In prepping for a graduate class I'm teaching on sexuality education and social policy, I recenlty reread Kristen Luker's book, When Sex goes to School, in which she analyzes and describes the 100+ interviews she conducted over twenty years with individuals on both sides of the sex education debate that have been warring for the past half century.  I think she does a good job summing up the history of these battles as well as provides some interesting insight into the players, particularly how they became passionate about this issue, on both sides. The only major problem I have with her books, and one she points out as a major limitation to this work, is the lack of non-white voices and an analysis of race and ethinicity - I think this is highly likely due to the fact that issues regarding race and ethinicity are often excluded as are voices from communities of color and other so-called "minority" groups when it comes to sex ed.  Having worked in sexuality education for almost twenty years, I can honestly say that there wasn't much that was surprising or anything that I hadn't heard before, at least until I reached the last chapter. "Chapter Nine: Sex education in America and whether it works or doesn't -- and why that's not the right question"

While reading it, I came to a realization that answers a question that I've been...

Grand Opening of the Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health Censored by Pawtucket, RI Mayor in Response to Anonymous Email

By Rebecca Chalker, author of The Clitoral Truth and articles on sexuality and women’s health.

The Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health, new non-profit educational organization focusing pleasure and sexual advocacy issues, was scheduled to hold its Grand Opening in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on Saturday, September 26. The Center’s Director is Megan Andelloux, a graduate of the University of Rhode Island (1997) and a Certified Sexuality Educator of the American Association of Sexuality Education, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT) and a Board Certified Sexologist by the American College of Sexologists.

Last week Andelloux, learned that the Pawtucket City Council had received an anonymous email “warning” about the Center’s opening and premier event. “I was then informed that without proper zoning and event licenses, I would be arrested if I held the event in Pawtucket,” she says. “Although I had landlord approval and the building is zoned for retail, business, entertainment, and office use, I was told that I had to get a special zoning application for ‘education’ and approval,” which typically takes up to two months. She had to scramble to find alternative space in which to hold the Grand Opening event and retained a...

This week the Human Rights Campaign Foundation released At The Intersection: Race, Sexuality and Gender—a two year research study focused on identifying the priorities and realities of LGBT people of color nation wide. This research is part of a new broader HRC initiative called Equality Forward, which has as its mission the uniting of LGBT people and allies of all races and backgrounds in order to achieve equality for all. The report is meant as the beginning of an interactive national dialogue. You can download the entire report and also share your own story (and read other stories) as an LGBT person of color on the Equality Forward web site.

Some of the report’s findings include:

Kudos to President Obama for walking the walk. His 2010 budget, released yesterday, makes good on his promise to re-assert the role of science and evidence in policy, by zeroing out all Title V abstinence only funding. As study after study has shown (including our own Sexuality Research and Social Policy issue dedicated to the topic), abstinence only education policies are at best a dismal failure, and at worst dangerous for the healthy sexuality of teens. Even better, the proposed budget includes renewed funding--173 million--for more comprehensive sexuality education. Here's a clip from p. 491 of the budget:

We will be interested to see how this part of the budget plays out in Congress--or if legislators will finally acknowledge that it is time to move beyond moral agendas, and back to what evidence and research shows. We couldn't have wished for a better beginning to a re-invigorated conversation about supporting healthy sexuality. We also hope that as the President moves forward, his efforts don't focus narrowly on teen pregnancy prevention, but look at all the factors that influence, inform and shape whether or not teens are sexually healthy--a

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...

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the Sex::Tech Conference sponsored by the Internet Sexuality Information Services (ISIS), Inc. that focuses on youth, sexuality, and technology; one of the more innovative and amazing conferences I've ever attended.  I've gone both years that this conference was convened and have learned more in a couple of days than I learn in most single months (sometimes longer) and have been consistently impressed with the incredible work being done around the country with youth, sexuality, and technology.  At the same time, there seemed to be a disconnect between the academic presentations, which were not nearly as cutting edge and exciting, and the more innovative and interesting technology and community presentations, which often lacked the  scientific evidence and theoretical framework to support the programs.  To me, this speaks of the greater need for  collaborations between academic institutions, community organizations, and technology companies, both large and startup.  Let's save this issue for a rainy day.

Today, I want to start a conversation about what I experienced in some of the more academic-focused presenations, mostly presentations of epidemiological data and behavioral research: an overarching theme...

In Judaism, there is a tenant called ‘”Tikkun Olam”, which translated from Hebrew means “repair the world”.

Last Thursday, eighty high school sophomore students from Emery/Weiner, a Jewish Community School in Houston, Texas descended upon the San Francisco LGBT Community Center to hear a panel of local community activists talk about social and health issues impacting LGBT people. The goal of the panel was for students to learn about issues facing LGBT people as well as to begin to develop tools they could use to promote greater equality for LGBT people back home.

When the Youth Program of the San Francisco LGBT Community Center called me to see if I would be interested in representing NSRC on the panel, I was thrilled (and a bit surprised too) to hear that an event like this was even...

I always find it interesting when proponents of abstinence-only education start espousing things like ethics, parental-child communication, character, and "a healthy dose of self-respect" when talking about the elements of "holistic" abstinence education programs like K-Lo, or Kathryn Lopez, does in her article in the Washington Times today.  Ms. Lopez's support for these programs is based solely on ideological and religious points of view rather than any thing grounded in scientific evidence.  Of course, she is a "conservative columnist" according to Wikipedia, not a journalist, and she has no background in health education or public health (her undergraduate degree is in philosophy and politics). 

K-Lo inaccurately describes comprehensive sex ed programs as handing out condoms and promoting teen sexual activity and repeats the same old tired argument that teen sex is the problem that results in unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. She also provides "evidence" in support of abstinence-only programs from the Best Friends evaluation, a report that used logistic regression...