Host a LGBTQ Youth in your home!

By searah | March 14, 2010 – 1:39 pm

Check out this amazing local program to help house homeless LGBTQ youth! Spread the word!

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We (UCAN’s LGBTQ Host Home Program) are looking for Host Home volunteers!

An innovative approach to moving Chicago’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth beyond life on the streets

A statewide study conducted by the University of Illinois at Chicago Survey Research Laboratory found there were 24,968 unaccompanied homeless youth up to age 21 in Illinois in 2004. On any given night within Cook County alone there are nearly 2,000 homeless youth with nowhere safe to sleep at night. A recent study from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force stated that as many as 20-42% of these youth on our streets self-identify as LGBTQ. Let’s get right to the bottom line. Chicago has 193 emergency and long term shelter spaces for youth. With shelter space limited and long waiting lists many homeless LGBTQ youth in Chicago will remain on the streets and out of care.

The truth is, emergency and long term shelters aren’t enough.
This is a situation that will take everyone working together to solve.
There is a way you can help -
become a part of the LGBTQ Host Home Program.

UCAN’s LGBTQ Host Home Program is an innovative housing model that provides an alternative to the shelter system for LGBTQ homeless youth. We rely on our Host Home Volunteers to step forward and open their home for a period of time to a youth ages 17 - 21. Both the youth and the adult volunteer go through a rigorous screening and training process facilitated and supported by trained social work professionals. The provision of safe housing in conjunction with on-going supportive services for the youth and volunteers will create the safety and stability necessary for the youth to focus on pursuing educational and vocational opportunities.

The overall goal of the program – a “permanent” transition from homelessness to independence for many LGBTQ youth who experience homelessness.

Patricia Posey, a youth who serves on the Host Home’s Advisory Council, shared that, “Host homes give youth support so that money can be saved and can lead to independent living versus life on the streets where every dime earned is spent immediately to use for survival, food, shelter, and bus fare with no guarantee of continued support.”

Want to Become a Host?
LGBTQ Host Home volunteers are committed to building community in innovative ways by opening their homes to homeless LGBTQ youth. They believe that while LGBTQ young people are experts in their lives they might not necessarily be experts in negotiating the transition to adulthood and would benefit from a safe and supportive living environment! Still interested? Check out the criteria below:

* Be at least 25 years old
* Have lived in Chicago for at least one year
* Complete criminal background checks
* Provide three references
* Complete an initial interview and follow up home interview
* Have an extra bedroom for the youth
* Complete comprehensive training within an LGBT affirmative practice model; focusing on adolescent development, harm reduction, trauma informed frameworks and anti-oppression work
* Have renter/homeowner’s insurance

Youth we serve
The LGBTQ Host Home Program will serve LGBTQ homeless youth who have a desire to leave the streets, disengage from street culture and be ready to work on education, employment and housing goals freeing them to identify and reach their goals and create an independent self-satisfying life.

Support our work
To learn more about becoming a part of the LGBTQ Host Home Program please contact Bonnie Wade, Associate Director at (312) 738-5966 or wadeb@ucanchicago.org.

Click here to view a short video about the LGBTQ Host Homes Program.

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Amorist Lube — New Item of the Week!

By eden | March 13, 2010 – 12:15 pm

Amorist Lube — now 50% off!!
Comes in 30 ml or 100 ml bottles.

This silicone-based sensual lubricant stays slippery, even under water! Like all silicone lubes, it is condom-compatible and perfect for massage as well! Comes in a pretty, discreet pump bottle.

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Some advice about masturbating.

By eden | March 11, 2010 – 4:05 pm

We got a question today about how to switch up your masturbatory technique when you feel you can only orgasm under very specific circumstances, in a very specific position and using a very specific type of stimulation. It is true that vibrators can help break you out of (what I have just decided to call) The Orgasm Rut, but what will help you out even more is giving your humdrum jerkoff habits the ol’ switcheroo.

Our brains and nervous systems are wonderful things. They help our bodies learn and remember how to do stuff when we practice over and over again. It’s how you can memorize and flawlessly play a complicated piano piece or learn how to swing a baseball bat at just the right time. But in the case of masturbation, this can actually work against you. Neural pathways get used to a particular kind of stimulation and they can be very stubborn and attached to specific ways of masturbating (position, type of stimulation, location in your home…). Over time, though, you can train yourself to enjoy masturbating in different positions and with different manual techniques. As I said, a vibrator can help, as the stimulation is more powerful than just your hand, but if you don’t change up your habits, you’ll eventually get used to the vibration and end up in the same Orgasm Rut as you were pre-vibrator. NOTE: This is NOT the same as “desensitizing” yourself. You cannot damage your nerves with regular vibrator usage, I don’t care what rumors you’ve heard. What we are talking about is just your body becoming accustomed to a particular amount and kind of stimulation, which is a situation that is easily changed and remedied.

So how do you remedy it? Try switching up your position every couple of sessions. Instead of spending your whole time on your stomach straddling your vibrator, try flipping over onto your back and masturbating that way. This will probably be frustrating initially, but keep at it. After a few sessions in different positions, and enjoying the sensations equally, try moving your hand or your vibrator in different ways. Like I said, this can take awhile and can be frustrating, but with a little extra time, you can explore lots of different masturbatory sensations, and in the end you’ll likely find it easier to orgasm with or without a partner.

Interestingly, this is also a great strategy for training yourself to take longer to orgasm. If that’s your beef, try masturbating almost until that point of no return, then switch positions, wait a few seconds, and go at it again. Then repeat as many times as you can stand it. You can also combine the switching positions with different masturbatory techniques which will help you become accustomed to different sensation and will strengthen the muscles that control and hold back orgasm.

Yeah, it’s kinda like exercise, but hey, if all exercising could be like masturbating, maybe we wouldn’t hate exercising so much. Eh?

Posted in masturbation, questions, sex tips, toys | Tagged | Comments

Hmmm

By searah | March 10, 2010 – 1:15 pm

So if you were making a fuck-able body pillow… wouldn’t you think that putting the entry hole somewhere NEAR the cartoon snatch would be more fun than by her feet?

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Coupla new toys

By eden | March 9, 2010 – 12:49 pm

Fly - $28

Three delectable speeds and an adorable, removable silicone sleeve? If you want a petite, powerful, and soft vibe, Fly can help you soar to new orgasmic heights!

Vet Wrap - $8

Much like the perennially popular bondage tape, vet wrap sticks to itself and not your skin, making it a super-fun way to tie up your sweetie! Use it as restraints, body harnesses, makeshift clothing, blindfolds — or use your imagination! Not only is it versatile, Vet Wrap is also latex-free!

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Hot Shot Condoms

By eden | March 7, 2010 – 12:31 pm

I just love this. This is really marketing at its best.

The Hot Shot condom is slightly shorter and narrower than regular sized condoms, to fit the teeny willies of our 12-14 year old sexually active demographic. Cute!

Right now they’re only available in Switzerland (gotta love the Swiss, really) but they might soon be available in the UK. I even heard a blurb about it on the BBC today! I’m sure parents will be up in arms about it in 5 — 4 — 3 — 2 …..

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Double Bullet now 50% off!

By eden | March 5, 2010 – 12:59 pm

It’s our new Item of the Week!!

Get ‘em while they’re hot!

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Men Below the Belt workshop

By eden | March 4, 2010 – 3:50 pm

NEXT WEEK!

Don’t miss it!

Men Below the Belt
Tuesday, March 9th at 7:30pm | Instructor: Rebecca
$20/$15 students and low-income
This class starts by exploring the male anatomy and our feelings about it. After a brief lesson on pleasure points we move on to instructions for what makes a stellar handjob and then techniques to give a mind-blowing blowjob–all without gagging or getting a sore jaw! We’ll even show you how to put a condom on without using your hands!
This workshop is for women and trans people only.

Register here!

Or call 773-271-1219 to register over the phone!

Advanced reservations are required. You can register by calling us at 773-271-1219 or do so on our website here. Feel free to e-mail us with any questions. All workshops are held at Early to Bed, 5232 N. Sheridan Rd. in Chicago.

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Sex.com goes bust

By eden | March 3, 2010 – 12:16 pm

How did I not know about the dramatic history of the domain name sex.com?

Well, in any case, apparently there’s a new development in the story of this website, which is apparently (seriously) called “the jewel in the internet’s crown.”

The rights to one of the most notorious adult sites on the internet are up for sale just four years after they changed hands for a record $14m (£9m), with auctioneers hoping that sex can sell all over again.

Sex.com, the most expensive domain name on the internet and the subject of two books, is set to go under the hammer after its owner Escom was unable to pay its debts.

I dunno. Is it just me or is “sex.com” just too literal for the 21st century internet? It’s almost vintage, really. Maybe they should start showcasing pinups there, or maybe 70s porn with lots of mustaches.

Anyway, it’s a short article. You can check out the rest of the story for yourself.

Posted in Politics, porn | Tagged , , | Comments

Age, kinkiness, and desirability: A quantitative study

By eden | March 1, 2010 – 12:42 pm

Holy crap, you guys. You HAVE to read this article. It’s on the OKCupid blog, and it amasses all the data they’ve collected by the people using their dating service. There are graphs, people. There are graphs where you can move the toggle to change the results.

And you will find that there are some fascinating results about heterosexual dating — about the expectations of men as they age, the desirability of women as they age, how people’s dating and sexual preferences change through time, and why this should be enough evidence that older straight men should really consider dating women their own damn age.

It’s so awesome. Read it. Then read it again.

via Violet Blue

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