about us

Tom Paine, co-author of Polyamourously Perverse (and a member of this site), calls us a blog that makes a difference! Click here to read his description of our site and others that he thinks "make a difference."

A quick correction, though: You don't need to join this site post comments. You do need to join ifyou want to post new forum topics. And of course we encourage you to join because above all we're trying to build community, and communities need members.

Sex in the Public Square is in the process of becoming a nonprofit corporation. Our main mission is to make space for discussion of sexuality and sex-related issues, and to keep that space open to a wide range of positions. The founders of the corporation don't even agree on everything, of course. That said, there are a few principles that the organization supports:

1. Consensual sex between consenting adults should not be criminalized. This includes commercial sex.

2. Sex is a normal part of human life and accurate information about sex should be accessible to all people regardless of age.

3. Children are sexual beings and their sexuality needs to be honored and allowed to develop in safe and healthy ways. Education about sexuality, including safe-sex practices, should be provided to all children.

4. Exploitation is not okay no matter whether it happens in a sexual setting or a nonsexual setting. We should fight exploitation as much as we can.

5. It is important to be able to hold open, public discussions about sexuality.

Sex in the Public Square is in the process of becoming a nonprofit corporation. Our main mission is to make space for discussion of sexuality and sex-related issues, and to keep that space open to a wide range of positions. The founders of the corporation don't even agree on everything, of course. That said, there are a few principles that the organization supports:

1. Consensual sex between consenting adults should not be criminalized. This includes commercial sex.

2. Sex is a normal part of human life and accurate information about sex should be accessible to all people regardless of age.

3. Children are sexual beings and their sexuality needs to be honored and allowed to develop in safe and healthy ways. Education about sexuality, including safe-sex practices, should be provided to all children.

4. Exploitation is not okay no matter whether it happens in a sexual setting or a nonsexual setting. We should fight exploitation as much as we can.

5. It is important to be able to hold open, public discussions about sexuality.

The founding members of Sex in the Public Square:

Elizabeth Wood, is a sociologist, activist and writer. Elizabeth started blogging and continues to blog at http://sexinthepublicsquare.wordpress.com. She is assistant professor of sociology at Nassau Community College on Long Island in New York. She is a strong believer in the importance of maintaining and expanding public resources, in the importance of sex in human lives and communities, and in the power of organized individuals to make change in the world.

Chris Hall is a writer who lives in Brooklyn. He spent the Reagan years living in Southern California and the dot-com boom years living in San Francisco. He is both geeky and perverted and loves women who know CSS or can count out loud in binary. He maintains a blog, Literate Perversions.

Everybody can view the content on this site, and comment on blog entries or respond to forums. But there are other ways to be involved, and if you want to participate in them, then you need an account.

Of course membership is completely free and the only real personal information you need to provide to get an account is an email address where your initial password and instructions can be sent. That means you can become a member and remain anonymous. (Some members of our community use different names in different parts of their lives, so this is important to us.)

So, why become a member?

For one thing, accounts come with the ability to make and search profiles of other members. In other words, you can get to know each other better.

This is a collaborative space, and members have more say in setting the agenda. Members can create new forum topics, and can post "Take Action!" items, book reviews, polls and new web links.