[Read all of the articles in our Love/Sex issue HERE! Looking for a print copy? Look at this handy-dandy map!—eds.]

Get ready for the most UN-shocking revelation of your life: I think about sex… A LOT. And I think about love, too… also A LOT. However, it’s not just for the obvious reasons. While I am a hopeless romantic as well as an inveterate horn-dog, I don’t think of love and sex as two things that exist simply to give us comfort and pleasure. That’s certainly a BIG part of it, but the way we love and how we love is at the root of who we are as humans, and has a huge effect on everything and everyone around us. 

For example, there are waaaaaay too many people in our nation who see love and sex purely in selfish terms. Because of their (white) race, religion, or financial standing in the world, these narcissists feel entitled to love and sex without offering anything in return. But wait… there’s more! They also want to control how others exhibit and share their love. And of course, that’s not “love” at all, is it? It’s selfish, immoral behavior that springs from self-hatred and the inability to turn love outward to a world that desperately needs it. 

But we don’t have to be that way. We can share our love and sexual expression in a positive way that lifts others up and celebrates the inherent awesomeness of our personalities and lives. And that’s what we’re trying to accomplish with this year’s very fun, very sweet, and very horny Mercury LOVE/SEX issue—now in print and available at more than 500 spots all over town!

Just check out what we’ve got in store: If you’re anything like me, you’re endlessly fascinated by the topic of sex, which includes how we do it, where we’re doing it, and who we’re doing it to! That’s why we’re bringing back the Mercury’s wildly popular and fun SEX SURVEY in which our readers anonymously confess allllll the hot, sexy, and undeniably horny stuff they’ve been up to all year. (And let me tell you? There’s some jaw-dropping stuff in there!) But just as important is the return of the Mercury READER VALENTINES, in which romantic lovebirds (just like YOU) continue to send in their mushiest, gushiest, and short letters of love to their significant others, pets, and fuck buddies… and we print them all for FREE! (Miss the deadline to get your missive printed in this issue? Never fear! You can continue to send your valentines to the Mercury and we’ll print them ALL online and for free at portlandmercury.com/valentines all the way through February 15… and we’ll even send your schmoopy-woopy an email to let them know they’ve got a valentine waiting for them! Now if that ain’t love? I don’t know what is.)

But, OH! We’re just getting started, baby! In this issue we’ve also got a lot more in store, including an interview with a sex worker, finding love in the bike community, how to show yourself more love and care this winter, the horniest (and anti-horniest) food around Portland, tons of fun events to keep yourself preoccupied when you’re not fucking, and even a lovable, sexy-as-hell fun page filled with puzzles that will tickle your brain along with your nethers.

So that’s why this edition of the Mercury’s LOVE/SEX issue is dedicated to the sexiest, most lovable person I know… and that’s YOU! We see the way you send your love out into the world, and how you use sexuality to express yourself and lift others up—and if I’m being honest? That is just so wicked HOT. In fact, I think I need to cool myself down for a minute, so I’m going to sign off for now and let you luxuriate in the warm embrace of our LOVE/SEX issue. Hope you enjoy it, and remember: You are perfect and sexy just the way you are!

Your forever valentine,

Wm. Steven Humphrey

Editor in Chief

Portland Mercury

(he/him)