Gender & Psychology
Gender and Psychology Offerings
Even before Lee Harrington’s gender transition, he had been speaking on and discussing the concepts of gender, identity, orientation and personal perspective. He has lectured on these topics at universities, LGBT groups, sexuality conferences, transgender events, and before sexologists and therapists. His passion for not just what people do, but why they do it, runs deep- opening up an approachable doorway for those looking to pour themselves into these questions as well.
Creature on a Quest
Storytelling Performance
“For I stand before you, a creature on a quest… for within each question there it stands, this word, quest.” Thus begins Lee Harrington’s one man show, which begins as an academic lecturer, travels backwards and forwards through men’s leather culture, sex work, happy heterosexual marriage as a woman, to being a genderqueer teen and gender unsuspecting child, and ends with audiences pondering the nature of gender, happiness, and relationships. Quest with Lee as he opens up his soul, his heart, his body, and his tales, walking at your side into the center of love. This show contains non-explicit nudity and adult themes and is rated R.
Cutting and Kink: Transformations of Self-Mutilation into Erotic Play & Body Modification
Participatory Lecture
Individuals self-injure and cut for many reasons: abuse, depression, attention seeking, pain management, rage, anxiety, and more. For kink sexuality, BDSM and body modification community explorers, there are possible alternative outlets for these needs, or physically and energetically safer ways to engage in these behaviors. For these individuals, the same scars born of shame and disgust become marks of honor and survival, or take on other different meanings. In this class we will be presenting findings from interviews conducted within the BDSM and body modification communities among those who have previously been or continue to be cutters (or others using cutting or skin-breaking self-injury behavior as a tool not related to erotic or artistic partnered activities). We will examine those who have transformed their need for self-mutilation into other forms of expression, or have maintained both sets of behaviors, looking at whether healthy cutting can ever take place in individual’s lives.
Femme FTM: Drag Queens, GirlyBoys, Men in Skirts, and Feminine Transmen
Participatory Lecture
If other men can be femme, why can’t we? There is a prevailing myth in the world of psychology and gender that transitioning individuals need to adhere 100% to their “new gender”, but if we’ve spent our lives having issues being squished into one gender mold, why should we be forced into a new one? In this class and group discussion, we will discuss a wide variety of places that femininity can be experienced by men (and have been experienced for thousands of years), from athletes that enjoy knitting to super fabulous drag queens who are no less men at the end of the night. Do you sport skirts, lip gloss or long hair? Have you been tackling the issue of being told you have to give up something you love “because you are a guy”? Then this class is for you.
Fleshing it Out: Sacred and Profane Body Modifications
Participatory Lecture
So you’ve decided you want to modify your body in some way… how do you choose the right process for your goal? Are you concentrating on the spiritual, political, or purely aesthetic value? Is it honoring an ordeal, or is the marking itself to be an ordeal? How does the intent change from making a one-time marking on the body (such as with a tattoo), rather than having to re-draw that intent daily (such as with daily application of makeup). We will look at the wide variety of body modifications available today (from henna/mehndi to hook hangs, stage makeup to genital reconstruction surgery, temporary piercing to flesh removal), and discuss the energy inherit in each type of modification, plus their history, and social implications. Let’s discuss if getting that giant scarification piece cut for a specific god or partner is really as appropriate as you think.
From Tits to Tats: Traversing Sex Politics in the First Person
Lecture/Storytelling Class
Never your average boy next door, Lee Harrington was born Bridgett Louise Ashlee Jauregui Harrington- a clever girl who won awards for academic work and eventually ended up working simultaneously as an adult film actor and a database administrator for a Christian faith organization. In this first person tale of coming to grips with gender as a cosmopolitan human, Lee will share his tale of moving through being a girl, being a boy, being forced by the therapeutic institution back into being a girl, going into sex work to try to learn to love his body, a happy marriage as a two-spirited human, hardcore porn, spiritual adventures, near death experiences, and eventually to an identity as a femme man in America. Join Lee as he journeys, backwards, forwards, and eventually works towards the hard questions- what is gender, what is identity, and how do we look at ourselves in the mirror.
From TNG to KOBRAS: Examining Age-Based Groups within the Kink Communities
Participatory Lecture
Age-based peership within alternative sexual practices is not new, but its evolution in the past decade has led to a wide variety of groups now active, from TNG (The Next Generation) to Ohio SMART’s KOBRAS group (Kinky Old Bastards/Broads/Bitches Really Are Sexy) and beyond. This trend is about far more than age. We will look into the history of age-based kink organizations in North America, their original intents, and where they are now. How have these groups evolved, and are they serving or can they serve the needs of the communities they say they are there for? Do these groups have a future, and what does that future hold for both these groups and for the kink communities at large?
CBT: Genital Torment for Queer Bodies
Lecture with Demo
Let’s admit it- doing genital torment on transguys is different than doing it on other bodies. In some ways we get the best of all worlds- so let’s talk about our desires to torment, tease, punish and pamper our amazing flesh. After discussing the varieties of genitals out there to play with (and what we call them) in this category and how our hormones and modifications (or having had neither) have affected our CBT and sex, we will demonstrate and discuss a wide variety of torment options. Abrasion, piercing, bondage, clamps, caning… plus more advanced concepts like playing with trans genital humiliation will all be up for grabs. Add some dirty talking and negotiation skills into the mix- and watch us squirm!
GenderQueer Bondage: Rope for People “Between”
Hands On
Ever had to struggle with how to put a crotch rope on a woman who has a little something extra? Wanted to tie up a transman who wanted chest bondage that didn’t make him look like a girl? Perhaps you just want to explore some hot ways to tie up your lovers to make them feel androgynous and exposed? Then this class is for you. We’ll be exploring crotch ropes and strap on harnesses, alternative forms of chest and torso bondage (to emphasize and deemphasize curves), and looking at a few other ties that can make your partner feel emphasized into whatever gender or otherness we see ourselves as. Bring two or more pieces of rope, 25-30ft in length, for hands-on fun and exploration in this class for “the rest of us”.
Harnessing Courage: Walking Your Path of Erotic Authenticity
Spoken Word Participatory Lecture
We each embrace a wide variety of sexual, gender, identity and relationship labels and roles in our life- some that we are handed at birth as expectations from family or society, and others that we acquire or have grow on us. But do we serve our roles, or do our roles serve us? Let us take an enLIGHTening walk through the stories our labels tell about us, how we interpret the stories of our lives, and then set it aside as we truly explore what makes you… YOU. By challenging ourselves to be real with ourselves, we will build the roots of living an erotically courageous life, full of the power that understanding our myriad facades grants us (and when to take those masks off). Instead of looking at what doesn’t work, or who we aren’t – let us work together to build an internal and external vocabulary of what works for us, setting one foot in front of another on your OWN Path of Erotic Authenticity. Be challenged to laugh, smile, put on our thinking caps, open up a bit about our own paths, and start chewing on our truths, perceived truths, wants, and true core needs.
How Much an Hour: My Gender Journey through Sex Work in America
Lecture/Storytelling Class
Learn first hand what the wide variety of sex work in America looks like straight from the man (and woman) living it. Lee’s tale takes you from the life of a fetish model and adult film actress, to that of a male pornographer and conceptual erotic artist. You will journey from being an escort, to hiring them. Explore the adventure of being a high priced Dominatrix, then learn to find erotic employment as a transgendered male while navigating the life of a full time sexuality educator. Having had his first exposure to street sex work at the age of 14, to lecturing internationally on erotic authenticity, he has been part of or held hands with most sides of the sex industry- and through his eyes, so can you.
Lets Talk About Sex: Frank Discussions around the Realities of our Desires
Discussion Based Class
So here’s the truth- no one has the same type of sexual interactions or erotic expression as anyone else. Some people want to be penetrated, others eschew the idea. Some of us want to be touched certain ways, others don’t. Just because you’re gay doesn’t mean you enjoy anal play, just because you’re a lesbian doesn’t mean you like having your pussy licked. Every one of us is different. So let’s talk about it! In this discussion based class we will talk about what the hell sex is to us, what we call the stuff between our legs, and what we like to do with it when no one else is watching. Can it be touched? How can it be touched, and what are your thoughts around your body in general? What is safer sex, and actually does it when the passion is turned up to ten? How do you discuss this stuff with your partners, or do you expect psychic awareness or fumbling in the dark? Do you cum, how do you cum, and does it matter? Let’s air our dirty laundry and talk openly, honestly, and passionately about sex!
My Kink is not all Black: Humor and BDSM
Participatory Lecture
Incorporating humor into erotica and BDSM has been a popular topic in sex-positive culture… but what flavor of comedy best suits your desires? Exploring the different schools of comedy from absurdity and slapstick to satire, black comedy and dry observation, we will see how each can be included in our sexual escapades. Whether you are using humor to try something new, push a boundary, look back on past pain, add public displays to your world, or simply PLAY- this class is for you.
Reclaiming our Pleasure Rights: Sexuality, Psychology, and Ecstasy for individuals outside the gender binary and their lovers
Discussion Based Class
Let’s skip to the meat of the matter: we want sex, we have sex, and we deserve sex. But how can we reclaim our pleasure rights when we won’t even talk about it with our friends and lovers? In this class we will dive into the fears we have around rejection and body dysphoria, then put that all on a shelf for a few minutes to dive into what actually WORKS! How does humor and joy play into our pursuit of pleasure? What issues face trans folks or others who are outside the binary who have male partners, female partners, trans partners, and hell, what do you call the stuff between your legs anyway? Does it matter? We’ll touch on the issues of safer sex as well, in a community where our desperation to be touched the way we need to be touched has led to a heartbreaking habit of doing anything to get our needs met.
(Re)Thinking Gender
Participatory Lecture
There are a lot of words out there for gender nowadays. Join me as we dive in deep, looking at definitions, disclosure, desire, discussions to have, and how to explore this thing gumbo pot of identity. The assumptions around gender need a lot of work. What do we want to do with our bodies? What are our sexual and gender myths and truths? And how do you play with folks who are going through these journeys? Lets get analytical, lets get sexy, and lets open our hearts as we (re)think about gender.
Turning the Page: Initiations and Transformations
Participatory Lecture
From coming of age ceremonies to rituals to mark the end of a given period in our life, American culture is grossly lacking in key rituals of initiation and transformation that classical cultures possessed. This lack of initiation has directly effected how individuals in the BDSM, Leather, Fetish and Kink communities have come to view their own transformations as individuals of erotic identity. Let’s take a look at what transformative experiences have shaped our evolution as sexual human beings, the varieties of initiations that culture at large uses (as acknowledgement of status, to ordeals, to imbuement of gnosis), and how the self-initiation, self-dedication, and acts of community of peer acknowledgement from others in our own paths towards passionate selfhood have effected us in our own journey towards our own unique erotic identity.
What Labels Give Us, What Labels Take Away: The Power of Gender and Sexual Identity Labels
Participatory Lecture
Before many of us were born, we were given gender labels that set our life course in motion. In this discussion and personally explorative class, we will dive into looking at a variety of questions: What labels have you been gifted, inherited, chosen, been forced into, or run away from? How does your internal identity for yourself affect your outside identity and your interpretation of gender and sexual roles you play or fill? What power do your labels grant you for flirting, community exposure, personal interactions, group dynamics, and more? What do you loose by stating a specific label or expressing it physically at first meeting another individual? How are these labels all formed, and why don’t we just scrap them all? Labels can get us hot, labels can turn us off, labels drive us mad, and labels give us hope for claiming our own sense of self. Let’s challenge ourselves, look deep inside, then examine how it all affects the current communities we each play a part in.
You’re Hot when You’re You
Participatory Lecture co-taught with Nina Hartley
We’ve all been told on some level that what we are, who we are, or what we want is not normal. Is strange. Isn’t acceptable. Is wrong. We’re all broken, so what? Or more importantly, now what? Join Nina and Lee as they explore their journeys of gender, presentation, Dominance and submission, sexuality and more that never had a box to fit into in the first place. From self examination to self acceptance to self celebration, lets look into what makes each of us truly sexy, truly hot, truly authentic… finding ourselves amidst the messages from our communities and beyond.