re-thinking sex education as we rebuild the U.S.

In yesterday's New York Times, Frank Rich gave us a great piece about the current state of the culture wars and how we Americans don't have the time or patience for these arguments over "moral" issues (that the right has used quite effectively to keep us divided over the past thirty years or so). When you think about it, it was rather impressive that they were able to mobilize and had such stamina to keep folks fired up on both sides of issues like reproductive choice, gay rights, and abstinence-only education for so many years.

Over the past few months, we've watched as the result of years of greed, fiscal irresponsibility, and unnecessary risk-taking on Wall Street have nearly completely collapsed the global economy. In the back of our minds, we knew this would happen someday; it was impossible that such a level of grotesque consumption and consumerism could sustain for the long-term.

If you think about it, this is very similar to what has happened to the social conservatives as well.  We all knew that their holier-than-though messages regarding their version of "family values" stank to high heaven of bullshit. Was it at all a surprise, then, when their leaders were literally caught with their pants down?  As with the unregulated greed on Wall Street, these power hungry, hate-mongering "Christians" would not be able to sustain this level of hypocrisy.  It wasn't long before we were able to see through their smoke and mirrors, and we knew that these sideshow charlatans would eventually stumble and take down their party with them.

As Rich points out, the objections to the new administration's undoing of the damage inflicted by years of abuse from the right have been little more than faint rumblings in the far distance.  Of course, the overturning of the Global Gag Rule and the removal of restrictions on stem cell research haven't been met with the applause and fireworks we might expect.  Instead, it feels as though we've gotten somewhere close to rock bottom and have only just begun to slowly pick ourselves up and start putting things back in order.  I've heard many complaining about Obama's slowness in overturning "don't ask, don't tell" or DOMA, and all I can think is that we need to give him a little time.  He and his team are dealing with a great deal of wreckage, and it is going to take awhile to sort through the rubble and begin to rebuild. 

And when we do rebuild (and we will because if we are nothing we are resilient creatures), we will create something that was greater than before. We will strive for equity and fairness and to ensure that ALL are cared for and given the tools to succeed.  This will not be an easy task and it will come at a cost.  But we owe it to one another and future generations to roll up our sleeves and tighten our belts to make it through.  Maybe I'm a dreamer and an optimist, but I believe in the good of humankind, and that in America, justice and righteousness eventually overcome all.

So what does this have to do with sexuality education? As I've said before on this blog, we must use this opportunity to build something new.  It is not enough to replace one unrealistic and ineffective model (abstinence-only) with another that is only slightly better but faulty nonetheless. What we currently call "comprehensive sex education" does very little to promote healthy sexuality and is just not good enough.  We can and will do better.  We can bring healthy sexuality into our communities and lives and help one another become better, stronger, healthier people because of it.  We can adopt a model for sexuality education that promotes acceptance and celebration rather than damnation and shame.  While I don't believe that improving sexuality education can solve all of our problems, I do believe that it will help all of us make healthier choices that lead to richer and happier lives.  This will take a great deal of work and will challenge all of us. However, this opportunity is too great to let it pass.  We must prepare for the work ahead and begin to rebuild.