Introduction
A little over three percent of high school students describe themselves as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, and over five percent report they are either lesbian, gay, bisexual, or have had sexual experiences with individuals of the same sex. As a minority population in schools across the country, LGBTQ youth commonly experience high rates of discrimination and harassment, yet are often not protected under school policy. And even though most parents favor teaching about sexual orientation in schools, most sexuality education programs do not cover this topic at all, and abstinence-only-until-marriage programs (AOUM) only contribute to the negative treatment towards these students. As a result, LGBTQ youth are more vulnerable to a variety …show more content…
LGBTQ-inclusive sex education should provide factual, non-stigmatizing information on sexual orientation and gender identity as a part of human development and teach respect for LGBTQ people. At minimum,
LGBTQ-inclusive sex education should include information for all students about sexual orientation and gender identity that is medically accurate and age-appropriate.
Should be designed with the needs of LGBTQ students in mind and be implemented with awareness that all classes are likely to have some LGBTQ students.
Include depictions of LGBTQ people and same-sex relationships in a positive light in stories and role-plays.
Use gender-neutral terms such as “they/ them” and “partner” whenever possible and ensuring that prevention messages related to condom and birth control use are not relayed in a way that suggests only heterosexual youth or cisgender* male/female couples need to be concerned about unintended pregnancy and STI prevention.
Avoid making assumptions about students’ sexual orientation or gender identity.
Historical Background of …show more content…
By the end of 1989, SIECUS had publics “Sex Education 2000: A Call to Action”, which outlined the 13 goals that would ensure that all children recieved comprehensice secuallity education by the year 2000. However, groups like “Focus on the Family, Moral Majority, and Concerned Women for America” started campaigns that spread the message that sex outside of marriage was unacceptable (FoSE, 2017). Hence, Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs were born, which are proven to be one of the most ineffective way to teach sex education, while additionally, AOUM programs are extremely hurtful towards the LGBTQ community. However, these groups had great success during the early 1990’s, with school boards all across the country adopting AOUM programs. The Bill Clinton Administration, under one of his legislations was Title V, Section 510(b), “which allocated $50 million per year over a five year period to states for AOUM programs. These programs were governed by a very strict definition of abstinence and could pick and choose which information they wanted to discuss about it.” Every state except California excepted these
A little over three percent of high school students describe themselves as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, and over five percent report they are either lesbian, gay, bisexual, or have had sexual experiences with individuals of the same sex. As a minority population in schools across the country, LGBTQ youth commonly experience high rates of discrimination and harassment, yet are often not protected under school policy. And even though most parents favor teaching about sexual orientation in schools, most sexuality education programs do not cover this topic at all, and abstinence-only-until-marriage programs (AOUM) only contribute to the negative treatment towards these students. As a result, LGBTQ youth are more vulnerable to a variety …show more content…
LGBTQ-inclusive sex education should provide factual, non-stigmatizing information on sexual orientation and gender identity as a part of human development and teach respect for LGBTQ people. At minimum,
LGBTQ-inclusive sex education should include information for all students about sexual orientation and gender identity that is medically accurate and age-appropriate.
Should be designed with the needs of LGBTQ students in mind and be implemented with awareness that all classes are likely to have some LGBTQ students.
Include depictions of LGBTQ people and same-sex relationships in a positive light in stories and role-plays.
Use gender-neutral terms such as “they/ them” and “partner” whenever possible and ensuring that prevention messages related to condom and birth control use are not relayed in a way that suggests only heterosexual youth or cisgender* male/female couples need to be concerned about unintended pregnancy and STI prevention.
Avoid making assumptions about students’ sexual orientation or gender identity.
Historical Background of …show more content…
By the end of 1989, SIECUS had publics “Sex Education 2000: A Call to Action”, which outlined the 13 goals that would ensure that all children recieved comprehensice secuallity education by the year 2000. However, groups like “Focus on the Family, Moral Majority, and Concerned Women for America” started campaigns that spread the message that sex outside of marriage was unacceptable (FoSE, 2017). Hence, Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs were born, which are proven to be one of the most ineffective way to teach sex education, while additionally, AOUM programs are extremely hurtful towards the LGBTQ community. However, these groups had great success during the early 1990’s, with school boards all across the country adopting AOUM programs. The Bill Clinton Administration, under one of his legislations was Title V, Section 510(b), “which allocated $50 million per year over a five year period to states for AOUM programs. These programs were governed by a very strict definition of abstinence and could pick and choose which information they wanted to discuss about it.” Every state except California excepted these