“Polyamory” reality series premieres on Showtime this Thursday

What an exciting development! Showtime has announced a new reality show, "Polyamory: Married and Dating," which will premiere Thursday, July 12th. The season will consist of seven half-hour episodes which will air on Thursdays from July 12th through August 23rd, with reruns several times each week. The show will document the trials and tribulations of several non-monogamous relationships.

The show is described on its website:

This provocative reality series takes an inside look at non-monogamous, committed relationships that involve more than two people. Lindsey and Anthony are married, but live in a triad (three-way relationship) with their girlfriend, Vanessa. Husband and wife Michael and Kamala (who have a young son) are adjusting to having two of their lovers, fellow married couple Jen and Tahl, move in with them. This explicit look at modern-day polyamory follows characters grappling with the emotional and sexual drama of sharing their hearts, as well as their beds.

I'm looking forward to seeing how everything is portrayed. Showtime isn't a network to shy away from sexual content, so it should be especially interesting.

In celebration of the new show, there will be a viewing party at the Victory Theater in downtown San Diego on July 28th. Afterward, there will be a Q&A with director Natalia Garcia and participants Lindsey, Anthony, Vanessa, and the San Diego family.

OpenSF keynote prompts coming out

There has been some awesome coverage of the OpenSF conference. Stories about the conference were published in the San Francisco Bay GuardianOakland Local, and Bay Area Reporter, and there are some great personal accounts from attendees scattered around the internet as well.

But my favorite post was from Nice Girl of the blog Nice Girls Like Sex Too. Called "I Am Coming Out," it's a direct response to the call to action in my OpenSF keynote -- asking folks to live their lives as openly as they can, especially if they don't outwardly appear to be members of marginalized groups. And it's wonderful.

I have been the direct beneficiary of the bravery of so many other people in the marginalized communities I identify with, and yet I have refused to speak publicly about my membership in these communities. So, as I take a deep breath, I am going to come out to you all. Right now.

I am kinky. I enjoy BDSM style sex, with spanking, restraints, blindfolds, collars, whips, paddles, corsets, and addressing my partner as "Sir" when we are engaging in this sort of play . . . I am a happier and healthier person for it.

. . . My boyfriend and I are considering non-monogamy. At the time of writing this post, we are still unsure what that non-monogamy will look like, but the OpenSF conference has given us the tools, the language, and the support of a community as we explore this space. Our relationship and interpersonal communication has already improved dramatically.

. . . I have answered Tristan's call to action, and I am now issuing one of my own. It is so incredibly important that those of us who have the privilege of appearing mainstream to publicly proclaim our membership to the marginalized, demonized, and ostracized communities who have given us so much . . . Come out. Our world will be brighter when you do.

Read the whole thing at Nice Girls Like Sex Too.

A mutual girlfriend in new Oliver Stone movie

It's a big deal when a mainstream movie depicts a non-monogamous relationship. That seems to be the case with Oliver Stone's upcoming film Savages, in which the girlfriend and narrator (played by Blake Lively) is dating two men who run a profitable marijuana enterprise.

Savages is mostly a cut-throat crime thriller about what happens when the girlfriend gets kidnapped, but the element of a non-monogamous relationship is certainly not ignored. In the trailer, the relationship dynamic is revealed around 50 seconds in, as Lively clarifies in voice-over, "and yes, I'm with both of them."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFWZ6doRb34

The folks behind Modern Poly have created a Facebook event inviting non-monogamous people and allies around the U.S. to attend midnight screenings of the film on Thursday, July 5th. They muse:

How will they treat their relationship? Is it as copacetic between the 3 of them as it looks? Will they kill off one of her partners halfway through in a fit of jealousy? Will there be a hot 3 way makeout between all 3? Will they all end up together? How will it change the public face of polyamory as a major mainstream motion picture?

We have no idea, but we know one thing: We all want to be there when the movie premieres so we don't miss a second of what follows after. And we want you to be there with us.

Check for showings in your city on IMDB.