Seattle’s Sex Trivia draws crowds — and educates them
Published by the The Seattle Times on September 30, 2025
Find the original article here.
There’s no shortage of trivia nights to choose from around Seattle. But there may be only one that would ask a question like this: Vulvas come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Approximately what percent of people with vulvas have inner labia (minora) that are visibly longer than their outer labia (majora)?
That was one query projected on a giant screen in Stoup Brewing on Capitol Hill earlier this month. Over 100 people — typical attendance for the monthly Sex Trivia event — were gathered beneath the warm glow of string lights, seated around wooden tables in teams of four to six people, as they considered the question, jotted down their best guesses, and filled the spacious beer hall with chatter and laughter. Many gasped in surprise when the correct answer was announced: 56%.
Sex Trivia hosts Naomi Price-Lazarus and Breona Mendoza introduce themselves at a September event at Stoup Brewing on Capitol Hill, before diving into the first round of questions. (Sarah-Mae McCullough / Special to The Seattle Times)
Sex Trivia hosts Naomi Price-Lazarus and Breona Mendoza introduce themselves at a September event at Stoup Brewing on Capitol Hill, before diving into the first round of questions. (Sarah-Mae McCullough / Special to The Seattle Times)
The Sex Trivia hosts had context for trivia-goers who missed the mark. From the front of the room, 29-year-old sex educator Naomi Price-Lazarus and 37-year-old sex therapist Breona Mendoza, explained into microphones: This anatomy, while completely normal, is rarely represented in pornography. That’s likely one reason why labiaplasty, a surgical procedure to alter or create a labia, which some undergo to reduce the size of the labia minora, is on the rise for young people.
The crowd’s surprise is part of why the duo began Sex Trivia three years ago. Their goal is to provide a night of joy and satisfying “aha” moments, but also to spread inclusive sex education to people who might not otherwise have access to it and to destigmatize conversations about human bodies and sexualities. Trivia can “make sex feel less scary and more easy to talk about,” Mendoza says — which is especially important during an era when sex ed is already limited and is facing further restrictions.
Since starting in September 2022, Price-Lazarus and Mendoza have held around 40 Sex Trivias through their sex education organization, Papaya Project, with topics including gender-affirming health care, kinks, birth control and pleasure. Their two monthly events at Stoup on Capitol Hill and Reuben’s Brews in Ballard typically draw 100 to 150 people each and are filled with a mix of more informative, serious topics, and lighthearted, laughter-inducing facts. The $10-$20 tickets benefit a different reproductive, sexual health or social justice nonprofit each month.
At the September event at Stoup, that nonprofit was Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center. After a short talk from a staff member about the Center’s work, triviagoers reviewed a few ground rules: don’t yuck anyone’s yum, remember that everyone has different knowledge and experiences, and have fun! They formed teams — some attendees had come with friends or partners, others came alone — and answered an icebreaker question: Where is the sexiest location on the body for a tattoo?
Then, trivia began with a first round prompting lots of giggles and conversation about modern culture. Do men or women get more matches on Tinder? (Women, who on average get about 600 more per year.) Why did Bay Area student Eric Zhu pioneer Sperm Racing, where men compete to see whose sperm is fastest? (To raise awareness about male fertility issues.)
Next came a “guess the song” round featuring iconic songs in the queer community, a short intermission, and a series of questions digging into anatomy and physiology — different stages of the menstrual cycle, body parts where people can experience sexual pleasure, and natural differences in people’s genital anatomy. A final, speed round quizzed the crowd on terms from local sex-advice columnist Dan Savage’s Savage Love Glossary. The winning team was awarded tickets to HUMP! Film Festival, a body- and sex-positive event that would be held in Seattle later that month.
At the end of the night, Price-Lazarus encouraged attendees to “raise your hand if you learned a lot tonight.” The crowd did more than that, hooting and hollering with hands in the air.
Education is central to Price-Lazarus and Mendoza’s mission. People may sign up for Sex Trivia to have a good time, but when you ask regulars why they keep coming back, the answer often has more layers: learning valuable information that was never covered in sex ed or having the freedom to talk openly about stigmatized topics.
Albert Gamponia, 40, a September attendee who’s been to many Sex Trivia events, says that as a cisgender man, he’s enjoyed learning more about other people’s experiences on topics that cover a wide range of identities, including women’s health and LGBTQ+ issues.
“Growing up, [sex has] always been something that’s taboo,” he said. “But it shouldn’t be like that. You should be able to talk about your sexual health and well-being … This has been a great way for people to talk about it more freely.”
About 125 people attended a Sex Trivia event in September at Stoup Brewing on Capitol Hill. That’s the typical crowd size 一 around 100 to 150 people 一 say hosts Naomi Price-Lazarus and Breona Mendoza. (Sarah-Mae McCullough / Special to The Seattle Times)
About 125 people attended a Sex Trivia event in September at Stoup Brewing on Capitol Hill. That’s the typical crowd size 一 around 100 to 150 people 一 say hosts Naomi Price-Lazarus and... (Sarah-Mae McCullough / Special to The Seattle Times)More
Alex Vance, 34, and Holly Robertson, 36, started coming to Sex Trivia with friends after coming across it unintentionally at Stoup. Now, “this is one of the few times we gather our group of queer friends together,” Robertston said.
“The joy of it is you get to do this really fun thing, and every single month, they have new questions,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if you come month after month; you will learn something every single time.”
Sex education has always been important, but the current political climate makes it feel more essential than ever, Price-Lazarus said. Over the past year or so, more of their questions have touched on political happenings, including attacks on queer and trans rights. Through trivia, they’ve shared information about legislation banning LGBTQ-inclusive sex ed, bathroom bills (laws prohibiting transgender people from using public bathrooms that align with their gender identity), and access to birth control and abortion.
“That’s a big part of what we do,” Mendoza said. “Providing good information so that people can then take that with them and find curiosity and hopefully less bias,” rather than “using a stereotype to decide, ‘Oh this person’s bad.’”
Hosting trivia twice a month helps them spread information far and wide, Price-Lazarus and Mendoza said. It’s more fun and less intimidating than a sex ed workshop, they said, and people passing by or hanging out at the bar often end up joining. Between the Capitol Hill and the Ballard events, about 250 people attend each month.
“If each of those people has partners or a partner that it impacts, that really has such a spreading effect,” Mendoza said.
Whether people come with close friends or by themselves, Sex Trivia participants often bond over shared values and topics that are usually taboo, Price-Lazarus and Mendoza said. The event can also connect people to other sex positive and body-positive communities around Seattle.
Attendees learn about the local organizations they’re fundraising for each month, and prizes have included counseling sessions, cuddle parties, tickets to local drag shows, queer film festivals, or queer speed dating events and other “things people don’t even realize they can access,” Price-Lazarus said. She and Mendoza hope to keep opening doors to more opportunities — for people who came for fun, ended up learning more than they expected to, and want to keep learning more.