On April 18th, 2022, I was on a panel for MNPoly about Consent and Sex Positivity. You can listen to the audio of the panel on my SoundCloud. MNPoly is accepting donations through their PayPal link to support further educational social events. Also, MNPolyCon is back this year on July 24th.
Over the last four years, I have been promising to finish cleaning up the audio from the various panels that I have been on and improve the show notes. Now that GraysMatter Podcast is up and running, I have taken the time to also revisit these panels. Please join me in experiencing Justin on Panels.
In society and in the media, a number of myths have revolved around polyamory. Though polyamory is becoming more generally accepted, the media shows it as a white phenomenon. Explore and discuss how the polyamorous experience is portrayed and how it differs from reality.
With: Kyle Andrew, Justin Grays
In this episode, we discuss topics ranging from politics and lateral reading to science fiction and polyamory.
This episode is not sponsored.
Justin (xe/xem) - https://www.justingrays.org/
Nat (they/them)
Noel (they/them)
Sarah (she/her)
Content Warning - Mentions of:
The Bible
COVID-19
Death
Guns/Gun Violence
Joss Whedon
Mass Shooting
Masturbation
Military/National Guard
Murder
Nazis/Neonazis
Odinists
Police
Porn
Religion
Richard Spencer
Seth MacFarlane
Sex
Suicide
Violence
Zack Snyder
In this episode, we discuss topics ranging from Star Trek to recycling.
This episode is not sponsored.
Erin (she/her)
Jen (she/her) - https://twitter.com/Jenathi
Justin (xe/xem) - https://www.justingrays.org/
Mentions of Incest.
Star Trek: Picard
The Dragon Prince
In this episode, we discuss topics ranging from capitalism & Star Trek, to cats & bunnies, to healthcare & stigma.
This episode is not sponsored. We are not medical providers, and nothing we say should be construed as medical advice.
FaeBun (she/her)
Jen (she/her) - https://twitter.com/Jenathi
Justin (xe/xem) - https://www.justingrays.org/
COVID-19
Armed Security
Broken Elevators
Workplace Injuries
Weight Stigma in the Medical Community
Reproductive Organs
Medical Conditions
Death
Joss Whedon
Seth MacFarlane
Executives Abusing Power
Game of Thrones
13 Reasons Why
On March 22nd, 2021, I was on a panel for MNPoly about Ethical Non-Monogamous Communication. During the panel, we discuss different communication styles, including proactive communication, direct communication, and radical transparency. Also, we talk about what Informed Consent looks like, what is Checking In, and when should one start checking in during a relationship.
One of the Sex Education YouTubers whom I follow, Hannah Witton, posted a video: Early Signs I Would Be a Sex Educator | Hannah Witton. She got me thinking - why am I also interested in sex as a subject? Why do I watch YouTubers like Hannah Witton and Dr. Lindsey Doe, and follow-up on different studies and talk to people about sex? And so I went on a mental journey and thought about the different events in my life that set me on the course that got me to where I am today.
Back by popular demand! Polyamory means “many loves;” but there are many ways to be polyamorous. Come discuss it and some ways to navigate it. This panel provides space for those new to/curious about polyamory.
I did not record the panel this time due to privacy concerns. It is not safe for people to be openly polyamorous; people who are outed can lose their friends, lose their jobs, be denied promotions, lose their children, and lose their homes. There are audio recordings from other panels that I’ve been on about polyamory & non-monogamy - look at posts with the tags Polyamory or Non-Monogamy [Note 1].
There will be another post later for the Polyamory 202 panel at CONvergence 2019. At the end of that panel, I had made a post that included links to related topics and a form for those who had feedback or had more questions to ask. I am still accepting questions from it and will be making a separate post with responses after I finish writing about the CONvergence 2019 panels.
At the end of the Polyamory 202 panel at CONvergence, I promised that I would put up a form for those who might have more questions or want to see what was discussed on previous panels. Most everything will have the tags Non-Monogamy or Polyamory, so they will be easy to find in the future (as well as any future writings).
When I had released the survey asking people what to discuss at a future polyamory panel, one of the suggestions was intersections of polyamory, race, and queerness. This topic could be a panel by itself. Here I will attempt to give some insight to my experiences as an African American who happens to be polyamorous, but I am not going to go into detail about my experiences with being queer as I am often perceived as a cishet male and have only recently begun to explore elements of my queerness.
At the end of the Polyamory 101 panel at CONvergence 2018, I had released a survey that asked for any questions that people wanted to ask but didn't have the opportunity to, as well as asked what people would like to have discussed at a future panel. I had hoped to answer these questions several months ago, but unfortunately things got in the way.
Content Warning: Rape gets brought up in this post. It is mentioned in the Hard Passes.
CONvergence 2018 was July 5-8, 2018, almost 3 months ago now. I had planned on getting this post done two weeks ago as I have been trying to get posts out on a regular basis, but certain events tied up my brainspace. I’m not willing to say that I am back on track yet, but I am certainly trying. As a reminder of Day 3 (Saturday the 7th), I was on the panel “Polyamory 101” and attended “Sex in Sci-Fi/Fantasy”. For part 2, I present to you my notes from “Sex in Sci-Fi/Fantasy”.
CONvergence 2018 was July 5-8, 2018, almost 3 months ago now. I had planned on getting this post done last week as I have been trying to get posts out on a regular basis, but certain events tied up my brainspace last weekend. Now that I am back on track, I am getting Day 3 (Saturday the 7th) up for you all. I was on the panel “Polyamory 101” and attended “Sex in Sci-Fi/Fantasy”. For Part 1, I present to you the audio recording of the polyamory panel as well as my additional written thoughts about what we discussed, a link to “Polyamory: Perceptions and Realities” from MarsCon 2018, and various resources. Listen to the raw recording of “Polyamory 101” here.
My apologies for taking so long to post - two things have happened recently that have slowed me down. The first thing of note is that my primary laptop (the piece of modern technology) has been finding new ways to stop working (first the power button somehow got disconnected, and then the keyboard was acting funky, and then the screen hinge disconnected, and then lastly the monitor decided that the brightness was at minimum while the keyboard quit working again). The second thing is that I caught the concrud at CONvergence 2018.
At the end of the Polyamory 101 panel at CONvergence, I promised that I would put up a poll to see if we should submit a Polyamory 201 panel for next year, and have fields for what kind of questions there should be. I also promised a couple of people links about "Poly" being considered slur to Polynesians.
I am currently scheduled to be on four panels at CONvergence 2018 - check out my schedule here.
Here are some links to previous posts that relate to upcoming panels:
If you didn't read the previous post, MarsCon 2018 - Day 1, I would suggest checking that out first. The panels that I was on, "Avoiding the Tokenism in Comics and Sci Fi Cultures," "How to Fail Gracefully," and "Polyamory: Perceptions and Realities" are all related to today's panels in one way or another: "The Prime Directive as Liberal Eurocentric Superiority," "Gem Watch," "Star Trek," "Cleavage Optional: Gender, Cosplay, and Genderbending Cosplay," and "Race and Culture in the Honorverse."
MarsCon is a fan-run science fiction convention for all ages held every March in the Twin Cities area. This year's theme is Robots, Rayguns, & Rockets: The 3 R's of Sci-Fi. Today I was on two panels, "Avoiding the Tokenism in Comics and Sci Fi Cultures," "How to Fail Gracefully," and "Polyamory: Perceptions and Realities." There are audio recordings of all three panels; however, they are still the raw, unedited versions. The normalized, balanced versions will be put up on a later post. I also took some notes for some of the panels - I will include them here so that I can expand on them on a later date. Please feel free to ask questions and post comments about the panels. Enjoy!
