Museum of Sex Now Open in the Sexploratorium

There are only a handful of sex-based museums in the world. And now Denver has one of them, courtesy of the Sexploratorium at 1800 South Broadway. But even in that rarefied group, this museum occupies a unique position. "They're more sensationalistic," says founder Fawn O'Breitzman of the others. "'Here's some dirty pictures' — which is great! I'm all about dirty pictures. But what we're doing here is more purposefully educational."

The academic take makes sense given the Sexploratorium's roots. It opened in the summer of 2023, the brainchild of two Red Rocks Community College professors: O'Breitzman, who taught human sexuality, and Stina French, who taught courses on erotic literature. In the past year, French has moved on to other projects, but O'Breitzman has kept the sex-positive space going...and expanding. One of those expansion projects is the Museum of Sex, which debuted last month.

When the Sexploratorium first opened, the facility boasted not only some retail space and a lounge, but also a classroom area where frank and shame-free experiential lectures could take place. Those continue, but the large, open room now also serves as the museum floor, where exhibits lining the walls discuss everything from sex work — which O'Breitzman says the Sexploratorium wants to work on legalizing in this state— to historic depictions of sex and erotica.

One of O'Breitzman's favorite display items is a small bronze statue of a cherubic boy with an exaggeratedly huge double penis. "We bought that from a little old man — he was maybe eighty? — just outside of the ruins in Pompeii, Italy. He ran up to us and showed us this little guy, and he yelled 'THIS FOR GOOD LUCK! GOOD LUCK AND GOOD FUCK!' and then just started laughing hysterically. So, you know, we had to buy it."

Another striking display is a colorful line of 3-D models of differently detailed genitalia. "We just had this young trans man come in," O'Breitzman recalls, "who was just so excited to see what it [the penis] might look like. You see pictures, but you don't really get the full sense of it. It's good for people to be able to see the natural variation in human beings. I've seen groups of people in here having discussions about this display and then talking openly about their own genitalia. That's amazing. Providing a space for those conversations is exactly what the museum is all about, really." 

The visuals themselves all carry QR codes as well, giving viewers the chance to read even more on a specific subject. "The idea is that, hopefully, it sucks you in," says O'Breitzman. "That it makes people want to learn even more." As the museum expands, she adds, so will the depth of those web pages connected to each exhibit, with links and ways to really do a deep dive.

In the interest of establishing itself as an educational resource, the museum has begun putting out feelers in academia. Already, several local institutions, from the University of Denver to Red Rocks Community College, have made connections and had students visit and experience what the facility has to offer.

"And it's not just human sexuality courses," O'Breitzman says. "I had a professor bring some of their law students in not long ago, and they had questions as to the legalities surrounding a sexual practice like auto-erotic asphyxiation — where does that behavior cross a line into a criminally liable area? That professor wasn't ready for that question, and was clearly flummoxed. They resorted to what we're all told in society: Don't ask me that; let's not talk about that. It was the wrong answer, of course, but it's fascinating to me how pervasive that is in our culture, at every level."

The Sexploratorium itself is chock-full of sex-positive ephemera, from giant penis pillows to a curated selection of books, to pins and shirts and original art. It's almost too much to see in one visit, which is sort of the idea. "We want people to come back, not only for the museum, but also for whatever classes they might be interested in, or to buy some stuff for their partners or whatever," O'Breitzman says. "We want to be the one-stop resource for that in Denver."

That's also why the Sexploratorium keeps it open and playful. "One of my favorite things is all the glass in front," says O'Breitzman, referring to the huge picture windows in the building that probably started its life as a gas station or mechanic shop. "It's important, really: It shows that we're not afraid to show all of this. We've had some people complain, but that's all it is, complaints. We know the limits: We don't sell sex toys, we don't have live sex. We're an educational space only, and so we don't have the same restrictions a sex store would. We can have our big picture windows and we don't have to hide a thing."

In fact, O'Breitzman and the Sexploratorium want to confront those complaints and discomfort head-on. "Too often, it's Don't talk about sex, baby," she says, standing in front of the doors leading to the museum that were made to look like a vagina, complete with pubic hair. "That's why we're here." 

The Museum of Sex at the Sexploratorium, 1800 South Broadway, is open afternoons and some evenings Tuesday through Sunday. For more information, see the Museum website.