OK, here's my take on all of this. I’m going at address two issues at once, and highlight the fact they are different matters.
Legal Aspect – the “Adult Boredom†Issue
Whichever country the server and / or the host is registered on, there will be legal requirements. It differs from country to country. Also, the registration will have to be in the name of a legal entity (corporation or person). Therefore, as it happens I (and it could have been anyone else - Muggins here has taken on that role) am legally responsible for what goes on here.
Since there is adult content on this site, even if it is just talking about sex very openly as opposed to pornography, there will need to be a disclaimer. There is no way around this.
Most websites that are dedicated to sex have the warning up front. An excellent example, and one I think could be used here, is
www.literotica.com which states:
You must be over 18 years old to enter this site. If you are under 18 or do not wish to view adult content, you must exit now. Adults Only...Remember, this is an adult erotic web site. No minors allowed.
By entering Literotica, you are confirming that you have read and agreed to our legal disclaimer. You are also confirming that you are at least 18 years old. We are rated with ICRA to protect children and free speech.
If you are under 18 (in some countries or regions 21) years of age and/or if it is illegal to view erotic material in your community, please leave now. We can't be held responsible for your actions. We are not acting in any way to send you this information; you are choosing to receive it and requesting it and downloading it without our knowledge or explicit consent. Continuing further means that you understand and accept responsibility for your own actions, thus releasing the creators of this Web page and our service provider from any and all liability.
If you are a parent, guardian, or someone else who is interested in information on preventing minors from accessing adult material, please follow this link. It allows you to block adult material from the access of minors. Click here if your computer is used by children too, thanks!
Now whether we have something like that as part of the registration, part of the TOS, just as a sticky, or every time one logs onto the website I don't know yet. But it has to be somewhere obvious for all to see.
Since there is innuendo, swearing, and temporary diversions of threads into sexual matters all over the place, this warning should cover the
entire website – not just the ‘sexual matters’ forum. The last thing I think
anyone wants is to feel inhibited in posting what they want in a thread in a ‘non-sex’ forum. This is not what this community is about.
Separate Forum
I think this is merely a matter of courtesy to other posters who are uncomfortable with reading such dedicated, explicit material. It may not always be obvious from the thread title what the subject is about.
Here’s an analogy. Imagine you have guests in your house - in
most cases if you’re going to have sex with your partner you do it in the bedroom with the door firmly closed and as quietly as possible. However, no one would be offended to you kissing and cuddling your partner in front of them. Ie, threads dedicated to sexual matters / revelations compared to innuendo / temporary diversions in threads.
Whilst the board is closed, this is easy. Once/If the board is open, there has been the suggestion that posters have to wait a month before being allowed in (so as to discourage one-off trolls attracted like moths to a flame to such a dedicated place). I like that. It’s slightly a pain administratively, but not overtly so.
The fact that we have the ability to talk so openly about sex I find refreshing. I remember having feelings for LOTR yet being unable to share that with friends. TORC gave me that ability. It gave all of us that ability and showed us that ‘we are not alone’.
Now we have the same ability about one of our most basic drivers. For me, I could talk about sex at a personal level – either in terms of any problems I might have, or advice I could give – on Board77 far easier than anywhere else.
On Board77 I know that if Jen and I discovered something wondrous or had a problem or we could talk about it here. I know of no other place I could do that.
Talking about sexual matters should not be stifled in this community (my personal opinion is that we should take this opportunity and encourage it). But we should realise that there are / will be (adult) posters who would rather not read such discussions - accidently or otherwise - and they should be respected as much as possible.
I would want to make this place as comfortable as possible to the community, and if that means a separate forum for the dedicated sex threads, then so be it.
Summary
1 A disclaimer needs to be board-wide.
2 Threads with the express purpose of discussing sex, or have turned to discussing sex explicitly should be started in or moved to a separate forum.
3 Innuendo, swearing, and temporary diversions into explicit sexual matters is allowed in other forums.
4 Common sense by the Admins should dictate whether a thread needs to be moved or not.