1. Please tell us a bit about yourself including any identities you hold
Slut. Queer, Leather-Dyke, Androgynous, Tantrika, Therapist,, Sex Radical, Radical Pervert, Femme, Mother.
2. Please share some things about your history in alt-sex communities
Started out in 1962 believing that I would eventually settle down and partner with a man, thought I needed one to have kids, wound up a single mom raising children communally while leading an explorative sex life. Never monogamous since 1969, progressively queerer, especially in leather. Feminism is terrifically important here, although sex-positive feminists were not highly regarded in feminism in the 70 and early 80s.
Lived communally with Gay men 1974-1989, learned really great stuff about how to do group sex and love many partners in different ways. Sadly, also learned a lot about dying from AIDS. I am eternally grateful for all of my experiences in this community, including the generosity with which they raised my child with me.
3. Please share some of your current projects or activities related to our communities’ interests
Navigating Consent classes since 2018. I wrote these classes in response to the #MeToo movement, have worked in Women’s Crisis, Rape Crisis, Battered Women’s Shelter. Our classes are taught on two tracks, About Surviving and About Transgressing, and are participatory and experiential. We hope to show our participants ways (plural, there are many ways) to make the often deep changes in themselves and how they deal with sex in their lives that will lead to lasting sex-positive communities of consent and a world in which rape and sexual assault are no longer everyday occurrences.
Please share a bit about your journey in polyamory
I was an active slut between partners 1962 – 1969, engaging in serial monogamy when partnered, very adventurous when single. In 1969, inspired by a transformative LSD trip (and in recovery from a battering relationship) I decided to identify as a slut for the rest of my life, and never again be regarded as anybody’s “territory.”
4. What do you hope to witness in the future in poly communities or in alt sex communities in general?
I hope that our current focus on consent can create a more open and free culture, and that we will begin to raise our children of all genders to be who they are, beyond the stereotypes of how women and men are “supposed” to be, in a culture that is free and open.
I also would love to see further interest and practice at the intersection of sex and spirituality.
Dossie Easton’s Bio
Dossie Easton, Marriage & Family Therapist, is co-author with Janet Hardy of The Ethical Slut (now in its 3rd Edition), The New Bottoming and Topping Books, When Someone You Love Is Kinky, and Radical Ecstasy: SM Journeys to Transcendence. She is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice in San Francisco working with individuals, couples and more, and considers it her privilege to serve the often misserved communities of sexual outsiders. Dossie is creator and developer of the Navigating Consent classes, www.navigating-consent.com. You can check out Dossie’s website at www.dossieeaston.com.