Secular Sexuality

The internet is huge, and weird, and ever changing. While that last bit is key two things seem to stay evergreen, religiously fueled homophobia and web forums for talking about it. Recovering From Religion, one of our favorite places on the internet, is helping to host and move these conversations forward through their broad collection of resources, chat rooms and forums and Nate Smith, RfR volunteer and forum moderator, joins SecX to tell us all about it. Catch him and Christy with fan favorite Serafina Smith as we log on and dial in to take your calls!
►Join Recovering from Religion and find their online forums at https://www.RecoveringFromReligion.org
► Dive deeper into the episode and find more links at https://www.vcatx.com/media/rfrforum
Leaving the Fold: A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving Their Religion by Marlene Winell

You’ve probably used the word ‘pandemic’ more in the last year then you ever expected- as a show built on Dr. Darrel Ray’s The God Virus we’ve definitely learned enough about viral transmission to last a lifetime. And while the current crisis may be showing only the earliest signs of abating, the last few years have brought some incredible strides in the ongoing battle with HIV/AIDS. 40 years into a global pandemic ‘the virus’ may be finally ready to give up it’s ominous title and Cynthia McDonald, an HIV case manager and advocate, is here to tell us all about it, plus take your calls!

►Find out more about Cynthia Here: https://linktr.ee/camglamming

► Dive deeper into the episode and find more research at https://www.vcatx.com/media/hiv2021

Cynthia’s Recommended Reading- https://fivebooks.com/best-books/arthur-ammann-aids-plague/

Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution by Linda Hirshman

Citing “Moral Failure,” Christian Apologist Sye Ten Bruggencate Leaves Ministry

BY HEMANT MEHTA https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2021/03/03/citing-moral-failure-christian-apologist-sye-ten-bruggencate-leaves-ministry/

If SecX was looking for a soulmate, Rudy and Marie would be pretty close to the top of our list. Alas there are neither perfect partners nor podcasters, at least until Elliot Page starts a YouTube channel. Still this black and white expectation that god and destiny will bring us the perfect person is a persistent one. Host of Everyone’s Autonomous and relationship

► Find the many hats of Marie D’Elephant at https://mariedelephant.com/
► Dive deeper into the episode and find more research at https://www.vcatx.com/media/soulmates

Struggling With Partner's Very Religious Family | Lilith-(FI) | Secular Sexuality 07.34 https://youtu.be/rULVMu3zTao
VC Resources: Radical Acceptance https://www.vcatx.com/media/radicalacceptance
WTF Is A Poly Viking Power Bottom? https://www.vcatx.com/media/poly-viking-power-bottom

Purity culture, frankly like most social ills, seems to work double time against women of color. Limitations on healthcare access, stiff social restrictions on dating choice and strongly enforced dependence on male providers are bad enough without having to contend with the jezebel stereotype at every turn. Non-prophet Jena Miyu is powerfully black, female and atheist and joins Rudy and P*ck in discussing the added challenges of purity culture on Black Americans. Our conversation and tons of your calls on this week's SecX!
► Find Jena and lift up the voice of a black female atheist at https://www.facebook.com/BlackFemaleAtheist/
► Dive deeper into the episode and find more research at https://www.vcatx.com/media/blackpurity

Are you there god? It’s us, the Atheist Community of Austin. We know you’re not real but we still have some questions about menstruation. Until you get back to us, Dr. Anna, scientist, communicator and imaginarium curator joins the show to bring her biotechnical background and skepticism to bear on these socially stigmatized cycles of life, plus your calls.

TERF-y gender critical talking points and plain old transphobia have long since played an outsized role in public policy no matter what the science says. This week Cindy Plaza, host of The Path of Reason (La Voie de la Raison), joins Secular Sexuality to apply a little critical thinking to some of the most tired arguments against trans inclusion. With her help Vi and Christy take your calls and work to answer the question- where are we supposed to pee?
► Dive deeper into the episode and find more research and policy data at https://vcatx.com/media/gcthinking
► Find Cindy and The Path of Reason at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkS1apAgsxDhiSp5a2D3rtQ/
The work of Dr. Kristin Neff at https://self-compassion.org/

You know you’re not a crumpled flower or a chewed up piece of bubblegum, old ideas of your sexual identity no longer suit you. Congratulations from us, sincerely. And yet so many of those old ideas; rigid gender norms, toxic monogamy, patriarchy and heteronormativity all still live within us. Turns out, that’s by design. Author of The God Virus and SecX’s creator and producer emeritus Dr. Darrel Ray returns to the show to share with us some of the history of modern purity culture and how we can heal and grow beyond it. All that plus your calls on this week’s Secular Sexuality.

► Dive deeper into the episode and learn more about purity culture at https://www.vcatx.com/media/purityhx
► Take the Purity Culture Outcomes Survey at https://www.puritycultureoutcomes.com/

Learn more about Recovering from Religion and donate to their upcoming fundraiser at https://youtu.be/qvGoDjGr3w4

Betty Dodson, Women’s Guru of Self-Pleasure, Dies at 91 by Penelope Green for The New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/style/betty-dodson-dead.html)

It’s bad enough that religious trauma can do such a number on our sexuality without the stigma of atheism impacting our dating life. It’s hard enough to find the perfect poly Viking power bottom or androgynous cat cyborg of our dreams without getting the automatic left swipe for our beliefs or miss out on a second date because our star signs don’t match expectations. Join Matt, Rudy and Christy as we discuss what it’s like being atheists, activists and actively seeking to share life and love, all that plus your calls this week on Secular Sexuality!

Ever hear a door close and catch a sudden feeling of dread? Or buy a new car and realize seemingly for the first time just how much stress that old transmission was causing? Don’t worry, you don’t have ESP, psychic premonitions or copy-righted spider based superpowers- instead you’re experiencing one of the most primitive and powerful pieces of human evolution! Justin Sunseri, polyvagal podcaster and host of Stuck Not Broken, joins the show to walk us through the spooky science of neuroception and how this self-defense radar system can derail life and love. All that and your calls and questions on episode 8.02 of Secular Sexuality!

► Find Justin and a wealth of polyvagal resources and podcasts at https://www.justinlmft.com/

► Dive deeper into the episode and explore neuroception at https://www.vcatx.com/media/justinlmft

Neuroception is Not the Spidey-Sense... but it's a good analogy by Justin Sunseri (https://www.justinlmft.com/post/spidey-sense)

The Error Of 'Biological Sex' (https://www.vcatx.com/media/2019/5/12/the-error-of-biological-sex)

Hello and Welcome to 2021, the year where we’re definitely going to start exercising, heal our religious trauma and fix our political system, amiright!? Maybe not, but Alice Little rejoins the show to walk us through her efforts to fight the status quo and see sex workers enjoy the rights extended to everyone else. Join us as we discuss the ongoing pandemic and check-in on our favorite adult content creators, plus your calls and questions!

► Find Alice on YouTube by searching AliceLittleTv https://www.youtube.com/c/AliceLittletv/
► Dive deeper into the episode and find Alice’s other links https://www.vcatx.com/media/alicevsnv

Sex and the Constitution: Sex, Religion, and Law from America's Origins to the Twenty-First Century Book by Geoffrey R. Stone
A NYC Paramedic Was Doxxed For Being On OnlyFans. The Real Scandal Is Not Her Sex Work By Elly Belle for Refinery29 (https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/12/10227681/new-york-post-doxxed-paramedic-onlyfans)
A new law intended to curb sex trafficking threatens the future of the internet as we know it by Aja Romano for VOX (https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/4/13/17172762/fosta-sesta-backpage-230-internet-freedom)