One of the few contemporary writers who can discuss campaign rallies and ball gags in the same sentence (and really, how different are they?), Stephen Elliott has made a business out of mining his experiences within Chicago's state-run orphanage system, chronicling John Kerry's failed presidential bid in '04, and advocating the joys of S&M. The new anthology "Sex For America: Politically Inspired Erotica" was edited by Elliott and features contributions from such authors as Rick Moody, Jerry Stahl and Michelle Tea. With Super-Duper Tuesday looming and Valentine’s Day not too far off, we caught up with Stephen in San Francisco, where he was on his lunch break from watching a murder trial.
There’s a lot of erotica anthologies out there, but I can’t say I can think of any political erotica anthologies.
It’s totally the intersection of my two primary interests. Actually, sex and politics plays a large part in people’s lives. I think authors tend to be political due to their awareness of the world. And they also tend to think about sex a lot because they’re very aware of their own motivation. [Laughs]
It’s been an unsexy last couple of years, politically. I’m not sure if Clinton just wore everybody out or…
Well, Bush kind of declared war on sex with the FBI’s "obscenity squad." As a result of that, a lot of websites that were educational have been shut down. The obscenity laws are so vague, and so it’s become really important for people to be open about their sexuality.
You talked about that in the beginning of your semi-fictional memoir "My Girlfriend Comes to the City and Beats Me Up."
Yeah. People who are otherwise "normal" have these specific desires, but have to live in shame and hide. Take Mark Foley, the Republican congressman. If Mark Foley had been open about his sexuality, he could have had his boyfriend come into his congressional office and had him dress up in a schoolboy outfit. He could have leaned over Foley’s desk for a spanking, and he could have gotten it all out of his system. Instead he’s preying on these children. When you keep this stuff inside, you often end up victimizing people.
You end up going through unsafe channels.
Exactly. It comes out in uncontrolled ways. People stay uneducated about it and they don’t play it safe. They wind up getting hurt and spreading diseases, and this is why it’s important to be out of the closet about it.
Do people ask you for sex advice a lot these days?
Of course.
Have you given any thought to being a sex advice columnist?
[Laughs] Nobody’s ever approached me and asked me to do a sex advice column, but I would consider it if the right person asked me. It’s not out of the question.
In "Looking Forward to It," you talk about 2004 being the last meaningful election for you. You predicted that you’ll end up caring much less about the 2008 election. Do you find that to be true now that it’s 2008?
No. [Sighs] I don’t really find that true. You know what isn’t true? When people say that 2008 is the most important election of our time. You know? It isn't. That election has already passed. This is an election about correcting mistakes. The most important election of our time was 2000 and 2004. We blew it.
What’s a story in the new anthology that you would recommend off the top of your head?
I love the Jerry Stahl story! He actually wrote that story, “Li’l Dickens,” for the anthology, and he ended up publishing it in his own book of short stories that came out last year. There’s a Charlie Anders story that’s great. It’s about a woman on election night 2004, and she’s so distraught that she puts herself in the hands of this dominatrix who just completely takes advantage of her—puts her in a cage and so forth. It’s the kind of thing that’s just filled with metaphor about the election in 2004 and what came after.
Do you have any memories associated with Valentine’s Day?
Yeah. When I was living in Chicago I met this girl. She was one of my first girlfriends and her name was Sonja. She had some guy’s name tattooed on her knuckles. On both hands. So she was really tough. I met her in a parking lot of a TJ Maxx. I was standing there with my motorcycle, waiting for someone else who was inside returning something. And up she comes wearing cutoff jean shorts and a bikini top. We were so trashy.
Was this in the summer?
Yeah, this was in the summer. That was when I met her. So then I left and went traveling for a while, and when I got back we went on a date and it was…amazing. And the next day she was supposed to come by my work. And it was Valentine’s Day. So all day I’m there and she doesn’t come by, but then just as we’re closing she comes in and gives me this Valentine’s Day card with her phone number on it. That’s my clearest Valentine’s Day memory.
So then you guys dated after that?
Yeah, for about seven months.
That’s pretty good.
Yeah. It was a pretty intense relationship. Then I broke up with her and she threatened to have me killed.
George Ducker is a contributing editor for Metromix Los Angeles.
