What happened in Puerto Rico gets blogged about.

Blogging is an interesting idea to me. I have read a few. I have followed fewer. At the end of the day, I am impressed with those who have managed to make a name for themselves in various e-communities posting their ideas and thoughts, be they actually interesting or amazingly pedestrian. Presently, I find myself in a professional situation where blogging will be an integral part of my life. Here goes. My first blog will be about my experiences in San Juan Purto Rico where I was fortunate to attend the conference for The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality or Quad S. It was, simply put, an amazing experience. First of all, the intensity of being in the presence of so many scholars dedicated to thinking critically about sexuality, sexual health and sexual literacy was exhilarating. There were more presentation that interested me at this conference than many others I've attended before. Since so many fabulous presentation were occurring simultaneously and since I felt a bit stressed out that I needed to make a blog entry while in PR I could hardly sort my thoughts out for the sensory overload. However, I managed to not feel guilty and here is my entry. I attended many different presentations and had the chance to table with members of SFSU where a banner for CCSL was featured (: I will talk closely about one of the presentations that stood out most to me and briefly about a couple of others that were also very informative. The first was a presentation that centered the lived experiences of people with disabilities. Of the presenters, Bethany, an alum of the SFSU sexualities studies program, gave a cogent talk on how people with disabilities get trapped in tropes created by the able-bodied to ease their discomfort. What was most interesting in this talk was that Bethany admitted that she does not seek to be the "voice" for those with disabilities, rather she is focused on keeping all of us focused on the fact that the spectrum of disability that may define ones life does not automatically render them "sex-less" or undeserving of a satisfying sexual life. There were other talks such as the one featuring trans-men and their experiences with fluid sexual identities after beginning T and another where young, trans women of color joined researchers on discovering ways to make their lives safer and more livable. The closing plenary featured Gil Herdt. It was my first time hearing him speak and I found his ideas and thoughts on sexual literacy to be highly inspiring. As a young sexualities scholar and working with such amazing established scholars of sexuality, I look forward to each and every opportunity to know more, do more and contribute more to our social justice struggle organized around sexual literacy.

--Peace,

Kimberly Bonner