Dirty Lola, Rebecca Hiles, Dylan Thomas, and Mister Pent get together at Catalyst Midwest 2016 to discuss how to navigate alternative lifestyle communities!

You can find Dirty Lola on Twitter @DirtyLola

You can find Rebecca Hiles on Twitter @TheFriskyFairy

You can find Chris Pent on Twitter @MisterPent

You can find Dylan Thomas on Twitter @DylanTheThomas

NYC based burlesque performer, art muse, and firecracker, Bianca Dagga joined Lola on stage at Otto’s Shrunken Head on September 1^st for another installment of Sex Ed A Go-Go.

We were one guest short for our first show back after a busy summer hiatus, but Bianca and Lola joined forces and the Pussy Posse was still poppin. On this episode of Sex Ed A Go-Go, Lola and the crew chat about Sex Geek Summer Camp shenanigans, cunt kicking comes up again, riding a Sybian in the woods, spontaneous anal, anal beads n things, and the best way to procure post coitus mozzarella sticks. It was a weird show. Lol

You can find Bianca Dagga on Twitter, @BiancaDagga

NYC based Burlesque MC, writer, singer, and gadabout, Bastard Keith and the “Hidden Treasure of Burlesque”  Mandarine Moon-fly, joined Lola on stage at Otto’s Shrunken Head on October 6th for another installment of Sex Ed A Go-Go!

Doing a live show in NY can be very tricky. Sometimes you end up with a packed house and sometimes no one shows up. When the latter happens you learn to make the best of it. When no one shows up for Sex Ed A Go-Go we throw a pizza party and record a kick ass podcast! On this episode of Sex Ed A Go-Go, Lola and the crew chat about scheduled extracurricular fucking, period oral sex, slutty storm preparedness, bruises and why we love them so much, the struggles of performing in NY, the worst tv shows to have on during sex, Twitter, the art of porn and movies we love. Sho Nuff.

You can find Bastard Keith on Twitter, @BastardKeith

You can find Mandarine Moon-Fly on Instagram as @MandarineMoon

It's really been a year, hasn't it? I know I've been quieter than usual, at least here on the blog. I've been outspoken to the point of blithering loudmouth elsewhere, though. Including a misguided, if impassioned, attempt to reign in someone trolling in a Trump hat on election night at #SSDesire. 

I feel unmoored. Unstuck in time and space. And not in the good way that post-Desire usually brings. Unmoored in that I truly don't feel I have a handle on direction just now. I don't know how to get that back, or how to return toward my goals. All I have now are abstract thoughts, and I struggle with all of them.

As this is a website about sex positivity and inclusiveness, I try to err on the side of compassion. It doesn't always work, of course, and I'll make comments that alienate others. Hell, I know #NotAllChristians, so I don't need to be reminded of that anymore. I'm uncouth, I'm outspoken to a fault, and truly, I often speak before I think, and write before I think.

I've wanted to write about my feelings post-election, a dispatch from the #NewNormal, but have been unable to, thus far. I've started many times, and just given in to my darker despair urges, thrusting my fists against the posts, railing and ranting, gnashing my teeth and wringing my hands. It has, at times, been cathartic, but mostly just fed the despair.

Today, though, the day the electors vote, I felt that I wanted to say something different.

It's about love.

We all know that it's about to get bad, potentially devastatingly bad for so many we care about, for so many in our marginalized communities. Today (unless something insane happens) Donald Trump will be voted as president-elect. He has appointed some of the least qualified people to the most important offices in our country (why shouldn't his cabinet reflect him, after all?) and many actively oppose the posts to which they've been appointed.

It's tempting to say this is part of the Left/Right dance, that this is "same as it ever was." We've been here before, with W. It's comforting to feel that way, and to those who want to, I don't fault that feeling. Just do so with eyes wide open. Because it may be similar, but it's definitely not the same.

Fascism isn't an instant thing, where one day we wake up to totalitarianism. It's gradual. Many will say it's been coming for decades and that may well be true. But with the outgoing NC government working to ensure that the new governor will have far less power, we see that a new playbook has arrived. The rules have changed. The darkness has become emboldened. We see them now, shoving at the margins of polite society.

Where Barack Obama was a symbol of hope and potential to so many communities who've always felt they could not be president, so now we see Trump as a symbol that you don't need to be "politically correct," that telling the "truth" is a great way to get away with being hateful.

We need to watch that these margin pushes don't become the norm. Eyes wide open means watching out for yourself, your family, but also for those that you don't share race, sexuality, creed, or beliefs with. The poorest, the most vulnerable, they're more important now. We need to take care of them as best we can, because things are about to get bad.

So, go ahead and try not to stress out about the oncoming storm, that's alright. But when you see something happening, speak up. When people say horrible things, racist, sexist, homophobic, classist, or downright ignorant, say something.

Continuing to say something is the only way through. Quiet on the side of good is what has brought us here.

The quote that has, bizarrely, meant the most to me throughout this whole horrific ordeal, comes from Twin Peaks:

"While I will admit to a certain cynicism, the fact is that I am a naysayer and hatchetman in the fight against violence. I pride myself in taking a punch and I'll gladly take another because I choose to live my life in the company of Gandhi and King. My concerns are global. I reject absolutely revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method... is love." - Albert Rosenfield

We must continue to love each other. Love will out. It must.

Let's take care of each other, and make 2017 the year this horrible wave finally breaks and begins to roll back.

While enjoying time at Desire Resort and Spa, we watched, waited, and realized our suffering through the 2016 Election would continue, but we decided to acknowledge the election and move on, for when we returned home we'd have work to do, and there was no work to be done while "stuck in Mexico". So, Chris Pent. Dr. Liz Powell and myself, with Tonia as our willing hostess and facilitator, decided to talk about:

Closing the Deal

Being sexually free means potential surrounds you, but it can be a real challenge to find someone you're attracted to and to ask them to join you in a way that allows for multiple chances for success, and for graceful failures.

We are the Gentleperverts Social Club, You can find more Gentleperverts’ Social Club podcasts every month at www.gentleperverts.com and discuss our latest episodes and topics on twitter with @GentlePerverts and on the Swingset.FM network hashtag #SSFM on twitter.. You can find me, Dylan Thomas, on Twitter, Facebook, Spotify and Fetlife. If you have a submission, a story, a signal boost request, or an idea for a topic, send that over to me at dylan@lifeontheswingset.com.

We featured music by: Puppet titled Play Pretend, off the new Fear is Fleeting EP