Although I frequently attend professional and academic conferences focused on sexuality, it is the conferences not focused on sexuality that end up teaching me the most about how we are going to empower a nation to more effectively talk about its sexual health, education and rights.

This past week, at the 2009 AARP Diversity and Aging in the 21st Century: Power of Inclusion Conference I was reminded just how imperative it is to include the new framework of lifelong sexual literacy within the emerging dialogue between the fields of diversity and aging where it has previously not existed.

The current youth-centric and “one size fits all” approach to “comprehensive sexuality education” does not mean a thing for the older adults it does nothing to serve. It also does very little to address other nation-wide gender, racial, class…diversities and we are all responsible and accountable for the sexual inequalities that erupt from...

Next week NSRC is heading to Chicago for the 2009 AARP Diversity and Aging: Power of Inclusion Conference. 

We'll be presenting on the need to include sexual identity and sexuality itself within the framework of all diversity dialogues on aging. Most people think of diversity embodying such things as culture, race, sexual identity, gender, class, immigration status, disability, faith and so forth... Our intention is to ensure that healthy sexuality/sexual literacy itself is also included on that list and then integrated within future dialogues on aging and diversity.

It's not easy for people working with older adults to talk about sexuality and LGBT issues and so for many, the discussion does not exist at all or when it does it erupts from a reaction to a problem, dysfunction or disease rather than as a proactive solution to greater health, happiness and well being. NSRC wants to work with AARP and other national partners to think about how we might all be able to expand dialogues and policies about sexuality and aging in ways that embrace and respect older adults-providing them with the health, dignity and civil...

Perhaps first things you learn as a sexuality researcher is to set aside your preconceptions. So as I prepared for my first Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality regional meeting in Pacific Grove, California, I tried to banish my preconceptions of what a conference on the science of sex would be like. I was pretty convinced it would be everything you don’t really want sex to be – dry, humorless, boring, and a little bit weird.

All of my preconceptions melted away on Friday night as I sat in a lecture hall at the Monterey Bay Aquarium watching Isabella Rossellini’s Green Porno with Steven Webster, PhD a founder of the aquarium. He was giving us a lecture on sex and marine life, and he (along with Isabella) introduced us to some of the ocean’s creatures with the most interesting gender and sexual variations. Highlights included male sea horses that get "pregnant", clown fish who are sequential hermaphrodites, and anglerfish whose males are essentially parasites living off of the bloodstream of females.

Last week I interviewed one of the greatest sexuality educators and lifelong learning experts of our time, Peggy Brick.

For over 10 years, Peggy has trained thousands of educators, health care professionals and community advocates about sex in mid and later life and the importance of expanding our concept of “sex ed” to include the entire life-course. She's been teaching sex education across the lifespan since high school over 3 decades ago. Founder of the Consortium on Sexuality and Aging, Peggy is a pioneering, visionary leader whose passion and remarkable ability is revolutionizing sexuality education itself.

In 2003, Peggy, Jan Lunquist and SIECUS produced the groundbreaking book New Expectations: Sexuality Education for Mid and Later Life. I’ve used this book and recommended it for years as one of the most well respected and...

Maybe it’s because it’s women’s history month or maybe it’s because they wanted to spite the lobbyist in DC for National Abstinence Lobbyist Day this week, but the new administration and newly elected Democrat controlled Congress made tremendous strides this week enacting legislation that will substantially improve women’s health (and everyone’s sexual health for that matter).

The omnibus spending bill that the Senate passed this week not only increased Title X funding and decreased funding for abstinence-only programs but it also put more money into international HIV prevention than ever before. And feminists throughout the US should celebrate because the omnibus bill also includes provisions for reducing the cost of birth control.

Not to be out done by the Senate, President Obama announced the White House Council on Women and Girls. Autumn...