Audacia Ray

I wish I'd marked on my calendar the date I first read Carol Queen's The Leather Daddy and the Femme. That would be the date when something clicked inside my brain and connected the fragmented parts of my erotic and intellectual understanding of my sexuality. Real Live Nude Girl and Pomosexuals cemented my crush on Carol. And then several years ago through a remarkable chain of mutual friends and happy coincidences we got to know each other "IRL". I'm thrilled that now Sex In The Public Square and Center for Sex and Culture can work together on all things sexual-freedom-related. To that end, we're co-hosting a cocktail hour and reading on Monday, June 8 from 6-9 in NYC. The event is free and open to the public (as long as you're over 21). Donations to Center for Sex and Culture are welcomed, and we're counting on you to help us meet our bar guarantee!

What: A Sex-Positive Soiree and Reading

Who: Carol Queen visits from San Francisco, joined by Rachel Kramer Bussel, Elizabeth Wood, Audacia Ray, and Sinclair Sexsmith!

When: Monday, June 8, 6-9 pm (reading will start between 7:30-8, last about an hour).

Where: Happy Ending, 302 Broome Street, NYC 

Why: Carol Queen's coming through town and wants to collaborate with her friends Rachel and Elizabeth to make a space for connecting, schmoozing, touching base, and furthering plans for sex-positive world domination! Her SF nonprofit The Center for Sex & Culture has hosted Rachel Kramer Bussel, worked with Elizabeth Wood on her online community Sex in the Public Square, and has plans to expand its educational and cultural offerings online as soon as we can (if we can't afford NY real estate, at least we can visit you via your computers). Come mingle with your fellow NY sex people and meet some new ones, then enjoy a reading that will surely be more salaciously smart/sexy brain candy than most people ever get on a Monday (and in some cases, sadly, EVER). Cosponsored by the hotties at the NYC Sex Bloggers Calendar (www.sexbloggercalendar.com to benefit www.sexworkawareness.org). Free calendars! Signed! (The theme for the 2010 calendar, in production now, is sexual freedom -- yay NYC Sex Bloggers!)

Open to everyone 21+ -- please pass it on.

How much: FREE, but we have a bar guarantee to meet, so have a drink, and donations will be gratefully accepted for the Center for Sex & Culture -- no amount to big or too small, and tax-deductible!

• First of all, Dacia tried last month to open an account at Citibank for her business, Waking Vixen Productions. After filling out the preliminary paperwork, she received a voicemail delicately informing her that her line of business made them unable to take her account.
• Then, early this month, she got a similar notice from iTunes, notifying her that her podcast, Live Girl Review, could no longer be included in their directory. ITunes was less direct than Citibank, saying only that podcasts could be excluded "for a variety of reasons." On checking out their podcast spec sheet, she found "strong prevalence of sexual content"  included among the possible reasons that Apple can kick you to the curb.
• And just last week, Google yanked her Google Checkout account, barely twenty-four hours after she'd put her new short film The Love Machine up for sale. According to the e-mail Google sent Dacia, "the products or services [she's] selling on [her] website are considered ‘Restricted’ per our policy- Adult goods and services."

Thursday night I was at a reception in honor of the launch of a new nonprofit organization called "Sex Work Awareness." Formed by the amazing folks at $pread Magazine, SWANK, and PONY it promises to make truly important contributions to sex work advocacy, research and community organizing. I think they're definitely an organization to watch!

And tomorrow I'll be on a panel at the Left Forum with one of Sex Work Awareness's founders, the seemingly indefatigable Audacia Ray. Also on the panel are some other sex worker advocates I admire deeply: Ignacio Rivera and Amber Hollibaugh also of Queers for Economic Justice and the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce, and Antonia Levy from the Graduate Center at CUNY. Here's the panel info:

These photos are just a sampling from Viviane's Flickr set. Thanks Viviane!

Me, with co-founder Chris Hall and Rachel Kramer Bussel

Audacia Ray, Lux Nightmare and Rachel Kramer Bussel

I'm sleepy and exhiliarated after our "coming out party" last night. It was really amazing to meet so many friends of Sex in the Public Square face-to-face, in one place and at one time! Your enthusiasm for this project was palpable, and I can't wait to see where that energy takes us.

Slowly throughout the day today and tomorrow we'll be getting pictures together, so if you took any you want to share send them along to me at elizabeth at sexinthepublicsquare dot org or drop me a link to your Flickr page or just let me know where to find your shots.

Here are just a few to get you started. They're of our fabulous speakers, who I really can't thank enough for honoring our project by sharing their work. You really did demonstrate all the different kinds of things we want this site to accomplish!

Lux Nightmare's exploration of the pink ghetto...

Here's the poster for our "Coming Out" party. (Yeah, it's the same party we've been talking about. We just decided "coming out party" sounded better than "launch party. Don't be confused!)

You're coming, right?

(Click on the image for your own poster-sized copy. It's a PDF, so you need Acrobat or something similar.)

Violet Blue just did a cool video interview with Audacia Ray about her new book, Naked on the Internet. You can check it out on the website for Geek Entertainment TV; among other things, Audacia talks about the coming "Fuckbot Takeover." Watch the video if you wanna know that is.

Technorati Tags: Audacia Ray, books, Media, Violet Blue

Naked on the Internet: Hookups, Downloads and Cashing in on Internet Exploration

A Panel Discussion Moderated by Audacia Ray
Monday, June 11, 2007
7:00- 9:00pm

Audacia Ray, author of Naked On the Internet: Hookups, Downloads, and Cashing In on Internet Sexploration , moderates a discussion about female sexuality and the Internet.

Panelists: