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In this episode, I speak with Andre Shakti, an absolute badass and sexual inspiration. Here is Andre’s bio as described on her site, IAmPoly.net ( https://www.iampoly.net ) … Andre Shakti is a journalist, educator, performer, activist, and professional slut. She is devoted to normalizing alternative desires, de-stigmatizing sex workers and their clients, and not taking herself too seriously. Andre wrestles mediocre white men into submission and is the weekly sex columnist for Slixa.com ( https://slixa.com/blog/askandre ). In addition to her Ask Andre column, she writes about sex work, queerness and non-monogamy for Cosmopolitan, Rewire, Thrillist, MEL, Vice, Autostraddle, and more. She can frequently be found marathoning Law a Order: SVU under a chaotic pile of partners and pitbulls, and yes, she knows how problematic that show is. Andre graduated cum laude from Towson University in Maryland with a Bachelors of Science in Psychology and LGBT Studies in 2010. She worked in HIV risk assessment, harm reduction education, and community activism in Baltimore from 2008-2011, studied at San Francisco State University’s National Sexuality Resource Center (NSRC) in 2010, and graduated from San Francisco Sex Information (SFSI)’s ( http://sfsi.org/ ) Sex Educator Training in Fall 2013. She’s held educator and sales associate positions at sex-positive adult boutiques Sugar ( http://www.sugartheshop.com/ ) (Baltimore, MD) and Feelmore510 ( https://feelmore510.com/ ) (Oakland, CA), and is one of the founding crew members of Atlanta’s Sex Down South Conference ( http://www.sexdownsouth.com/ ) in Atlanta, GA. Whew! I met Andre at the Sex Down South Conference this past September and I was blown away by her presence after having the privilege of attending two of her workshops. I was even more blown away when she said ‘yes’ to an interview and so here we are! Our conversation covers both her personal and professional lives; her background, upbringing, areas of expertise, sexual preferences and experiences, SESTA-FOSTA, family acceptance, relationships, and on and on. ***Speaking of SESTA-FOSTA, here is the article Andre refers to: https://www.businessinsider.com/fosta-sesta-anti-sex-trafficking-law-has-been-failure-opinion-2019-7 I am so grateful to Andre for being so open and available for this interview [thank you again!]. If you’d like to know more about this dynamo, she is all over the internet! Here are some easy ways to follow her: Personal site: https://www.iampoly.net ( https://www.iampoly.net/ ) Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IAmPolyamorous Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndreShakti Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andre.shakti/ And here are some links to a few examples of her professional work: As author: https://www.them.us/story/sesta-fosta-backpage-sex-workers As performer: https://crashpadseries.com/queer-porn/character/andre-shakti/ Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/sex-communication/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy a Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy