The poly connection to sci-fi and fantasy

PolyCamp is a small gathering held on British Columbia's Salt Spring Island. Non-monogamous folks come from Vancouver, Victoria, Duncan, and Seattle to camp, chat, and hang out in the orchard of Neptune Farm. In reporting on PolyCamp, Canada's gay and lesbian news site Xtra! focused on a common interest in the poly community: science fiction and fantasy.

Many poly folks came to polyamory via geek culture, and the author mentions the group's affinity for Star Trek, comic books, Joss Whedon, Magic: The Gathering, and sci-fi author Robert A. Heinlein. Mostly, the article relays conversations between people at the camp, letting them speak for themselves about the connection between polyamory and the alternative worlds in sci-fi and fantasy media.

"Science fiction and fantasy books brought me up, largely. Maybe people want to write about alternative relationships . . . And if you put it in a setting that's odd and weird, it's non-threatening."

An English graduate student from Victoria chips in: "That's how Star Trek got away with dealing with a lot of topics in the '60s."

. . . Campbell notices that the poly community collects an odd number of software engineers and fantasy-fiction fans. The Society for Creative Anachronism is full of poly relationships, he says. Fantasy and sci-fi conventions have polyamory panel discussions.

. . . A 1976 study by psychologist Jacquelyn Knapp found that polyamorous people do indeed have character traits in common. They tend to be individualistic, academic, nonconformist and stimulated by complexity. They like endless communication. They enjoy picking over every subject in dizzying detail. Polyamorous people are the nerds of love.

Read the rest on Xtra!.