Clay Burell's Library tagged sexuality →  View Popular

Joe Sonka, managing editor of the Advocates for Youth blog Amplify, wrote of the lobby day, "Instead of abandoning their demonization of condoms and adherence to social conservative ideology over sound science, they would simply rebrand themselves as a curriculum that 'wasn't just about abstinence,' but was all about 'holistic approaches' to 'healthy lifestyle choices.'"

At an April 29 Capitol Hill briefing, Huber told the room that abstinence-only education is "not a 'just say no' message." "This is not abstinence only, this is a holistic message that prepares and gives students all of the information they need to make healthy decisions," Huber said. In fact, the NAEA isn't even calling its programs "abstinence only" anymore -- now they're "abstinence centered."

Similarly, WhyKnow -- a major provider of abstinence-only education curriculums -- recently changed its name to On Point, its tag line to "Direction for Life" and hired PR company Maycreate Idea Group to help recast its image. Lesley Scearce, executive director of On Point, said in an article for the Chattanoogan that the organization is trying to "get teens involved in new, positive directions that lead to a healthier, more fulfilling life. Without a re-naming, re-branding and re-positioning, this new direction wouldn't have been possible."

The Pittsburgh school board has approved a "comprehensive" sex education program instead of an "abstinence only" policy.

Under the new policy, students will be taught about contraceptives, but birth-control devices will not be demonstrated or distributed. Parents will have the option of removing their children from sex education.

Officials say the district will still stress that abstinence is the only sure way to avoid pregnancy and some diseases, but the change is needed because the city’s teen-pregnancy rate is higher than the regional average.

Taking a look at Obama's AIDS plan (PDF) is like reading my policy wish list. He promises to leave behind ideology-driven debates over how to spend money, and instead put common sense and science first. He wants to end our funding of programs that only discuss abstinence and fidelity without a mention of condoms. He would no longer negotiate harmful trade deals that prioritize drug company profits over people's lives. And he wants to invest fully in the fight against global AIDS, both through bilateral programs and the multilateral Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria.

Domestically, his plan is spot-on. He's calling for the development of a National AIDS Strategy, including expanding Medicaid to cover people with HIV, not just AIDS, and ending the federal ban on funding for syringe exchange. He recognizes that we must do more to confront the epidemic of HIV communities of color, especially amongst gay men and other men who have sex with men, and calls for action on this issue.

I thought of the fictional Ms. Ramsey this morning when I opened my in box to discover that a teacher in Herriman, Utah, according to this article in the Salt Lake Tribune, is under investigation for discussing "topics unrelated to the core curriculum -- including homosexual sex, oral sex and masturbation" -- in defiance of state law. Call us firebrands, but we were under the impression that sex education should include discussions of, well, sex. The students of the teacher -- whose name is not given, perhaps to save her from the scarlet C for candor -- would seem to agree, as the discussion arose directly in response to questions from her students. (In protest, some of them made signs that read, "We were the ones asking her questions.") A local congressional representative has promised to introduce legislation to enforce criminal penalties on teachers who violate the law -- and create a public registry of offenders.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that the National Abstinence Education Association has launched a $1 million campaign to encourage parents to lobby their legislators for abstinence-only education programs. The campaign Web site offers the familiar scare tactics and a friendly reminder that grandparents, too, can be enlisted in the campaign to protect children from sexual knowledge. Because when your sex-ed teacher is too scared of facing criminal charges for addressing your questions on gay sex and masturbation, you can always ask Grandma.

They're called "A Knight to Remember." (Subhead: "A Celebration of Chivalry for Sons and Mothers.")

So what do moms and squires actually do at such an event (aside from pretending the name doesn't sound like some sort of naughty role-play)? Make war against the Infidel without cessation, and without mercy? Well, sort of. The newsletter of the Abstinence Clearinghouse, which sponsors the events, reported that "mothers and sons spent the night together talking about integrity, purity and character while feasting on 'groom's cake.' Mothers took a pledge to be available for their sons [?!], while the young men tried to escape to the Purity Ball next door took a pledge to remain pure until marriage."

in 2002, 93 percent of survey respondents admitted to having had premarital sex by age 30. Somewhat more surprising is that this behavior isn't new -- according to the report, among people who turned 15 between 1954 and 1963, 82 percent had had premarital sex before 30. Knocking boots before marriage is, it seems, as American as apple pie.

That's interesting in and of itself, but more important, the report uses this evidence of sexual promiscuity to question America's current emphasis on abstinence-only education. If Americans have been engaging in premarital fornication for decades -- even in times when it was less socially acceptable to do so -- then does it really make sense to try to stop the behavior? The report's authors don't think so. "Almost all Americans have sex before marrying," the report reads. "These findings argue for education and interventions that provide the skills and information people need to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases once they become sexually active, regardless of marital status."

The report also points out that these sorts of interventions and educational programs are needed more now than ever, since Americans are marrying later than they used to (over the past 25 years, the median age for first marriage for women has increased from 22.1 to 25.8; for men, from 24.4 to 27.4). Whereas in 1970, 16 percent of Americans had never been married, today that figure is 25 percent, which suggests -- as the report puts it -- "that many individuals have a long interval after puberty and before marrying during which they may become sexually active."