Sex in Public
By Kuono • Mar 19th, 2008 • Category: BlogJust coming back into work from joining the protest outside — as I write this, there are now 150 arrests from a growing number of protesters out on the streets marking the 5th year of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While I ponder how many dildos 3 Trillion dollars could buy, I know that money would have been better spent on things like education, arts, and social service projects (to name a few).
Public display, discourse, and engagement is a way to challenge other people, to bring awareness, and to let others know that something matters.
I recently stumbled upon a site called “Sex in the Public Square” which shares a similar mission to Good Vibrations — our company’s motto is that Sexuality is everyone’s birthright. Compare that to the mission statement posted on http://sexinthepublicsquare.org/ GV has been around since the early 70s and has witnessed many of the powerful protests on the streets of SF that have supported sexual and reproductive rights, and other human rights.
Bookmark http://sexinthepublicsquare.org/ — the site, and its links page, are well worth returning to for well-written critique on sex-related topics in the news (Eliot Spitzer anyone?) and book reviews and so much more. I think I found my new favorite website.
Peace,
Kuono
Here’s a photo from about 10:30am this morning I just found on Flickr. Note the officer taking a pic with his phone…
Kuono >> Magazine Editor, Web Producer at GoodVibes.com and manager of the Good Vibrations Affiliate Program (GVAffiliates.com). Okay, back to work.
All posts by Kuono
Thanks so much for the mention. We’re huge Good Vibes fans and it’s no accident that our missions are so similar. We totally believe in what you’ve been doing for so long.
In fact, when I graduated from college in 1993 I received some academic award money and do you know what I spent it on? My first sex toys — purchased from the Good Vibes catalog!
In solidarity,
Elizabeth
my bf is a photographer and almost got arrested yesterday as well just for taking pictures. Is it just me who feels like this is the SF police’s time to shine..since they don’t seem to do much else, why not raid a protest….awesome. Not really though. It makes me really sad..I can’t believe it, 5 years.
Hi Elizabeth from SexInThePublicSquare!
I love GV too and recall my first experiences purchasing sex toys in San Francisco — which meant a lot to me too (for me it marked a growth in my identity as I grew… as a queer, as a polyamorous person, as genderqueer, and as a sex worker. I’m so glad GV was a part of that.) Anyway, great to hear from you and LOVE the site!
Mandy (How are you! Hope all is well!)
I wanted to comment on what you said about SFPD with my own thoughts… because I have mixed feelings about protesting in terms of civil disobedience of chaining oneself to buildings and obstructing traffic. All of the actions I participated in were non-obstructive/perfectly legal. I witnessed many officers siding with us, and saw many arrests that were simply done to do their job.
In some ways, I see the arrests a consenting action between both the protester and the officer, and the message is simple: I am arrested because I am one more person in opposition to this war. (Granted, I’ve never been arrested; I feel my presence on the street is action enough for me to feel I’ve had my say.)
And of course I also saw and heard of many arrests that were unnecessarily forceful, where protesters were on the asphalt with knees on their necks. Some demonstrations of violent policing for sure. Thankfully, no where near the amount of brutality experienced in the decades prior in our country’s history.
Anyway, some good, some bad — on both sides. I’m glad to read news of protests all over. Jeeez this is one heck of a comment! I’m gonna shut it now. ; )