COVID-19 Dating Survey

Written By Pink Flowers

Be honest, y’all, who’s dating in the age of COVID — for realz?

Having lived it up through the worst of the AIDS epidemic, I know it takes more than the risk of a chronic disease to stop people from locking lips and other romantic pursuits. COVID-19 is pretty scary, but it ain’t got shit on what we were facing in the mid-eighties when sex could likely come with a life sentence, and did for a lot of people. It’s still pretty easy to get an STD, but there’s plenty of ways to mitigate the risks.

Here we are in 2020. A little blue pre-exposure prophylaxis has made sex fun again. But just when you might o’ thought it was relatively safe to get back in the water, Rona showed up making things risky AF again. I know that’s not stopping everyone. I’ve managed a few work arounds, but my life is pretty celibate right now. Being a pretty sexual being, that ain’t sitting right. I’m ready to hear from y’all for a change. Who’s having sex and how are you managing?

I’m not asking for the details (although you are welcome to hit me up offline with any juicy bits you care to share). I would like to know how people are dating, how they’re meeting new people, and when it comes to getting busy, what kinds of precautions are people using to get the most bang for their bang. The advice you share could save lives. You’ll certainly be helping folks figure out how to enjoy themselves and the company of others with as little risks as possible.

Time is of the essence, I’ve got a few offers on the table (to get thrown down on a few tables) and I wanna know if there’s a way to take advantage without risking my life and lungs for a few hours (optimism) of fun.

Who’s sharing?

Pink Flowers

Pink Flowers is a Black trans artist, peacemaker, educator, and pleasure activist whose work lives at the intersection of embodiment, governance, and cultural transformation. Trained in Theater of the Oppressed, Art of Hosting, and Navajo-informed Peacemaking practices, Pink designs spaces where conflict can be addressed, power can be examined, and joy can be reclaimed.

Her artistic and pedagogical practice draws from African trickster cosmology, Brazilian Joker traditions, shamanic ritual, and cooperative economics. She is the founder of the award-winning Falconworks Theater Company (2005–2021), which used popular theater to build civic capacity and participatory leadership in historically marginalized communities.

Pink served for over five years as a trained Peacemaker in the Red Hook Community Justice Center in Brooklyn, facilitating restorative processes within the New York City court system. From 2015–2018, she worked in cooperative business development with the Center for Family Life, supporting worker-owned enterprises in immigrant communities.

She currently serves as Director of Education and Training for the Inter-Cooperative Council in Ann Arbor, where she leads leadership development and conflict engagement initiatives. Her work has been presented nationally and internationally, including at the Stretch Festival in Berlin and the Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Conference.

Across ritual, performance, mediation, and institutional design, Pink’s work asks a central question:

What becomes possible when we refuse shame and choose conscious power instead?

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