Sexual Health Alliance Conference to Feature Dating Industry Findings
The Sexual Health Alliance (SHA) will host its 10th Annual Sexological Conference from October 9 to 12 in Denver, bringing together sexologists, researchers, clinicians, educators, and voices from the dating sector to examine how intimacy, technology, and cultural change are shaping modern relationships.
One of the high-profile highlights will be a presentation by Dr. Justin Lehmiller, who will reveal results from The State of Us: National Study on Modern Love & Dating in 2025, a collaboration between DatingNews and the Kinsey Institute. The keynote, titled “The State of Us: Findings From a National Study on Modern Love and Dating,” is expected to cover demographic trends, the role of politics in relationship decisions, and patterns in LGBTQ+ dating.
The study, which surveyed 2,000 U.S. single adults in spring 2025, has already surfaced findings pointing to what the authors call a “dating deficit” – with singles averaging just 1.74 in-person dates last year. Lehmiller’s work also underscores how external factors like politics and economics intertwine with intimacy; for example, 25 percent of LGBTQ+ respondents said the political environment has altered how they date.
Beyond this keynote, the SHA conference will explore a broad agenda. Sessions will address topics such as AI in sex tech, evolving conceptions of consent, non-monogamous relationship styles, and the intersections of sexuality with mental and physical health. Each presenter brings a specialized lens – from clinical psychology to kink and BDSM education – to enrich the conversation.
Lehmiller has emphasized the symbiotic relationship between dating platforms and sexological research. “Sexologists seek to understand intimacy, attraction, and , and dating apps… are sitting on mountains of their own data.” This data can often be used to validate, recontextualise or sometimes directly challenge understood theories about sex and relationships, especially within the context of the dating world.
