In The Media

The Boston HIV Research Clinical Trials Unit (Brigham and Women's Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, and The Fenway Institute) will be hosting a virtual panel to discuss the LGBTQIA+ community’s historical and current relationship to intimacy in its many forms. We will explore themes of sex, dating and emotional vulnerability during COVID-19.

Moderator: Adrianna Boulin

Panelists: Joan Ilacqua, Marla Renee Stewart, MA, Allyssa Prutzman, Ramona Mirage

10/25/20

Ropecraft's Homebound Halloween

Tangled: Asian American Women and Rope Communities

The BIPOC experience in kink subcultures is often fraught and their voices and experiences often go unheard – even when they’ve been shouting it out loud. What are people’s experiences? By listening to personal stories, and the personal histories of our communities, we can strengthen our culture through empathy, connection, and dialogue.

In this panel let’s listen deeply. Listen the experience of these three Asian American women share their journey in rope and kink. They do not represent or stand for the entirety of Asian American women. What they share will be their personal truth. From their stories, we might open our hearts to hear the stories of so many who often go unheard.

We seek to give platform and voice to three significant contributors to rope community and kink culture today; Madame Butterfly, a BDSM Educator who created a vibrant shared learning culture in San Francisco early on and is known for her hand spun silk ropes, Midori, founder of Rope Dojo (R) and author of the first English shibari instruction book “Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage” and Kim Lee, up and coming talent in Rope Performance and Education and Pro Domme.

Our invited guest moderator is Marla Renee Stewart, a sexologist, University lecturer, coach, and co-founder of the Atlanta-based Sex Down South Conference. She also facilitates the Race and Kink series. We look forward to an afternoon of listening to our panelists and learning more about how we can engage with this hobby we love in a way that is humanistic to all participants with respect and appreciation for the cultural context that created it.

Moderator: Marla Renee Stewart, MA

Panelists: Madame Butterfly, Midori, & Kim Lee

6/17/20

Multicultural AIDS Coalition @ Online

Conversations on COVID-19 & Black Communities: COVID-19 Sex Chronicles

The Multicultural AIDS Coalition, Black AIDS Institute, House of Blahnik, Harvard University CFAR, and Southern AIDS Coalition are partnering to host a webinar series focused on Black communities and COVID-19. This is a space for Black people to talk about the impact of COVID-19 on our families and communities. A multi-level, innovation response is needed to address the complex impact that COVID-19 is having on the well-being of Black lives. Recognizing the resilience in Black communities is critical to begin discussing how Black people can and are developing and implementing strategies addressing COVID-19 and other health issues in our community. As HIV advocates, researchers and providers, we bring a unique perspective and conversations will build on our experiences addressing HIV in Black communities.

COVID-19 Sex Chronicles: Will SEX Ever Be The Same? People are still doing it - main partner, casual hookup or sex work. How do we stay safe? It’s time to talk about sex.

Moderator: Chioma Nnaji, Program Director

Panelists: David Malebranche, MD, PhD, Marla Renee Stewart, MA, & Toni-Michelle Williams

5/2/20

QuarantineCon

A Day for Mental Health and Wellness

7/13/19

Dope Girls Zine presents Pleasantville @ Plaza Atlanta

Abortion Access & Sex Education

We're joining forces with the historic Plaza Atlanta to screen this 1998 classic! Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon star as horny teens that somehow end up in a drab 1950s television world where things may not actually be as peachy keen as they seem. It's a crucial time to be talking about reproductive health, y'all. Before that, there's a 30-minute panel during which we'll discuss sex education in the American South, birth control, abortion access, and so much more.

Moderator: Becca Grimm

Panelists: Marla Stewart, Laura Simmons, Zoë Julian, MD, MPH

10/13/18

Spelman Museum @ Spelman College

#SpelZanelePRIDE w/ Lyrispect

You’re invited to an afternoon of poetic proportions featuring an original performance by award winning lyricist and activist, Lyrispect. Inspired by Zanele Muholi: Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness, Lyrispect will moderate a panel to address questions and concerns surrounding the sexuality, spirituality, and visibility of LGBTQI women of the African Diaspora.

Host: Nina “Lyrispect” Ball

Panelists: Beverly Guy Sheftall, Ph.D., Marla Renee Stewart, MA, Latishia A.V. James, M.Div.

Podcasts

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