As students at Boston University, we are a part of what tends to be a sex-positive community. We have been given insight into LGBT rights by way of FYSOP groups, on-campus clubs and interactions with people we see every day. We respond as a community to threats of rape and violence, as well as to the university’s way of handling sexual assault cases. But not all students around the country are this engaged, and not all students at BU entered the university with such a comprehensive understanding of sex.
Yesterday, The Boston Globe reported that gay rights advocates are attempting to make strides toward a more comprehensive sex education system in the nation’s schools, specifically one that incorporates the needs of LGBT students into the curriculum.
There are staggering statistics regarding the dangers of leaving the LGBT community in the dark in terms of sexual education. According the Globe, federal studies show that gay and lesbian students “are more likely to engage in risky behaviors that result in pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.”
But what’s even more staggering is that a national survey found only 4 percent of LGBT youth reported having any positive discussion of LGBT issues in their middle school or high school sex education curriculums. Eight states have banned such discussions all together, the Globe reported.
And to no one’s surprise, there is already intense backlash to this proposition from religious groups and parents. According to the Globe, the conservative Christian group Massachusetts Family Institute is against normalizing homosexuality, and believes in teaching abstinence until marriage in lieu of any sex education curriculum.
But let us say this and then move on from the religious aspect of this issue: activists are working to institute more comprehensive sex education and to include LGBT curriculum in public schools — religion simply has no play here anymore. While some may argue that the “teaching” of homosexuality is against their religion, let us remind them that homosexuality, legally recognized and protected, is not a choice, and it certainly cannot be “taught.”
But this mentality about homosexuality is exactly the reason curricula should also pertain to LGBT students. People are hateful toward those whom they do not understand, and they don’t understand those they hate because they are not educated about them. By shutting down the idea of an LGBT-inclusive curriculum, administrators and legislators are merely contributing to a vicious cycle of hate and an overall lack of understanding. Perhaps by introducing a comprehensive sexual education curriculum, what today is considered taboo by many may twenty years from now instead be considered normal by all.
And while many of us may have been told that our sex education curriculum was “comprehensive” in high school, we are still left with holes and questions. Many of us were left with singular chapters teaching abstinence, and even more were told that sex is shameful and wrong — especially girls and women. Some students aren’t even aware of the word “consent” and its paramount significance in sex until they attend college.
If that doesn’t scare you, it should. Learning solely from experience in any sexual situation can be dangerous and messy, but the lack of a basic understanding of consensual sex is perhaps one of the most detrimental of all.
But consent isn’t the only issue here. While straight individuals may think that their sex education classes were basic, to say the least, those identifying as LGBT have little to no education whatsoever. Most of their information has to come from the Internet and personal experience. And, to be blunt, if those who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning are required to be educated about straight sexual experiences, then those who identify as straight should be educated about LGBT sexual experiences just the same.
This applies to students who have been taught abstinence as well. No one should have to learn about sex from the Internet, or from friends or from partners they’re not ready to have. It should be learned first in a classroom, where students have a free space to ask questions and speak out.
This isn’t to say that fifth-graders should be learning about sexual experiences. Sex education should be a continuing cycle of information that begins around that age and increases in scope as students grow older. Boys and girls should have an understanding of what their bodies are going through as they are beginning to experience changes. For some girls and boys, those changes begin as early as elementary school.
And while sitting through a typical sex education class isn’t always a walk in the park, perhaps by educating students at a younger age about their own sexuality and the sexuality of those around them, sex itself will become less of an embarrassment. Having sexual experiences is not shameful — quite the opposite. But there are consequences to having sex, and students should be aware of them. By keeping students in the dark, LGBT or straight, we are only continuing to foster an unhealthy and dangerous culture around what is by all accounts a normal human behavior.
Most decisions regarding sex education curriculum and health classes are made at the state and local levels, usually by elected school boards, the Globe reported. It simply isn’t fair for students in some areas of the country to have a greater understanding of sexuality than students in others. The Supreme Court has legalized same-sex marriage, but we must take a step further and introduce legislation that educates people about it. Introducing this comprehensive curriculum must be done at a federal level and enforced nationwide.
Clearly, “comprehensive” is a somewhat arbitrary term. What does a comprehensive sex education actually include? As a start, it should include information about both straight and LGBT sexuality. It should promote protection, rather than abstinence, and in doing so, teach young women and young men that sex isn’t and shouldn’t be shameful. We need to instill in boys and girls a firm understanding of consent in sexual relationships. Overall, sex positivity is key, no matter your sexual orientation, gender identity or any other factor.
Introducing a curriculum that encompasses all of these things won’t be easy, and those who oppose a curriculum such as this won’t go down without a difficult fight. But no change, no matter how beneficial, comes easily, so we have to start somewhere.
