INSIDE

EDITOR’S NOTE

Love is in the air, but from whence did it waft?

Yes, it’s Valentine’s Day, which either commemorates two martyrs of the early Christian church who gave solace to persecuted members of their faith, or stems from Lupercalia, a pagan celebration of Pan and Juno — gods of love, marriage and fertility — that took place this time of year in the city of Rome.

Really, it doesn’t matter. We can thank the martyrs for fighting for inclusivity, regardless of who you were or what you believed. Or we can thank those frisky gods in the Eternal City. Or, to be more historically accurate, we can thank Chaucer, the first to tie romance to Valentine’s Day in his poem “The Parliament of Fowls,” which described how birds choose their partners in a garden “full of blossomy boughs” and sing with the “voice of angels in their harmony.” Regardless, here we are, living in a time when we can love who we want and how we want to. That’s the theme of this year’s LOVE & SEX issue. So whether you’re coupled up, loving free or anyway you like it, celebrate love in all its manifestations.

— NICHOLAS DESHAIS, editor

LOVE THY NEIGHBORS PAGE 12

MONUMENTAL ART PAGE 14

DATE NIGHT PAGE 36

HEAD OUT PAGE 50