There’s a moment that happens, sometimes on a stage, sometimes in a dungeon, sometimes in the quiet honesty of a conversation, when someone decides to stop shrinking. To stop apologizing. To stop waiting for permission. This issue of PROUD & Kinky Magazine lives squarely in that moment. From the velvet-draped rebellion of Las Vegas burlesque to the carefully negotiated fantasies of kink and roleplay, every story in these pages asks the same essential question: What happens when we show up fully, authentically, and without shame?

After a twelve-month hush, when the queer kink scene in Las Vegas felt like it was holding its breath, PROUD & Kinky swung the doors wide open on June 20, 2025, and reminded us exactly why we missed them. Their triumphant return, aptly titled “Naughty Playground,” took over The Usual Place and packed it with more than 230 revelers, each ready to rekindle the raw, electric magic that only a well-run, radically inclusive play party can conjure.

Recently, I exhibited my art piece, “The Fuckball,” at a festival, and it was destroyed. For those of you who don’t know what this is, I am an artist, and I created a 6-foot-tall, colorful, latex inflatable ball covered in 12 penetrable vulvas (and one not-so-secret butthole). The Fuckball represents the objectification of female sexuality, but it has multiple layers of meaning and has existed in a variety of forms as a piece of art.

What message do you hope your work sends to other queer kinky people, especially those just starting to explore? My work is ultimately a love letter to queer kinky people, especially those just starting to explore. I want it to say: you are not alone. There’s power and beauty in discovering your desires, even if the world tries to shame them. I hope my art gives permission to feel, to want, and to play without apology.