Keep Your Eyes Peeled!!!

As of right now, we're working on launching our KickStarter and IndieGoGo projects to fund SexFest 2013 and the information to support and encourage it! Our DVD set will include the speakers that cover the following topics:

Why this symposium?

This webseries is being developed to highlight the evolving research, in Chicago, regarding the infinite degrees of gender and sexuality. It has become clear that the issues around this particular topic make it difficult to relate and work with those closest to us. Although issues surrounding this are universal, we are focusing on sexual marginalization specifically in Chicago. Because Chicago has a plethora of academics and universities that have classes and programs that cover varying topics in regards to Gender Studies. The Deviant Minds, NFP redefines the Chicago Seven from political dissidents to the academic institutional giants functioning today being: University of Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Illinois, DePaul University, Loyola University, The Art Institute of Chicago, and Columbia College. Within these walls we cover the academic issues that people face daily in regards to sexual marginalization and gender studies.

Nature vs. Nurture

Everything comes together through sexual activity. Trees seed, fish lay eggs, flowers pollinate, and through the flowers bees feed to fill their hives with honey to allow the young to grow… So why is it that society sees sex as dangerous? It’s natural and essential to procreate, and keep this earth full of life.

Behavior

There are natural urges to just about everything we do. We eat, sleep, and explore our personal and sexual preferences. We all have needs, we all deviate from a path. Why not take a walk on the wild side, explore who we are, and learn what our gender, sexuality, and desires mean to us. We partner according to what’s in our DNA, why not allow ourselves to explore that?

Healing

What’s in each and every one of us allows us to heal our own issues, whether it’s a crippling disease, or even a mental disorder. Our bodies are designed with chemicals that allow us to remain happy and healthy. Estrogen decreases the chance for heart attacks, Epinephrin and Neoepinephrin allows us to move quickly in a panic-filled situation… Could there be a way our bodies can heal themselves through sex? It’s intimate and releases hormones throughout our body.

Sex, Science, and the Sacred

As beings of nature, there is only one ideal that differentiates us from other life around us. As people, we seek the sacred in our lives, looking for answers with regards to what is right and wrong. Our moral stand points, especially with regards to sex and all that it encompasses, we seek explanations for our desires and drives, which is why finding the scientific base for our basic needs is of such importance.

ABOUT US

THE PROBLEM: My name is Amanda Torrey, the Director of The Deviant Minds, NFP.  David, my husband, and I began our first show on the podcast “Deviant Minds Salon” at the end of April of 2011 by introducing Llyris, who earned her PhD in Neuroscience from Northwestern and  has been a witch for over half her life.  Presently, while developing her challenging career, she is married to another scientist and together they are raising their little boy.  Llyris is still afraid of openly expressing her spirituality for fear of reprisals from her academic community. When we started, we were well aware of spiritual prejudices and hoped to expand communities to embrace cross pollination of spiritual beliefs.  Through the year of our recorded shows though, we fell into a world of spirituality that lived within the confines of sexual marginalization.  These people were sex workers, intersexed and transgendered as well as a few from the Kink community. This new experience motivated me to look at Chicago from a broader perspective where I found a treasure.

THE VISION:  Chicago hosts a number of world class universities.  Chicago drives world class commerce.  Chicago is the home to a large diversity of people no matter how they define their gender and sexuality.  So then it would seem Chicagoans are the most qualified for collaborative workshops, events and celebrations which foster educated insights and creative partnerships that celebrate human nature in all of its quirkiness.