clients. She has co-lead programs and products with Reid Mihalko, and created a PSA on body image with Buck Angel. Cathy has been featured on EFT Hub World Video Summit, the EFT-Universe, Living Energy Secrets, and Create Your Dream Life Summit.
Cathy is presenting Does This Panel Make Me Look Fat?: Body Image and Sexuality. Find Cathy on Twitter and Facebook.
Charlie Glickman PhD is a sexuality educator, writer, blogger, seminar presenter, speaker, and coach. His areas of expertise include sex-positivity, sex & shame, gender & masculinity, communities of erotic affiliations, sexual practices, and adult sexuality education. Charlie is one of the authors of The Ultimate Guide to Prostate Pleasure: Erotic Exploration for Men and their Partners and he regularly speaks at universities, conferences, and non-profit organizations. You can find out more about him at www.charlieglickman.com.
Charlie is presenting How To Be A Top Presenter and Take It Like A Man. Find Charlie on Facebook and Twitter.
Constance Penley is Professor of Film and Media Studies and Co-Director of the Carsey-Wolf Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her major areas of research interest are film and media history and theory, feminist theory, cultural studies, contemporary art, and science and technology studies. She is a founding editor of Camera Obscura: Feminism, Media, Cultural Studies and editor or co-editor of the influential collections Feminism and Film Theory, Male Trouble, Technoculture, The Visible Woman: Imaging Technologies, Science and Gender, and The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure (with Tristan Taormino, Celine Parreñas Shimizu, and Mireille Miller-Young). She is the author of The Future of an Illusion: Film, Feminism, and Psychoanalysis, NASA/TREK: Popular Science and Sex in America, and the forthcoming Teaching Pornography. Her collaborative art projects include “MELROSE SPACE: Primetime Art by the GALA Committee” and “Biospheria: An Environmental Opera,” on which she was co-librettist. Penley is a 2009 winner of the MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Award.
Constance is presenting Feminist Porn: The Politics of Producing Pleasure. Find Constance on Twitter.
Cooper Beckett‘s life isn’t like other people’s. When he’s not writing or podcasting at Life on the Swingset, he’s living it up with his wife Marilyn as evangelical swingers, dipping their toes in the waters of Poly, and spreading the good word that “sharing is caring.” He truly believes that a good many people would be open to exploring the fringe of human sexuality, knocking down the borders between orientations, and experiencing great sex, that most basic of human rights, if only they were told it’s okay to do so. He has resolved to make the world safer for sexuality, even if it’s only one couple at a time.
Cooper is presenting Sex with Benefits: Progressive Swinging. Find Cooper on Facebook and Twitter.
Crysta Heart has worked in a variety of areas of adult entertainment for 15 years. Raised with philanthropic beliefs, she has been an active human and animal rights advocate and activist since 1987. Crysta became proactive in the sex workers rights movement after attending the first Desiree Alliance conference. After meeting and being inspired by Robyn Few, she started SWOP-MI in 2006. She uses a social justice approach to serve and educate her community. Crysta believes in the recognition of all to consensually and fluidly explore and express their spiritual and sexual selves as they choose is right for them.
Crysta is presenting Slut Shaming in Sex-Positive Communities. Find Crysta on Twitter.
Cunning Minx is an online activist promoting a sex-positive approach to dating and relationships of all types. She is the sultry-voiced producer and host of the Polyamory Weekly podcast, now with over 300 episodes. The podcast shares tales from the front of responsible non-monogamy from a pansexual, kink-friendly point of view. A kinky boobiesexual, Minx founded the show as a resource for the poly and poly-curious to form a community, share experiences and help guide each other on their journeys of poly and kinky exploration. Minx has been a submissive, bottom and otherwise generally non-dominant type for the past ten years.
Minx has spoken on poly, kinky and Web 2.0 community-building topics at ShibariCon, Geek Girl Con, MomentumCon, Atlanta Poly Weekend, Sex 2.0, Leather Leadership Conference, Dragon*Con, GD2, Heartland Polyamory Conference, New York Poly Pride, Poly Living and MomentumCon. The Poly Weekly podcast is the winner of the 2007 Erotic Award for Best Podcast and has received accolades from ErosZine, Fleshbot and the Chicago Sun-Times.
Cunning Minx is presenting The Online Activist: Ready, set, TWEET!. Find Minx on Twitter and Facebook.
Darcy Allder is a gender variant queer who works at Girls Incorporated of Alameda County. He studied human sexuality while completing his BA in child development at San Francisco State University and is SFSI certified. Currently he is teaching comprehensive sex education to sixth graders in Oakland Unified School District and provides trainings for service providers about commercially sexually exploited children.
Darcy lives in San Francisco and shares his life with a wonderful furry companion, a border collie named Rex.
Darcy is presenting Making Comprehensive Sex Education into Inclusive Sex Education.
Davis, a small-business attorney and founder of Sexquire, LLC, has spent over ten years working with clients in all areas of the adult industry: including brick and mortar and online retail stores, sex toy manufacturers, dungeon and club owners, sex educators and workers, adult event producers and authors.
Davis has spent an equally long time vetting other professionals for her clients. Fed up with the sex-negativity and misunderstandings she found with many other service providers, Davis created Sexquire in order to have a team of professionals at the ready to assist sex-positive businesses and companies with whatever needs arise.
Davis is presenting Getting In (Business) Bed With Buddies – Protect Yourself. Find Davis on Twitter and Facebook.
Dee Dennis is the Founder/Creator of CatalystCon. An activist in the field of sexuality, she started her career as a sex blogger, writing about the end of her marriage and starting the next chapter in her life. Through this metamorphosis, Dee discovered her passion for sexuality rights and issues for people around the world.
Dee’s commitment to taking the conversation about sexuality offline and into the real world lead in part to the creation of MOMENTUM, a conference she co-founded to empower people to come together and exchange ideas that would further the conversations about sexuality, inspire people and motivate them to carry the conversation forward.
In 2012, Dee founded CatalystCon, which she regards as a “melting pot of sexuality” that unites sex educators, sexologists, sex workers, writers, activists, and anyone with a passion for creating change. To Dee, “knowledge is power, and sharing that knowledge is the first spark in igniting change.” This is the fundamental principle behind CatalystCon.
Dee is presenting How to Be an Ally to Sex Workers in Theory and Practice. Find Dee on Twitter and Facebook.
It has been said that Del Tashlin is more of an experience than just a mere mortal. His life’s work is focused on bringing joy and pleasure to various outlier communities.
Del lives in suburban Maryland with his collared slave of four years, Rave. He travels the East Coast talking about such diverse topics as third-gendered mysteries, littles play, power exchange, needle/blood play, polyamory, and much more. Del is a respected presenter at events like Dark Odyssey, Black Rose, Trans* CampOut, Brimstone, and Dark Moon Rising.
In addition, Del has a thriving shamanic practice in which he offers confidential spiritual services including ritual design, divination and counseling, journeywork, 1-on-1 classes on energy work, and ordeal facilitation. He is a council member of Clan Tashlin, a magickal order and ritual group that connects people with the spirits of the land as well as the Gods.
A published author and avid blogger, Del shares his journey with chronic illness, disability and the spiritual lessons it teaches him at his blog. If you’re more interested in his thoughts on shamanism, kink politics, sex, and spirituality visit him here. Not enough? Del Watches Glee started as a joke to torment his partner Winter.
Del is presenting Sex and Sexuality from a Trans Perspective. Find Del on Twitter and Facebook.
Ducky Doolittle has emerged as one of America’s most celebrated sex educators. She has appeared on ABC News, CNBC, Comedy Central, HBO’s Real Sex, Howard Stern Show, The Morning Show, MTV, National Public Radio (NPR), and Playboy TV. her print credits include the New York Times, New Yorker, Bust, Glamour, LA Weekly, Marie Claire, Redbook, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Time Out New York, and The Village Voice. She is the author of Sex with the Lights On: 200 Illuminating Sex Questions Answered.
Ducky is presenting Toxic Toys, Girl Gasms, and the CatalystCon Opening Keynote Plenary Address: Sparking Communication in Sexuality, Activism and Acceptance. Find Ducky on Twitter.
Dylan Ryan is a porn star, writer, social worker, performance artist, and self-professed gender and sexuality geek living in San Francisco, California. Dylan holds a double bachelors degree and recently completed a masters in social work from a Canadian university where she studied the rise of feminist pornography and the intersections between sex work and social work. A yoga-instructor and amateur filmmaker, Dylan hopes to continue her academic career to become Dylan Ryan, PhD.
Dylan is presenting Feminist Porn: The Politics of Producing Pleasure. Find Dylan on Twitter.
Dylan Thomas is a different kind of evangelist. Dylan sees the need for an evolution in how people communicate and how people perceive each other. By learning that love and emotion are unlimited resources, people can take responsibility for themselves, their emotions, their actions and learn to enjoy and appreciate the wealth of diversity in lifestyles and sexuality everywhere. As a co-host on Life on the Swingset, Dylan has relayed his own journey: wading through the barren lands of homophobia and male chauvinism and progressing into yearning for bi-sexuality, creating communities around swinging, learning about growing new relationships through polyamory, and being willing to expose his own failings, fears, and triumphs along the way.
Dylan is presenting Sex With Benefits: Progressive Swinging. Find Dylan on Twitter.
Emerald is an erotic fiction author and general advocate for human sexuality as informed by her deep appreciation of the beauty, value, and intrinsic nature of sexuality and its holistic relation to life. Her erotic fiction has been published in anthologies edited by Violet Blue, Rachel Kramer Bussel, and Kristina Wright, among others, as well as at various erotic websites, such as Oysters & Chocolate erotic and The Erotic Woman. She is an advocate for sexual freedom, reproductive choice, and sex worker rights and blogs about these and other topics at her website, The Green Light District.
Emerald is presenting How to Become a Successful Erotic Writer. Find her on Twitter.
FemCar is a multipartenered bisexual beast/toy/slave …who loves to wallow fully in the experiences life brings to her.. the joys and the horrors.. the pleasures as well as the suffering. She feels in fact that the universe is her spirit’s playground.. and that there are magic and miracles everywhere if you only allow yourself to see them and, of course… if you are willing to take the risks in creating them. She is not a physical masochist but instead a self proclaimed emotional masochist.. a term that she has defined and redefined for herself over the years.
Francisco Ramirez is an award-winning scholar in sexual and reproductive health. For 15 years, Francisco has dedicated his career to responding to the sexual health and public health needs of diverse communities worldwide. A long-term consultant with the United Nations, he leads training, education and research efforts in multiple languages and more than a dozen countries. Additionally, he has consulted on sexual health projects at: Planned Parenthood, Hetrick-Martin Institute, Columbia University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and the NAACP.
Since 2008 Francisco has offered free advice on relationships, sex and dating to passersby in New York City parks and streets.
Francisco also serves as a voice in the media on sexual health. In 2010 Francisco guest-hosted the renowned Savage LoveCast with Dan Savage. Francisco is also a producer, Global Correspondent, and on-camera host at MTV, creating videos related to healthy sexuality. Currently, Francisco and his team are developing an original television series on human sexuality. To learn more, visit FranciscoRamirez.org.
Francisco is presenting Entrepreneurial IQ: 10 keys to designing an unconventional career in sexuality. Find Francisco on Twitter and Facebook.
As an oversexed, omnisexual castaway from the sexually-repressed culture, Ginger Bentham believes the next sexual revolution of total sex-positivity is just around the corner and it’s time for the revolutionaries to unite! As one of the members of Life on the Swingset, she strives to help people expand their way of thinking and discover their true sexy potential.
Ginger is presenting Sex With Benefits: Progressive Swinging. Find Ginger on Twitter.
As Director of Policy, Harper Jean Tobin coordinates all aspects of advocacy on federal administrative policies and regulations for the National Center for Transgender Equality. When she is not engaging with federal agencies and the current administration, she works to provide information for the public about laws and policies that affect transgender people. Harper Jean previously worked at the National Senior Citizens Law Center’s Federal Rights Project, where she maintained a large attorney listserv, provided training and technical assistance to public interest lawyers, and wrote about court access issues for legal, policy and general audiences.
Harper Jean’s writing on transgender equality and other issues has been published in the Harvard Kennedy School’s LGBTQ Policy Journal, Notre Dame’s Journal of Legislation, the Yale Law Journal Pocket Part, the Columbia Journal of Gender & the Law, the Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, Clearinghouse Review, the National Law Journal, The Nation, and Roll Call. She received degrees in law and social work from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and is an alumna of Oberlin College.
Harper Jean is presenting Sex and Sexuality from a Trans Perspective.
Dr. Hernando Chaves is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, working at The Center for Healthy Sex and in private practice in Beverly Hills, CA. He has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of California at Santa Barbara, a Master of Arts degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of San Diego, and a Doctor of Human Sexuality degree from the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco, CA. Dr. Chaves’ clinical work focuses on individuals, couples, and families of unique erotic communities, sexual identities, orientations, and clients with sex therapy concerns. He is on the executive committee and the board of directors for The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS) and the 2013 SSSS Western Region President. Dr. Chaves is a Psychology professor at Orange Coast College, teaching introduction to human sexuality and advanced human sexuality courses. He is the resident sexologist at Askmen.com, writing weekly sex Q&A and sexuality articles as well as a 2013 Erotikos Film Festival judge at Hedonism II in Jamaica. He has been featured on XM, online, and FM radio, magazine interviews, television shows, and has lectured nationally and internationally.
Dr. Chaves is presenting Male Circumcision: A Humanist Perspective on the Removal of Foreskin and the CatalystCon Opening Keynote Plenary Address: Sparking Communication in Sexuality, Activism and Acceptance. Find Dr. Chaves on Twitter and Facebook.
Dr. Jallen Rix received his Bachelor of Arts in Music, with a minor in Theology (1986) from Westmont College, Santa Barbara. Jallen then earned his Doctorate of Education in Sexology (2007) from the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco, where he is currently an adjunct professor. His book, Ex-Gay No Way: Survival and Recovery from Religious Abuse, was nominated for best non-fiction book in 2010 by the Lambda Literary Foundation. As a sex positive educator, his writing has appeared in The Advocate, Out, Instinct, Pulp, The Bottomline, Blade California, Frontiers, and more. As an advocate for ex-gay survivors, he has appeared on ABC’s News Magazine 20/20, Oprah Radio, The Dr. Laura Bermen Show, and the Michelangelo Signorile Show. Dr. Rix has come a long way to be a sex expert. Growing up as a Southern Baptist, he was taught that spirituality was heavenly but sexuality was from the devil. He went to great lengths attempting to change his sexuality from gay to straight in an ex-gay ministry — to no avail. Now, as an ex-gay survivor, the experience has set him on a journey of discovery that ultimately resulted in Jallen becoming a leading expert on the damaging effects of, and recovery from, reparative “therapy” and the ex-gay movement. Dr. Rix enjoys nothing more than supporting people in the process of ending the war between sex and spirit and thereby integrating sexuality and spirituality into a whole person. “The world is a better place when we all have the opportunity for a healthy and happy sexuality.”
Dr. Rix is presenting Ex-Gay No Way! Practically Maneuvering Through the Rhetoric of “Reparative Therapy”. Find Dr. Rix on Twitter and Facebook.
Jennifer Pritchett, MS founded The Smitten Kitten, a progressive sex toys and supplies retailer, in 2003. In 2005, she founded the Coalition Against Toxic Toys (CATT)- the first ever adult industry consumer advocacy organization. Jennifer is a pioneer in the eco-sex movement. She coined the term “toxic sex toys” and was the first adult toy retailer in the world to prove that you CAN operate a successful adult store specializing in responsible, safe and non-toxic toys.
Jennifer’s work regarding sex toy safety has been referenced in publications from The Village Voice and the Huffington Post to $pread Magazine. She has been published in Bust Magazine, chronicled on the internationally syndicated NPR program, The Environment Report, featured on the Sex Is Fun podcast and, recently, she was called in by Dan Savage to help listeners regarding the very real dangers of these toys on his Savage Love Podcast.
Additionally, Jennifer is a member of The Progressive Pleasure Club, a network of independent brick and mortar sex shops dedicated to helping people make informed decisions about sexuality products. Her latest endeavor, SK Consulting, helps new adult retail up-starts and existing stores refine their education-based, sex-positive and ethical businesses in their own communities!
Jennifer is presenting Toxic Toys.
One of adult film’s most celebrated actresses, Wicked Pictures contract star jessica drake is making her mark as a sex educator by combining her passion for teaching sexual responsibility with her goal of helping couples discover their erotic potential. Jessica’s experiences and knowledge inform each edition of her awarded series, jessica drake’s Guide to Wicked Sex. jessica explores each subject with the same distinct blend of factual demonstration and good humor leading Fleshbot.com to laud jessica for bringing a “sexy, articulate and professional” voice to the sexual self-help genre. A source of sexual inspiration for the adult industry, as well as society at large, jessica is also spearheading Wicked Pictures’ involvement in Adult Production Health & Safety Services, a program designed by the Free Speech Coalition to provide producers and performers with a reliable protocol and database for STI testing. Whether she’s facilitating healthy practices through DVDs, seminars or activism, or popular columns on topics like honeymoon advice, jessica leaves audiences informed without being overwhelmed. With a lifetime of rigorous analysis coupled with years of peerless professional experience, jessica drake is the leading voice in progressive sexual education.
jessica is presenting The Facts About Measure B and How It Impacts Us All, Slut Shaming in Sex Positive Communities and the CatalystCon Opening Keynote Plenary Address: Sparking Communication in Sexuality, Activism and Acceptance. Find her on Twitter.
Jim Fleckenstein is a polyamory/non-exclusive relationships educator, coach, researcher and activist. His currently heads The Earth Moved, LLC, an educational and coaching practice helping individuals and groups find and succeed in their ideal relationship.
A polyamory and open lifestyles activist since 1998, he co-founded the Institute for 21st Century Relationships, now the Foundation of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF), in 2000. He has spoken at community events like the Poly Living and Building Bridges conferences and the annual NYC Poly Pride event. He’s been interviewed by the Chicago Tribune, the Guardian (UK), and on TV and radio.
Jim is a member of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) and the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS).
In recognition of his expertise, Jim has been chosen to present at multiple AASECT and SSSS conferences, and was invited to author the Polyamory section of the U.S. chapter of the Continuum Complete International Encyclopedia of Sexuality. He is a member of the NCSF Board, and co-edited their recent booklet, What Psychology Professionals Should Know About Polyamory. He is presently collaborating with Dr. Curtis Bergstrand on research analyzing the largest survey of self-identified polyamorous persons ever conducted.
Jim is presenting Ok, Polyamory’s Been Outed! Now What Do We Do?.
Joan Price calls herself an advocate for ageless sexuality, though she has also been dubbed “senior sexpert,” “the beautiful face of senior sex,” and “wrinkly sex kitten” by the media. Joan, age 69, has been writing, speaking, and blogging about senior sex since 2005. Formerly a health & fitness writer, she switched topics to senior sex when she wrote her spicy memoir, Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk about Sex After Sixty, to celebrate the joys of older-age sexuality. Her blog (www.NakedAtOurAge.com) attracted a growing community of sex-positive (and sex-inquisitive) seniors who sent Joan their stories and questions. This led to her next book in 2011: Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud about Senior Sex, a compilation of 130 reader stories, advice from 45 experts, and Joan’s candid commentary. Naked at Our Age won Outstanding Self-Help Book 2012 from the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) and 2012 Book Award from the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists.
Joan is presenting Talking Out Loud About Senior Sex. Find Joan on Twitter and Facebook.
Kimberly A. Harchuck, LLM. is an attorney with Walters Law Group, and focuses her First Amendment practice on web-based business matters, intellectual property issues, DMCA compliance, and gaming law assessments. She regularly counsels clients on contractual and transactional issues of all types, such as website terms of use, affiliate marketing, service contracts, web development agreements, licensing, advertiser agreements, and privacy protection. Ms. Harchuck is a regular co-blogger for XBIZ.com, one of the adult entertainment industry’s most notable publications.
Kimberly is presenting Female Sexual Freedom & Web 2.0: This Ain’t Your Mama’s Feminism. Find Kimberly on Facebook and Twitter.
Krista Arendsen is a single mom to a thoughtful 13 year old. She’s also a workaholic, a lover, a dreamer and a connector of random things with a passion for social media, innovation, online privacy, cupcakes, rollerskating and making people smile. Her background includes a BA in linguistics and a JD with a focus on international human rights and indigenous peoples law and policy from the University of Arizona. Experience in law, publishing, media and the sex industry have provided her with invaluable perspective. She’s currently finding her niche, connecting people with quality adult products, sexuality education and information. Residing in the San Francisco Bay Area, she specializes in bridging the gap between sex education and sex consumerism through tech and social media. Krista enjoys making herself available to other parents working in sexuality related fields, to crowd source innovative ways to balance work/life dilemmas such as privacy, parenting and getting everything done.
Kristen Tribby was raised by a relatively sex-positive family, where the words “cervix” and “scrotum” were casually mentioned at the dinner table. Currently, she is the Director of Creative Development and Strategy for The Pleasure Chest where she trains sex specialists, oversees the buying and web departments, and develops marketing initiatives. Kristen can be found teaching sex-positive workshops throughout the country and is particularly excited to continue promoting Pleasure Chest’s long legacy of “making life sexy”.
Kristen is presenting The Fifty Shades Phenomenon and Its Effect on Our Social Sexual Behavior. Find Kristen on Facebook and Twitter.
Kristina Wright holds a B.A. in English and a M.A. in Humanities. She is the editor of several erotica anthologies for Cleis Press, including Fairy Tale Lust, Dream Lover, Steamlust, Lustfully Ever After, Duty and Desire and the Best Erotic Romance series. Her fiction has appeared in over 100 anthologies and she is the author of the erotic romance Seduce Me Tonight for HarperCollins Mischief. She has taught Composition and World Mythology at the college level and is a writing instructor at The Muse Writers Center in Norfolk, Virginia. Her forthcoming book for Cleis, Bedded Bliss: Adventures in Married Lust, is a fun and inspiring combination of advice, memoir and erotic fiction through all stages of commitment. She lives in Chesapeake, Virginia with her husband and their two young sons.
Kristina is presenting How to Become a Successful Erotic Writer. Find Kristina on Twitter.
Writer, blogger and sex-positive activist, Lady Cheeky started her curated, sensual images blog LadyCheeky.com in 2010, where she focuses on photos depicting desire and passion with a strong emphasis toward positive body image and depicting true passion in sex. On her sister site, Smut For Smarties, Lady Cheeky created a blog where readers can enjoy a wide breadth of articles and original erotica with a feminist, sex and body positive perspective. The Lady Cheeky website has been listed in Get Lusty’s Top 10 Sex Blogs and Smut For Smarties has been awarded a Jane’s Guide Quality and Original listing.
As a writer, Lady Cheeky has been featured on Fleshbot, Love Boudoir, is a regular contributor to the online magazine EvolvedWorld.com and has also won the Domi Dollz True Tales of Erotica competition. Podcast appearances include guesting on the sex and body image podcast of the Ask Me Anything Love and Sex Show and an interview for the Get Lusty website about feminist porn.
As a sex-positive activist, Lady Cheeky is committed to empowering women, especially women with body image issues, to seek and un-tether their natural sensual desire within, without shame. She hopes to empower women to have confidence that owning your own passion can free us to be the powerful and whole women were meant to be.
Lady Cheeky is presenting Does This Panel Make Me Look Fat?: Body Image and Sexuality. Find Lady Cheeky on Twitter and Facebook.
Lanae St. John is a San Francisco Bay Area Sexy Mamas Blogger, Board Certified Sexologist and Sex Educator. Her work with clients normalizes conversations about sexuality between parents and children, while helping adults to discover a more sexually positive outlook. By teaching parents to nurture the budding sexuality of their children in ways that foster self-respect and acceptance for the totality of their personhood, she helps them raise children who become empowered, beautiful, strong, sexually healthy adults. Lanae also coaches couples and individuals on their sexual questions and concerns, helping them to optimize their sexual experiences and achieve healthy adult sexuality via a sex-positive approach to sexual education. She has two daughters, who remind her, on a daily basis, why this work is so important.
Lanae is presenting How (and Why) to Be a Sex Positive Parent. Find Lanae on Twitter.
Leslie Duprey who is perhaps better known as SLAM, a Spoken Word Artist whose emotional delivery and thought provoking style have been gracing audiences since she first put pen to paper. A regular at Mo Beasley’s UrbanErotika, she has produced and performed in “The Mystique of Fly” and “Dangerous Women”, both spoken word performance events held throughout New York. She’s also been part of “Voices around the Square” and “Women of Word” spoken word collaborations. She’s been featured at Here Theatre and worked on several collaborations with “the Gathering of the Tribes”, “Tongues of Fire”, &, Artsy Fartsy. Among countless venues she’s performed at her favorites include: Nuyorican, Bowery Poetry Club, Jimmy’s Bronx Café, Billie’s Black in Harlem, &, Brooklyn Moon. She’s been a featured guest on WBAI 99.5 and has contributed to several podcasts. She’s also had the privilege of being a guest spoken word teacher at Medgar Evers College. In 2008 she published her first book of poetry ‘So Black It’s Blue, So Red It’s Sky’. A regular in the NY scene she has been lighting up stages in Washington DC since her move in 2009. She has been a featured artist at Indulj, Lace, Pure Lounge, Urban Eats &, Station 9. She likes Pina Colada’s and getting lost in the rain.
Leslie is presenting PRIDE & Prejudice: Confronting Homophobia in Communities of Color. Find Leslie on Facebook.
As an educator, activist, musician, and artist, most of Lillith Grey’s time is divided between teaching, studying, and sewing sequins. She produces Dallas’s annual “Fuck Valentine’s Day” party and performs frequently in burlesque and fetish shows. In addition to her work as an entertainer, she is also completing her Ph.D. in psychology. She currently teaches at the university level, including courses in women’s studies, psychology, social work, and American Sign Language. She has served on the advisory council for the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance and is an Advanced Topics instructor in the Mentors’ Training Program. She held the title of Gulf Coast Leather Woman 2008, was honored as Woman of the Year in 2010 by the National Leather Association – International, and continues to be involved in various service and community projects. She is “Mama’s Talented Fingers” and currently lives in the Dallas area with her partner, Synn, and their five quad-paw children.
Lillith is presenting Diagnosing the DSM. Find Lillith on Facebook and Twitter.
Malinda Flodman and Suzann Larsdotter are two Swedish sex educators with a passion for providing lesbian, bisexual and queer women with positive, affirming and clear sex education. Malinda is the author of “Stora sexboken”, the first ever Scandinavian lesbian sex book.
Malinda (left) and Suzann are both experienced lecturers and have worked together and separately on a number of projects, such as workshops, studies and educational material. At the moment they are writing two books together, one on anal sex outside the norm (between women, pegging etc) and one on female sexuality in general. They also share an interest in how various “schools” of sex education, especially regarding safer sex, clash and how to find the most effective sex education message in different contexts. Both Malinda and Suzann currently work for RFSL – The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights and work in cooperation with RFSU – The Swedish association for sexuality education.
Malinda is presenting The history of sex education in Sweden and the development of sex ed for Swedish queer women. Find Malinda on Twitter.
Marcia Baczynski is a relationship coach, sex educator, writer and consultant based in San Francisco, where she works with clients to help them uncovering their desires and make them real in their relationships. Although she does most of her work at AskingForWhatYouWant.com and SuccessfulNonMonogamy.com these days, she is also the co-creator of the global phenomenon called Cuddle Party, for which she had made dozens of media appearances. In addition to her work as a relationship coach, Marcia works part-time as a consultant for sex-positive businesses in messaging, public relations and relationship marketing.
Marcia is presenting Language Matters: How To Speak Sex-Positivity So That People Listen and Relationship Models for the 21st Century. Find Marcia on Facebook and Twitter.
Melissa Ditmore, Ph.D., was the inaugural Chair of the Advisory Board of the Sex Workers Project and is a consultant on issues of sex work, mobility and migration, HIV and sexual health. She edited theEncyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work (Greenwood Press, 2006). She has also written about sex work, migration and trafficking for The Lancet and SIECUS Report and has contributed to Sex for Sale (Routledge, 2010), Trafficking and Prostitution Reconsidered (Paradigm, 2005), and Affective Turn (Duke, 2007.) Dr. Ditmore has spoken about prostitution, migration rights and research ethics at the United Nations, the International Conference on HIV/AIDS, Columbia University, Cornell University, Hong Kong City University and numerous academic and political conferences.
Melissa is presenting Tales from the front line: Everything you wanted to know about “trafficking” but didn’t know whom to ask. Find Melissa on Twitter.
Melissa Gira Grant is a writer who tells true stories about the value of sex. She is a contributing editor to Jacobin, and her work has appeared at TheNation.com, Wired.com, the Guardian, Reason, Glamour, Slate, Jezebel, AlterNet, and $pread, among others. Her essays on sex and sex work have been selected for inclusion in the annual anthology Best Sex Writing (Cleis). She’s a former sex worker, a former organizer and peer health educator, and a current Brooklyn resident. You can also find her online at postwhoreamerica.com.
Tales from the front line: Everything you wanted to know about “trafficking” but didn’t know whom to ask. Find Melissa on Twitter.
Metis Black founded and built Tantus Inc., a sex toy manufacturing company that has helped change the profile of sexuality products. She has used Tantus to mainstream silicone products and educate the industry on material safety and sexuality.
Metis’ success has brought her accolades inside and outside of her industry. Her articles on material safety standards in sexual products and the chemistry of personal products such as lubricants have been widely published. Some of her publishing credits include Good Vibrations Online Magazine, On Our Backs, Adult Novelty Business, XBiz, and The Free Speech Coalition. Over the last decade, Metis has proven to be a champion for sex educators and a mentor to other small business owners.
Metis is presenting Toxic Toys. Find Metis on Twitter.
Michael W. Fattorosi, is an adult entertainment attorney located in Woodland Hills, California. He is been a licensed attorney for 15 years and has specialized in adult for the past 8 years. His clients include adult expositions, dating sites, online membership programs, distributors, cam sites, studios, producers, directors, talent agents and aspiring and established pornstars both male and female as well as escorts and escort agencies. His practice centers around the business aspect of the adult entertainment industry.
He has been a seminar speaker at Exxxotica Expo, AVN Magazine, Whittier Law School, Internext and the XBiz Summit. He has been published in XBiz World and XBiz Video Magazines, Adult Store Buyer Magazine and has been quoted on Fox News, CNBC, TMZ, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The Atlantic Magazine, Playboy Magazine, The Daily Beast, The Daily Dot and other various media outlets.
Michael is presenting The Facts About Measure B and How It Impacts Us All. Find Michael on Twitter.
Mireille Miller-Young is associate professor of feminist studies and affiliate associate professor of black studies, film and media studies, and comparative literature at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research explores race, gender, and sexuality in visual culture, media, and the sex industries in the United States. Her forthcoming book, A Taste for Brown Sugar: Black Women, Sex Work and Pornography, examines African American women in pornography.
Mireille is presenting Feminist Porn: The Politics of Producing Pleasure and the CatalystCon Opening Keynote Plenary Address: Sparking Communication in Sexuality, Activism and Acceptance. Find Mireille on Twitter.
Mo Beasley - This Boston born/Brooklyn, NY based Performance Artist, Author, and Educator has been dubbed The Head Coach of Erotika, for running the live performance series, UrbanErotika, for over 10 years. This award-winning poet has been featured at the legendary Blue Note, Nuyorican Poets Café, BAMCafe, and Joe’s Pub and erotic reading series: Bare, In the Flesh, Ravenous Nights, and Kiss & Tell Live.
As the major force behind the critically acclaimed play “No Good Nigga Bluez” (NY International Fringe Festival 20003), Mo made his debut as a playwright. The book version of the play, released by Scripted Linguistics (2004), is Beasley’s first published work. His second is “Be a Father to Your Child” (Soft Skull Press, 2008), a groundbreaking anthology on fatherhood and hip-hop.
When not at the mic, Beasley teaches poetry/spoken word, theatre, and sexuality education courses/workshops to youth and adults throughout New York City and across the United States. His current and past clients include Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Kennedy Center, Duke Ellington School for the Arts, African Voices Magazine, Children’s Aid Society, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Penn State University, Howard University, Coppin State University, and more.
Mo’s has been interviewed by Rev. Al Sharpton, hip hop legend Chuck D, and featured on The Hallmark Channel, GRITtv, FOX 5 TV, XM Satellite Radio, WBAI/Pacifica Radio, KISS FM (NYC), Air America and more. In 2006, The New York Daily News selected Mo as one of “50 Unsung New York Heroes.”
Mo is presenting PRIDE & Prejudice: Confronting Homophobia in Communities of Color. Find Mo on Twitter and Facebook.
N’jaila Rhee is currently a marketing professional and freelance journalist. She received her BA in Journalism/Communication Media from Rutgers University and went on to work in print, broadcast and public/media relations. Rhee was a speaker at Banana 2, the Asian-American media conference, speaking on niche blogging and online community building. She has also written about dating, body image and safe sex in the digital age on sites like Racialious.com and 8Asians.com.
N’jaila can be heard on the podcasts We Nerd Hard and The Alter Negro Sho with John Minus, which was nominated for Best Podcast at the BlackWeblog Awards. Her own site, BlasianBytch.com was also nominated for the 2010 and 2012 Black WebBlog Award for best Sexuality/Relationship site and was one of Sexforums.com Best of the Web in 2012.
N’jaila is presenting Does This Panel Make Me Look Fat?: Body Image and Sexuality and Sex in the Media: From Pitch to Print; What Does Sex Really Sell?. Find N’jaila on Twitter and Facebook.
Nate Glass is the Founder and COO of Takedown Piracy (TDP), a leading anti-piracy service born to demand in April of 2009. While writing for a small entertainment paper, Glass witnessed the harm piracy inflicted on the entertainment industry. When a film producer wrote Glass and questioned whether anyone could actually make a difference against piracy, Glass became motivated to take a stand against piracy through actions over words. As profiled on popular sites CNBC.com, TheDaily.com and more, Glass and TDP offer copyright holders an affordable and highly effective means to fight back against content thieves. Listed by Google as one of the top 5 reporters of digital violations in the world, and with over 10 million infringements removed, Nate is both passionate and professional about his quest protecting copyrighted content from thieves. Glass also writes a monthly column for AVN Magazine where he sheds light on the world of piracy and its impact.
Nate is presenting The Piracy of Sex. Find Nate on Twitter.
Quetzal Francois is a queer educator who works at Girls Incorporated of Alameda County. She is a certified sex educator through San Francisco Sex Information and also holds a certificate in HIV prevention/outreach. She teaches sex education in the bay area to people of all walks of life from 6th graders and high-schoolers to adult heterosexual cis-people to radical, kinky, polyamorous queers. Her work and passion includes creating safe spaces for people to explore and dismantle internalized sexual shame, sharing tools for
negotiating safer sex, and bringing inclusive language and sex positivity to classrooms. She is currently co-writing an e-book called “Sex Games” that includes playful and educational sexy games for individuals, couples, and groups.
Quetzal is presenting Making Comprehensive Sex Education into Inclusive Sex Education. Find Quetzal on Twitter.
Rachel Kramer Bussel is an author, editor, blogger and event organizer. She is the editor of over 40 anthologies, including Irresistible, Going Down, Suite Encounters, Do Not Disturb, Women in Lust, Obsessed, Gotta Have It, Best Bondage Erotica 2011 and 2012, Orgasmic, Fast Girls, The Mile High Club, Spanked and Bottoms Up, as well as the nonfiction Best Sex Writing series. Her books have won 8 IPPY (Independent Publisher) Awards. Her erotica has been published in over 100 anthologies, including the Best American Erotica series and Zane’s Succulent: Chocolate Flava II and Purple Panties, and her writing about books, pop culture, sex and dating has been published widely, including The Daily Beast, The Frisky, Glamour, The Gloss, Inked, Jezebel, Mediabistro, Penthouse, The Root, Salon, Time Out New York, The Village Voice, xoJane and Zink.
Rachel is presenting How to Become a Successful Erotic Writer and The Fifty Shades Phenomenon and Its Effect on Our Social Sexual Behavior. Find her on Twitter and Facebook.
Rev. Rebecca Turner has been Executive Director of Faith Aloud since 2001, leading its mission “to eliminate the religious stigma of abortion and sexuality”. The organization works through the lens of progressive religion to provide the public with positive religious and spiritual messages about sexuality and abortion and increase access to sexual and reproductive healthcare.
Rev. Turner grew up in rural Missouri. She has degrees from Southwest Baptist University and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and additional doctoral-level studies at Eden Theological Seminary. She holds ministerial standing in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ.
Rev. Turner was featured as one of “13 Religious Women to Watch in 2012: Changing the World for Good” by the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC. She was named as the 2010 “Person of the Year” by the Abortion Care Network and honored by the Missouri Women’s Network for “Outstanding Contributions to the Advancement of Women’s Equality”. Rev. Turner has been featured in Time Magazine, on PBS “Religion and Ethics Newsweekly”, on CNN “Anderson Cooper 360”, in the documentaries “Beyond the Politics of Life and Choice” and “South Dakota”, and in news stories around the United States.
Rev. Turner is presenting Spiritual Sexuality: Ending the War Between Religion and Sex. Find Rev. Turner on Twitter and Facebook.
Regie Cabico (U.S.) poet and spoken word pioneer, won the Nuyorican Poets Café Grand Slam and was the first openly queer and Asian artist to take top prizes in 3 National Poetry Slams. Television appearances include two seasons on HBO’s “Def Poetry Jam.” His work appears in over 30 anthologies including Chorus and Spoken Word Revolution. He is co-editing Flicker & Spark: An International Anthology of Queer Spoken Word & Poetry and is the producer of Capturing Fire: A Queer Spoken Word Slam and Summit with the DC Center. The Washington Post named Regie, “The fairy godmother of spoken word poetry” in Washington, DC. He performs throughout North America and The UK.
Regie is presenting PRIDE & Prejudice: Confronting Homophobia in Communities of Color. Find Regie on Facebook.
Sex and relationship expert Reid Mihalko of ReidAboutSex.com helps adults learn how to understand their lovers’ bodies and be better communicators so they can create more self-esteem, self-confidence and greater health in their relationships and sex lives, no matter what their self-expression of those happen to be.
From his rated-PG/PG-13 workshops (Cuddle Party, Speed-Flirting) to the rated-R (Iron Slut Sex Educator Showdown) to his explicit, NC-17 rated, Show-N-Tell sex education workshops (where audiences get to watch, take notes, and ask questions), Reid’s workshops have been attended by close to 40,000 individuals.
Reid has also appeared on the Emmy award-winning talk show Montel, Fox News, VH1’s Scott Baio is 45 and Single, Showtime’s Penn & Teller’s Bulls**t!, Canada’s The Sex Files and SexTV, and the short-lived Life & Style, on NPR, Sirius’ Maxim Radio and Cosmo Radio, and in Marie Claire, GQ, Details, People, Newsweek, Seventeen Magazine, and The National Enquirer, as well as media across the globe in thirteen countries and at least seven languages.
Reid is presenting When To Give It Away and When To Charge For It: Knowing Your Worth, Assessing Others’, And How To Make Ends Meet As a Sex-Positive Professional. Find Reid on Twitter andFacebook.
Philadelphia, PA native Minister L. Renair Amin Covington believes “Her Voice is Her Purpose” and her life confirms such. As an author, she has written for various print and on-line publications. In addition, she has written short one-acts that have been presented at various venues as well as acted in a few independent plays. Renair has been able to use her voice to empower others through her writings, as well as her poetry. As a spoken word artist, Renair has performed nationally, gracing stages in major cities such as Atlanta, Philadelphia and New York City, where for five years, she hosted Speak Your Myne Harlem, a monthly open mic showcase of her creation. Just as passionate working behind the scenes, she has produced several artistic venues to showcase the various talents of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community. In 2006, Renair formed Pmyner, Ltd., a media and entertainment company created to provide services to the LGBT visual and performance arts communities which led her to be named one of the Top 5 Lesbian Entrepreneurs by LezNation Magazine (2010.) In the Fall of 2010, she was awarded the Urban Lyfe Award for Best Spoken Word Artist. Since the closing of Pmyner, Renair Amin has answered the Call on her life and has entered into ministry under Restoration Temple Ministries where she is licensed as a Minister of the Gospel. She is also a speaker in the Safe Schools Initiative under PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.) Her first poetry collection, Mental Silhouette was released in April 2011. Renair’s newest work, Pit Crew: How to Survive a Spiritual Pit Stop was released in December 2012. Renair Amin lives in Brooklyn, New York with her wife and their son.
Renair Amin is presenting PRIDE & Prejudice: Confronting Homophobia in Communities of Color. Find Renair Amin on Facebook.
Dr. Robert Morgan Lawrence has a Doctorate of Education in Human Sexuality and holds another doctorate in health care, which informs his sexological perspective. He’s served as a sex industry consultant, educator, media voice, and academic author, and has lectured both nationally and internationally about human sexuality and health. He has been an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Clinical Sexology, the Chapter Secretary for the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, and a member of the San Francisco Coalition for Healthy Sex. From 1979 Lawrence served on the switchboard and training staff, then as coordinator, of SF Sex Information. He and his partner Dr. Carol Queen left the organization to pursue their own projects, including the Center for Sex & Culture.
Lawrence has covered many sexuality-related topics during 35+ years of teaching. He has been a guest lecturer at a number of universities, and has appeared in places as far-flung as Amsterdam, London and Beijing. Lawrence and Queen have produced events of many kinds, including the live Masturbate-a-Thon. He has been active as a safer-sex educator since 1980.
Since 1999 Lawrence has been disabled with a chronic pain condition that limits mobility.
Dr. Lawrence is presenting Why Talk About Sex And Disability Anyway? and the CatalystCon Closing Keynote Plenary Address: Afternoon Tea with Carol Queen and Robert Lawrence.
Robin Mandell is the Volunteer Assistant Director of Scarleteen—an organization which provides fact-based, nonjudgmental sex and relationship education to teens and young adults. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies from Queen’s University in Canada and has recently studied professional and technical writing. Robin blogs on equality issues and sexual pleasure and empowerment at www.robinstoynest.com. She believes that making choices around sexuality is everyone’s birthright, and that making a space for the discussion of sexuality is often not just about pleasure, but about survival.
Through her academic studies and volunteer crisis line work, Robin has discovered that disability issues receive significantly less attention in academia and social justice movements than do concerns of other minority populations. She has developed a passion for starting dialogues on sex and disability, and has come to the realization that, as much as she just wants to be like everybody else, she can use her visible reality as a blind woman to start these dialogues.
Robin is presenting Sex Work and Disability and Why Talk About Sex And Disability Anyway?. Find Robin on Twitter and Facebook.
Sabrina Morgan works in sex and connection, in all its profound, messy glory. She is a sex worker, an advocate, and a sexuality educator and facilitator. Fascinated with the places where society and sexuality intersect, she has been practicing kink-focused sex work since 2005.
Sabrina is presenting How to Be an Ally to Sex Workers in Theory and Practice and Sex Work and Disability. Find Sabrina on Twitter and Facebook.
Serpent Libertine is a sex worker, activist, filmmaker, and sex educator based in the Chicago-area. She is the current director of Sex Workers Outreach Project-Chicago, former media team coordinator for the Desiree Alliance, an organizer with the Chicago Recovery Alliance’s “Recovery Rags” program and created the sex worker-made media site Red Light District Chicago. She has lectured on issues related to sex work and trafficking at various colleges and universities including Northwestern University, DePaul University, University of Maryland, the University of Illinois at Chicago and is the current host of the “Chicago Sex Tour” for the Discovery Center.
Serpent is presenting Slut Shaming in Sex-Positive Communities. Find Serpent on Twitter.
Sherri L. Shaulis is the senior editor of pleasure products for AVN, a trade magazine that covers the adult entertainment industry. As such, she covers trends in the adult pleasure products marketplace, as well as issues that affect the industry and new products and technology. With AVN since 2007, she previously worked as a newspaper and magazine journalist for almost 20 years in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Texas and California. Raised in Northeast Ohio, she currently lives in Los Angeles with her two dogs, who loves when she brings products home for review because they always think they are getting new chew toys.
Shira Katz is the host of Pedestrian Polyamory, a podcast, and Pedestrian Polyamory – Live!, a SiriusXM Playboy radio show, that delves into polyamory from a practical, logical point of view. Shira also cohosts the Life on the Swingset podcast, a podcast about ethical nonmonogamy, where she brings a pansexual and polyamorous point of view to a show full of progressive swingers. When not writing articles, podcasting, or otherwise extolling the virtues of polyamory, Shira can be found in the streets of San Francisco getting crushes on nerds and advocating for a sexier tomorrow.
Shira is presenting Sex with Benefits: Progressive Swinging. Find Shira on Facebook and Twitter.
Sinnamon Love is an adult performer and fetish model. She began performing in adult films in the early 1990s, and has since appeared in approximately two hundred movies. She directed the movie My Black Ass 4, which received nominations at the 2001 AVN Awards for Best Ethnic-Themed Video and Best Anal Sex Scene (Video). Love was admitted into the Urban X Hall of Fame in 2009, and the AVN Hall of Fame in 2011. She was profiled in the book Money Shot: The Wild Nights and Lonely Days Inside the Black Porn Industry by Lawrence C. Ross Jr. Her writing has appeared in Hos, Hookers, Call Girls, and Rent Boys: Professionals Writing on Life, Love, Money, and Sex edited by David Henry Sterry and R. J. Martin Jr.
Sinnamon Love is presenting Feminist Porn: The Politics of Producing Pleasure. Find Sinnamon on Twitter.
Steve Gustafson has been a contributor and weekly columnist at entertainment / pop culture site 411mania.com for over 4 years. His columns covering the sexier side of Hollywood life are the highest read on the site. Along with covering the latest pop culture news and celebrity gossip, Steve’s interviews include dialogues with stars in the adult film industry, such as Jesse Jane, Chanel Preston, Riley Steele, Bree Olson, Chyna, and many others. Steve has also interviewed numerous Playboy Playmates over the years, including Anna Sophia Berglund, Amanda Cerny, and Leola Bell. The popularity of his column demonstrates a willingness by many in the general public to accept the blending of mainstream and adult entertainment industries.
Steve is presenting Sex in the Media: From Pitch to Print; What Does Sex Really Sell?. Find Steve on Twitter and Facebook.
Suzann Larsdotter and Malinda Flodman are two Swedish sex educators with a passion for providing lesbian, bisexual and queer women with positive, affirming and clear sex education. Suzann is a sexologist, authorized social worker and sexuality educator, and the president of the Swedish association for sexology. She has also written the study “Like licking a raincoat, A quantitative study of women who have sex with women and STIs/safer sex in Sweden”.
Malinda and Suzann (right) are both experienced lecturers and have worked together and separately on a number of projects, such as workshops, studies and educational material. At the moment they are writing two books together, one on anal sex outside the norm (between women, pegging etc) and one on female sexuality in general. They also share an interest in how various “schools” of sex education, especially regarding safer sex, clash and how to find the most effective sex education message in different contexts. Both Malinda and Suzann currently work for RFSL – The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights and work in cooperation with RFSU – The Swedish association for sexuality education.
Suzanne is presenting The history of sex education in Sweden and the development of sex ed for Swedish queer women. Find Suzann on Twitter.
Tammy Nelson, PhD is a sex and relationship expert, author and international speaker. She is a world renowned expert in relationships, a psychotherapist in private practice, and speaks internationally on sexuality and human relationships. She is a Board Certified Sexologist, an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist, a Licensed Professional Counselor, and a Certified Imago Relationship therapist. She is the author of several books including, “What’s Eating You? A Workbook for Anorexia and Bulimia,” “Getting the Sex You Want; Shed Your Inhibitions and Reach New Heights of Passion Together, “ and the upcoming “The New Monogamy; Redefining Your Relationship After Infidelity.”
Dr. Nelson is on the International Advisory Board of Sex Coach University as well as being a Master Faculty member, and she is the founder and primary faculty instructor for the Institute for Sexuality and Human Development, training professionals in the field of psychotherapy, sexuality and human development via Teleclasses and webinars offering cutting edge topics in the field of human relationships. Tammy gives workshops and Intensives for couples and trains psychotherapists around the world on global relational change.
Dr. Nelson is presenting Healing and the new Monogamy. Find Dr. Nelson on Facebook and Twitter.
Terri Clark, MPH, CHES has been providing health education, training, and counseling in the field of sexuality and reproductive health for nearly 20 years. She is currently the Coordinator of Prevention Services at ActionAIDS in Philadelphia, PA. She also serves a Co-Chair for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Elder Initiative of the Delaware Valley (LGBT EI), whose mission is to foster and advocate for services that are inclusive and responsive to the needs of LGBT seniors. She is a member of Widener University’s Consortium on Sexuality and Aging. Terri is an adjunct instructor in the Public Health Dept at Arcadia University. Her expertise is in health education and prevention, including HIV/AIDS, sexuality and reproductive health, and LGBT issues. Throughout her career in public health, she has been an advocate for gender and sexual health equality across the lifecycle.
Terri is presenting The Silver Rainbow: Working with LGBT Seniors and What’s Your “Bi-Q”?.
Tizz Wall is the irreverent Jane-of-all-trades, taking on the world with leather and lace. She shares an apartment in Oakland, California, with a giant painting of a golfer and her adopted gray cat, Kwess. She is a California certified Domestic Violence Counselor, and after working in social services for two years, she lost her mind, quit her job, and bought a ukulele. She now works one million and one jobs, from being a pro-domme, writer, speaker, and odd-gig-taker. She also acts as Impact Theatre’s House Manager, a sex blogger for the Playpen Report, and as sex educator Jamye Waxman’s intern/research assistant.
When Tizzy isn’t letting men lick her red vinyl boots or typing away at her computer, she enjoys proper snail mail, reading, playing the ukulele until her nail polish cracks, falling headfirst into the internet, poetry, and flitting around San Francisco while wearing festive accoutrements.
Tizz is presenting How to Be an Ally to Sex Workers in Theory and Practice. Find Tizz on Twitter.
Tobi Hill-Meyer is a multiracial trans activist, writer, and filmmaker. She is the director of Doing It Ourselves, and winner of the Emerging Filmmaker Award at the 2010 Feminist Porn Awards. She started producing media to fill the void of diverse trans characters and to offer an alternative to the overwhelmingly exploitative and exotic ways that trans women’s sexuality is often portrayed. Her work can be found at HandbasketProductions.com.
Tobi is presenting Sex and Sexuality from a Trans Perspective. Find Tobi on Twitter.
Tom Stewart is Founder and CEO of Sportsheets International, Inc., a manufacturing company that produces bondage-lite/restraint play products for the masses, Strap-on harness, and many sexy accessories for foreplay. In addition to the Sportsheets product line, the family of brands also includes Sex & Mischief, Sex In The Shower and Manbound.
Tom founded Sportsheets in 1993 after creating the Sportsheet, the “Velcro®” Bondage Bedsheet™, while serving as a helicopter pilot in the Marines in the late 1980’s. Inspiration for the first Sportsheets product came from watching an episode of the David Letterman Show. Tom began Sportsheets with one product and the concept that “you’re only as tied us as you want to be”. Today the brands are sold world-wide. Over the last two decades he and his sister and business partner Julie, have built their company to employ almost 50 people and developed more than 500 different products for couples.
Tom is head of R&D at Sportsheets, where product innovation and quality are the foundation of the company. He is a strong advocate of customer and consumer education. Sportsheets was named BDSM Pleasure Company of the year 2012, and has won numerous industry awards for marketing and product excellence. In the last decade, Tom broke Sportsheets out of the “dungeon” and began to develop products for couples to use that enhance certain sexual positions.
Tom is presenting The Fifty Shades Phenomenon and Its Effect on Our Social Sexual Behavior.
Tristan Taormino (puckerup.com) is an award-winning author, sex educator, radio host, and feminist pornographer. She is the author of seven books including The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women and co-editor of The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure. She runs the adult film production company Smart Ass Productions and has directed twenty-four adult films, including her series based on real female kink fantasies, Rough Sex and the Expert Guide sex education series, which she created for Vivid Entertainment. She received the Trailblazer Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Feminist Porn Awards in 2010. She is the host of Sex Out Loud, a weekly radio show on The VoiceAmerica Talk Radio Network. She was a columnist for The Village Voice for nearly ten years and writes a column for Hustler’s Taboo. She was the founding editor of the Lambda Literary Award-winning series Best Lesbian Erotica and is editor of twenty-five anthologies. She has appeared on CNN, HBO’s Real Sex, The Howard Stern Show, Loveline, Ricki Lake, MTV, Oxygen, MSNBC, Fox News, The Discovery Channel, and on over fifty radio shows. She lectures at top colleges and universities and teaches sex and relationship workshops around the world.
Tristan is presenting Feminist Porn: The Politics of Presenting Pleasure, The Facts About Measure B and How It Impacts Us All and the CatalystCon Opening Keynote Plenary Address: Sparking Communication in Sexuality, Activism and Acceptance. Find Tristan on Twitter.
Yoseñio V. Lewis is a Latino of African Descent (Panamanian) female to male transsexual who has been a social justice activist since age 13. A health educator, speaker, writer, performer, trainer, facilitator and spiritual hugger, Yoseñio is a member of the National Advisory Board for the Center of Excellence for Transgender Health, the Community Advisory Board for the All Gender Health Online Study (sponsored by the University of Minnesota), and the Sexuality Track faculty of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Creating Change Conference. He is a frequent speaker at the medical schools of the University of California at San Francisco and the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality. Yoseñio was an organizer of and Keynote Speaker for the OPEN-SF Conference and a panelist at the Good Vibrations Sex Summit.
Yoseñio believes that there can be no art without activism and no activism without art.
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