With an unprecedented wave of school boards passing anti-LGBTQ policies, there's one policy that continues to harm all students regardless of sexuality: abstinence-only sex education.
A new survey from the Pew Research Center found that regardless of their political affiliation, 59 percent of parents want sex education for their children that goes beyond abstinence-based instruction. Despite this, the majority of states rely on it in their teachings.
Sex Ed for Social Change (SIECUS) reports that abstinence is the only method of sex education taught in 16 states, and is "emphasized" in the curricula of 30. In fact, only 30 states require sex education be taught, 13 of which do not require information to be medically accurate. When it comes to LGBTQ+ teachings, only nine states have inclusive polices. Six require anti-queer sex lessons.
Advocates for Youth's National Sex Education Standards states that in order to be effective, sex education must not only be medically accurate, but cover topics such as:
- Consent and healthy relationships
- Puberty and adolescent development
- Sexual and reproductive anatomy and physiology
- Gender identity and expression
- Sexual identity and orientation
- Interpersonal and sexual violence
- Contraception, pregnancy, and reproduction
- HIV and other STDs/STIs.
Because there are no federal policies regarding sex education, lessons are often decided by school districts or even individual teachers, leaving some students woefully unprepared. The last federal standard was a result of the Reagan Administration, which supported teaching abstinence-only.
Michelle Slaybough, Director of Social Impact and Strategic Communications at SIECUS told Yahoo Newsthat while conservative pushback against sex education is nothing new, recent abortion bans following the overturning of Roe v. Wade could have an unprecedented impact on school curriculum.
“There is a direct correlation between attacks on CRT [critical race theory], on book bans and on LGBTQIA+ youth, and the way legislation is being put together to continue to remove diversity from the classroom," Slaybough said. "And even if there’s a state that allows or encourages sex education, these abortion bans, we believe, will have implications on whether schools teach sex ed at all.”
According to research from the Columbia School of Public Health, "abstinence-only education is a failure." Slaybough added that whether or not they are queer, focusing on reproduction in sex gives students unhealthy ideas surrounding consent, which contributes to modern rape culture.
“Female pleasure has basically been erased from the idea of sex in our society, and we teach our youth that male ejaculation into female bodies equals sex,” she explained. “And that’s challenging, because it forms this notion that male sexuality is uncontrollable, like a speeding train—you can’t stop it—which creates a clash when it comes to the idea of consent. There is a connection between pleasure and consent, which requires a skill set of communication.”
With an unprecedented wave of anti-LGBTQ school policies, Jaclyn Friedman of SIECUS' Educate US shared that the only way to prevent conservative takeovers of school boards is for liberal parents and community members to get involved.
“The whole idea that this is about parental rights is a lie, because the real majority of parents wants this [sex] education to remain,” Friedman said. "If you start talking about this issue, you will quickly find that you are not alone, and that there are a lot of people who want to take action with you.”
