I was raised to believe that I should only be with one person. Anything else wasn’t moral. But when you don’t know that it’s your birthright to love and express your emotions in whatever way your heart desires, how is one supposed to discover that there are infinite choices? I stumbled across the world of polyamory five years ago, and it has forever altered the way I see my connection with others.

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As a gay feminist, I’ve had to tell many the straight boy, “Those jokes make me feel uncomfortable. Please stop.” The percussive nature of gay rape jokes can certainly get a laugh, but they also speak to some of our societal attitudes regarding rape and queer sexuality. Here are some answers to the question, “Why do people think gay rape jokes are okay?”

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There are a lot of misconceptions about genital reconstruction. “It’s just cosmetic.” “You need therapy, not surgery.” “It’s not like it’s life or death.” And that’s just for general reconstruction conversations! There are even more specific myths about individual kinds of surgery — ie: trans men. Here are eight non-truths about trans men’s genital reconstruction!

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Any time sexual assault is brought up, chances are there will be voices complaining that “if they were really raped, they should go to the police.” But that is far from fair. There are many reasons people don’t involve the police, none of which have to do with whether or not a rape actually happened. Here are eight barriers that keep survivors from reporting.

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The search for one’s own definition of what it means to be a man is an important part of maturity for young men. Many men look to popular culture for what male behavior is supposed to be and how we’re supposed to display it. But male-oriented advertising too often uses hyper-masculine images to sell products. Let’s take a look at just what they’re selling.

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It’s easy to ignore problems that don’t directly affect us. So if you’ve never experienced sexual harassment at work, you may not realize how pervasive it is. Get the facts about how common sexual harassment in the workplace is, who is most often targeted, and how often the harassment gets reported with this handy infographic from Visual.ly.

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Saying “I am a feminist” causes several kinds of reactions when coming from me, a male. Ranging from an inquisitive if not suspicious “why?” to sweet praise borne not out of understanding, but rather out of amazement if not amusement. And yet the one reaction I’ve always wanted, “So what? Think you’re special? Who isn’t?”, is one I’ve sadly yet to experience. But here’s why I’m a feminist.

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While there are many glaring examples of rape culture, there’s also a covert nature to rape culture that often goes unnoticed. We must also look beyond the overt ways in which rape apologia exists and recognize exactly how it sneaks into our everyday life. So let’s look at some pervasive and normalized parts of society that contribute to it and what you can do about it in your life.

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Homophobia and transphobia can combine to make queer and trans* immigrants bear the brunt of the U.S.’s already racist and xenophobic immigration laws. Learn how US immigration law impacts the most vulnerable members of our community and how queer and trans* rights activists can be involved in coalition building with immigrant rights’ groups to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

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Increasing marriage equality is a great step in the right direction. But it’s more important than ever to broaden the scope of what we envision for queer liberation. By unfolding the many layers of what liberation and equality could look like for the LGBTQ+ community, we’ll be able to see a nuanced picture of marriage equality that is couched in the larger movement for social justice.

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Every day, our children are shown the gender box they are expected to live inside of and are encouraged to shrink down the parts of themselves that don’t fit that narrow mold. If we truly want our children to succeed in this world, they need our help to smash open the very boxes we’ve constructed for them – to claim their place, their voice, and their power. But how?

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