A new feminist, queer-friendly, disability-inclusive sexual wellness store will be opening in Little Five Points later this month.
Sarah Martin got the inspiration to open Kiss and Ride when they realized they were queer and experienced a dearth of queer sex education and resources to help them through their journey.
“Kiss and Ride really began as a selfish endeavor,” Martin told Georgia Voice. “I grew up in purity culture in the South and got married and knew nothing at all about sex. I realized I was queer and trans, and that opened a whole other door to what sex could look like, taking the focus off penetrative sex. I had very little knowledge or experience, so Kiss and Ride came from the desire of wanting a place that I could go and learn and feel comfortable asking questions.”
Being a queer-centered shop will entail inventory selected with the transgender and queer community in mind as well as sexual education that does not ignore the existence of LGBTQ people, as most traditional sex education tends to.
“I’ve bought at least three different binders online that don’t actually fit me when they come,” Martin said. “So, I want a place where people can come in, actually see those toys in person, ask questions, learn together, and see if it works for them before spending $80 on something that might not benefit them in the long run.”
As a queer nonbinary person, Martin has their own knowledge and experience on which to draw to help decide what the queer community wants and needs in a sex shop. As an able-bodied person, however, they have needed to do ample research and consult disabled people to design the shop in a way that’s mindful of all bodies and abilities. This consists of floor plan decisions; the shop will not only adhere to but extend beyond Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. The layout will allow for a five-foot turn radius everywhere throughout the store, and displays will be designed in a way that will prevent the threat of things being knocked over. This disability-inclusive approach will also be reflected in the inventory; along with hip harnesses, there will also be thigh and hand harnesses, as well as extenders from TouchBot, which can extend the reach of dildos and dilators, making them easier to use.
The quest to be disability-inclusive will be an ever-evolving learning process, as Martin learned with Kiss and Ride’s latest fundraiser, Slippery When Wet, a queer lube wrestling event hosted in conjunction with Community Market Atlanta.
“We had an interpreter, but the seats we had weren’t very friendly for fat bodies like they should have been,” Martin said of the event. “Learning from community feedback has been really helpful.”
It’s this emphasis on community collaboration and cooperation that is at the heart of Kiss and Ride. It will not only be a sex shop; it will be a safe space for community building, education, and joy.
“I wanted [Kiss and Ride] to be a place where I felt comfortable, where other people felt comfortable, not just coming in and buying something but creating community and learning from people,” Martin said. “In the current climate, it just feels like queer and trans people are getting fewer safe spaces to just be queer and trans together, have joyful moments, not be worried. The idea of the community space came from wanting to have that in the current community, and always being part of it, but over the past year, it seems even more important to create that safe space.”
Kiss and Ride will open on October 22 at Liminal Space Collective, a radical community space of independent businesses at 483 Moreland Ave NE. Kiss and Ride will be joined by Mainline Zine; Coven Chiropractic; Pollen8, a retailer for plants and landscaping; Cult Bodywork, a massage and lymphatic drainage center; SYNCHRONIC. Haus, offering massage, reiki, and birth work; and neurofeedback therapy provider Wavelet Labs. The space for Kiss and Ride will be small — just under 300 square feet — but the hope is for small events and workshops to be hosted there, while larger events like Slippery When Wet will be hosted elsewhere in collaboration with other community organizations.
To learn more about Kiss and Ride, visit kissandrideatl.com or follow them on Instagram @kissandrideatl. Learn more about Liminal Space Collective at liminalspaceatl.com.