Bawdy Storytelling Episode 291: “Freaks Need Love, Too” (Flora Goodthyme)

Host: Dixie De La Tour
Storyteller: Flora Goodthyme
Release Date: May 13, 2024
Podcast Theme: Real-life sex-positive storytelling, with a special focus on authenticity, humor, and transformation.

Overview

This episode centers on activist, artist, and Sister of Perpetual Indulgence Flora Goodthyme. Flora shares a candid, hilarious, and touching account of their wild sex life, struggles with heteronormative expectations, and eventual embrace of love outside the standard conventions. With her trademark wit and uncensored storytelling, Flora explores polyamory, sexual healing, and the journey to finding authentic connection among fellow “freaks.” The episode is a celebration of self-acceptance, queer love, and the importance of community.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Host’s Introduction and Reflection

• Dixie De La Tour reflects on the challenges of continuing the podcast amid financial strain, expressing vulnerability and asking listeners for input on whether to keep going.
  • [01:05] “As I come up on 300 episodes of this podcast, I’m looking at the expense, I’m looking at the amount of work, and I’m not seeing any return on it…The golden age of podcasting is over.” — Dixie De La Tour
• Dixie introduces Flora, highlighting her as a bold fixture in the sex worker, drag, and kink communities, and teases a story full of hilarious honesty.

Flora Goodthyme’s Story: Journey to Unconventional Love

• Early Lessons & Attempts to Conform

  • Flora grows up within strict heteronormative frameworks, believing happiness is found via monogamous marriage.
  • Multiple family marriages and failed attempts to fit in leave her feeling out-of-place.
  • Flora’s sexual curiosity and openness lead to classic mishaps—such as unintentionally cheating and being labeled “amoral.”
    • [05:25] “He told me that he couldn’t be with me any longer because I was amoral. I know. It’s OK. It gets better.” — Flora Goodthyme

• Clumsy Relationships & Humor in Heartbreak

  • Flora recounts being catfished by a boyfriend posing as another man online.
  • She contemplates remaining single, fearing loneliness and internalizing shame from family expectations.
  • [08:11] “…spending those trips by themselves, not with someone else, and looking for empty little crumpets that could fill a void that my parents left behind…” — Flora Goodthyme

• Finding Community & Self-Acceptance

  • Discovery of the Sisters, Dixie, and a broad sex-positive community becomes a turning point.
  • Flora learns to embrace perversion as a form of self-love and liberation.
    • [09:40] “And meeting this amazing community of perverts and freaks, I learned that I could be myself and I could accept myself…” — Flora Goodthyme

• A Life-Altering Accident & A New Kind of Love

  • After a severe accident necessitating hip and femur replacement, Flora reconnects with human sexuality primarily as hope and curiosity—“Would my dick still work?”
  • A would-be one-night stand becomes an intimate friendship instead of sex.
    • [11:25] “…there’s no sex. I’m so sorry. I know. It’s Bawdy Storytelling. There was no sex this time, and that’s okay, because we made a really deep connection.” — Flora Goodthyme

• The Birth of a Polyamorous Love Story

  • Months later, Flora and her friend explore more, leading to a three-way encounter featuring the recurring pseudonyms "Tyler Lautner" and “Zeus.”
  • Flora narrates their first double penetration experience: “That’s right, DP motherfuckers. Two dicks, one hole. All the pleasure.”
    • [14:36] “I didn’t have to wipe my dick on the curtains because I had a cum rag and his name was Zeus.” — Flora Goodthyme

• Choosing Commitment on Their Own Terms

  • Flora describes the gradual development of feelings for “Taylor Lautner,” leading to a critical crossroads: a request for commitment.
  • Flora is honest; she can commit emotionally, but not physically, and is met with acceptance.
    • [16:06] “I told him I can commit to you emotionally, but I cannot commit to you physically. And he was okay with it.” — Flora Goodthyme

• A Joyful Queer Proposal

  • Years later, they propose to each other simultaneously, in the rain at the Embarcadero—both with rings in their pockets.
    • [16:55] “He got down first and said, ‘Will you marry me?’ And I answered his question with a question—which he hates the most—and said, ‘Only if you marry me.’” — Flora Goodthyme
  • Flora gives hope to fellow “freaks”: “It is possible for freaks to find love. And I wish the same for all of you.”

Postscript and Updates

• Dixie updates listeners: Flora and “Nick” (the Taylor Lautner lookalike) married during the pandemic, added a new partner (“Ollie”), and are happily living as a triad in San Francisco.
  • [20:05] “They met another partner, Ollie, and together they’re a very happy triad… Flora, I’m so happy for you. I’m so happy you found not just one love, but many loves.” — Dixie De La Tour

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Repression and Family Pressure:
  • “[Marriage] seemed really scary to me. Plus, I also realized that I’m kind of a pervert. I know, it’s true. It’s true.” — Flora Goodthyme [04:13]
• On Polyamorous Sex Adventures:
  • “That’s right, DP motherfuckers. Two dicks, one hole. All the pleasure.” — Flora Goodthyme [14:36]
• On Emotional, Not Physical, Commitment:
  • “I told him that I can commit to you emotionally, but I cannot commit to you physically. And he was okay with it.” — Flora Goodthyme [16:06]
• On Freaks Finding Love:
  • “So it is possible for freaks to find love. And I wish the same for all of you.” — Flora Goodthyme [17:02]
• On Sexual Community And Acceptance:
  • “Meeting this amazing community of perverts and freaks, I learned that I could be myself, and I could accept myself, and that eventually I would find someone who would accept me for who I am.” — Flora Goodthyme [09:40]

Important Timestamps

• [01:05] Dixie discusses her anxieties about continuing the podcast and introduces Flora.
• [03:49] Flora takes the stage and begins her story.
• [04:13]–[05:25] Early attempts at relationships & sexual openness.
• [08:11] Reflections on loneliness and family expectations.
• [09:40] Flora discovers sex-positive community & self-acceptance.
• [11:25] Post-accident awkward meeting (intimacy without sex).
• [14:36] Flora recounts a wild night of double penetration.
• [16:06]–[16:55] Commitment talk and proposal.
• [17:02] Uplifting conclusion: “Freaks can find love.”
• [20:05] Dixie provides epilogue: Flora’s post-story life update.

Tone

Flora’s story is delivered with irreverent humor, self-deprecation, and warm candor. She balances raunchy sexual jokes with moments of genuine vulnerability, fostering a sense of inclusion and possibility for everyone—especially those who have ever felt “too much.” The overall episode celebrates queer joy, openness, and the power of community.

This episode is an unfiltered, moving invitation to embrace your authentic self, trust in queer love, and laugh at the messy beauty of unconventional paths.