How Current Sex Education is Failing LGBTQ+ People
Arguments over abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education have dominated the U.S. for a long time. However different or similar these types of sex ed may be, they definitely have one thing in common: they’re failing us.
Abstinence-only and comprehensive education doesn’t teach sex-positivity
Despite the federal government putting millions of dollars of faith into abstinence-only education, it has been proven time and time again to be ineffective and actually quite dangerous. Over the past 20 years, studies have proven that abstinence-only education is not effective when it comes to pregnancy and STIs. This is because often with abstinence education they fail to educate students about contraceptives such as condoms or birth control. In theory, abstinence is more effective than contraceptives, but that’s only true when students remain abstinent, and oftentimes they do not.
Abstinence-only education also stigmatizes sex. By promoting abstinence until marriage, sex and the discovering of one's sexuality is stigmatized and forced into being a taboo topic despite being essential to one’s personal growth. The stigmatization of premarital sex also frames victims of sexual assault in a negative and judgmental light. This could and often does, lead to a victim not wanting to speak out due to guilt, fear, or shame.
Not only does abstinence-only stigmatize talking about sexual assault, but also harms women through reinforcing gender roles through lessons. “Traditional gender ideologies frequently link masculinity with heterosexual sexual activity, sex drive, sexual initiation, and lack of emotional involvement, and femininity with sexual passivity, sexual restraint, responsibility for controlling boys’ desires, and emotional over-involvement.” Abstinence-only education reinforces these ideas, commemorating male sexuality but shaming female sexual desires. These harmful ideals compromise female negotiating power when it comes to sexual experiences.
Inclusive sex education teaches sex positivity, which promotes having a more open and comfortable attitude towards sex. Sex positivity allows for space for people to learn more about sexual activity and consent, and be comfortable with other’s sexual activity. Being sex-positive also allows for sex to be discussed openly, without shame or awkwardness
Abstinence-only and comprehensive education compromise the safety of LGBTQ+ people
It’s no secret that abstinence-only teachings often leave out LGBTQ+ individuals in their education. When discussing abstinence in terms of pregnancy, disregarding any talk of STIs, LGBTQ+ people can become severely misinformed about how unprotected sex can affect them. Cisgender queer people may not see unprotected sex as a problem since they cannot get pregnant from same-sex sex. This is harmful to community members because it undermines HIV/AIDS prevention efforts. In fact, from 2000 to 2014 HIV prevention instruction dropped from 64% to 41%.
Negative sexual health disproportionally affects LGBTQ+ people. In terms of HIV, men who have sex with men make up more than two-thirds of new HIV cases ages 13–29. The HIV infection rate for transgender individuals is more than four times the national average. In terms of sexual assault and dating violence, young women and transgender and gender non-conforming individuals are at the highest risk.
Providing inclusive sex education that includes LGBTQ+ individuals and addresses dating violence as well as sexual assault will benefit the groups of young people that are most affected by it. Inclusive sex education provides examples of healthy, inclusive relationships to attempt to combat gender stereotypes and provide accurate medical information rather than teaching based on stereotypes. Inclusive sex education also teaches the importance of protecting yourself during sex to avoid the spread of HIV, STDs, and STIs.
Abstinence-only and comprehensive education erases LGBTQ+ people
Not only does abstinence-only education gloss over contraceptive methods effective against STDs and STIs, the reinforcement of gender roles that they perpetuate also harms LGBTQ+ individuals. Without considering that there are same-sex couples out there, talking about human sexuality in terms of their opposite sex partner can leave LGBTQ+ people feeling confused, ashamed, and feeling like they need to fit into a particular stereotype.
Education about sex that focuses on heterosexual sex, pregnancy, and physicality isolates LGBTQ+ students, especially those who do not have a trusted adult to turn to and only learn about sex education from the in-school lessons provided. In some states, sex education explicitly condemns homosexuality, calling it unnatural and “not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public.” Teaching this to a group of young individuals can seriously damage not only their physical well-being with medically inaccurate information but also their emotional and mental well-being.
Sex-positive inclusive education provides LGBTQ+ individuals with a safe space to learn about sex in terms of heterosexuality, pregnancy, and physicality. Inclusive sex ed teaches about sex safety, the emotional component of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Inclusive sex ed isn’t limited to just teaching about the physical component of sexuality, but also the mental component. For transgender and gender non-conforming individuals, it can be helpful to learn about proper binding and tucking techniques.
Overall, the current sex education systems available not only fails but stigmatizes our community. The astounding lack of positive queer representation in sex education is significantly damaging to our community, not only from the outside, but the inside too.
Abstinence-only sex education stigmatizes what people think they know about sex, and what they think is sexually acceptable. Teaching that heterosexual intercourse is the norm and the only “publicly acceptable” form of sex represents us in a deviant light. It restricts people that are outside of the community from feeling comfortable getting to know us or have a more open view of sex.
It also damages our community from the inside. How is a young person supposed to learn more about who they are and feel comfortable getting to know themselves when they’re being taught that if they don’t fall exactly inside the lines of societal acceptance, they never will. Inversely, not mentioning LGBTQ+ people at all during sex education courses implies that we are not deserving of inclusion or representation.
We are missing the mark. Severely. The current forms of sex education are not just failing young LGBTQ+ people, they’re failing everyone. We need inclusive sex ed. Young people need to be taught to feel comfortable with their bodies. They need to be taught that it’s okay to say “no” and communicate during sex. They need to be taught to feel comfortable discussing sex. They need to be taught medically accurate information that pertains to them. And, finally, they need to be taught that heterosexual sex isn’t the baseline for all other sexual activity.
You can do your part by educating yourself and your friends through reliable, medically accurate resources provided by non-profits and pushing for inclusive sex education in your own school.
Haven is a developing virtual pride center aimed at providing young LGBTQ+ people with a community at their fingertips. The founders of Haven come from a place of love, understanding, and commitment. Haven is a community founded by young LGBTQ+ people for LGBTQ+ people. Checkout our website, havenvpc.org, and follow us on Instagram @haven.vpc for updates on our journey.
Haven is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. You can email us at havenvpc@gmail.com.
