The University of Toronto’s sexual education center recently kicked off its annual Sexual Awareness Week at a downtown nightclub, which is described as a “water-themed adult playground, where swingers are welcome and sex is allowed everywhere but the hot tub.”
Promotion of the event included students calling it an “orgy” on social media, prompting a firestorm of news coverage about the event, including on this site.
After news of the event spread, rumors of the student orgy were downplayed as exaggeration by some, but as it turns out, that description wasn’t far from the truth after all.
At least that’s the take away from a write-up of the event by Kristine Wilson of Ryerson University, who published her observations on the Canadian University Press website:
Everyone is naked. As the DJ spins music on the first floor of Oasis Aqua Lounge in downtown Toronto, a few men in their 20s sprint from the pool to the hot tub without bathing suits. One floor above them, two women — also naked — are perched on a sex swing. Across from them, a man — again, naked — is tethered to the wall in chains and leather binds.
These were just a few scenes from Jan. 21′s “epic student sex adventure”, an event organized by the University of Toronto Sexual Education Center (SEC). The party invited university students from across the Greater Toronto Area to visit Oasis, a water-themed sex club a few steps north of Ryerson’s campus.
The sex party was one of the first of its kind at a Canadian university. Rather than talk about sex, the event encouraged students to push personal boundaries and explore their sexuality in a safe environment. …
(The University of Toronto’s sexual education center) said they made sure to keep the event as safe and sex-positive as possible; condoms and packets of lube were piled in bowls across the club. The event had a laid-back vibe; students could grab a drink at one of the many well-stocked bars and a DJ in the corner blasted beats from a turntable.
On the third floor of the club, Ryerson student Kay Poli lounges as couples have sex around him. Pornography is playing on TVs on the walls. For him, the event is nothing new. “I’ve been here before,” Poli said. “What I like about this sex club is that it’s open to all genders, all orientations.”
Poli is one member of a new generation of students who frequent Toronto sex clubs. In fact, Oasis has hosted dozens of student-friendly events before. According to Jana Matthews, the club’s co-owner, university students are a regular presence at Oasis.
…Despite the media hype, it’s clear sex clubs and bathhouses are nothing new to university students. Toronto’s sex club scene isn’t huge, but it’s far less underground than one might imagine.
Click here to read Wilson’s full report.
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