According to the CDC, 2.4 million people reported having an STD in 2023 and while teen pregnancy is on the decline, they are expected to rise with the overturning of Roe v Wade. In a study done by SIECUS, 42% of people did not receive a "talk" and 73% felt like they were given inadequate sex education.
Where is the Queer Sex education?
Nowhere! Only 9/50 states require any amount of queer sex ed. The current curriculum in most states just focus on scaring students about STDS, encourage abstaining, and maybe include condoms. Queer students turn to the internet for sex ed. While the internet can be a great and informative place, many teens are getting misinformed by strangers. That's why it is important that students can be taught in a safe, professional environment about sex education. Around 500,000+ people died due to AIDS in the United States and the "just don't" method helped no one. Not only does learning queer sex education save lives but also reduces the isolation of queer students.
In Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence (1980) Adrienne Cecile Rich says "As sexual power is learned by adolescent boys through the social experience of their sex drive, so do girls learn that the locus of sexual power is male. Given the importance placed on the male sex drive in the socialization of girls as well as boys, early adolescence is probably the first significant phase of male identification in a girl’s life and development." This means that young women, learning through the male heterosexual teachings take away parts of identity that haven't even formed yet. Women automatically put their male counterparts' pleasure first and also automatically assume a male counterpart. This creates a s struggle many lesbians face of forming an identity away from men. In summary, as women and queer folk come into their own sexual identity it becomes difficult to not only unlearn patriarch heterosexual norms, but also learning safe sex education on their own without guidance from the public school system. Not only does this leave room for misinformation but also creates an isolating environment.
What are the Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girls Saying About Their Sex Education?
"I really didn't know anything until I had a pregnancy scare and had to go find things out myself"
-UT student
- UT student on "Where the clitoris is."
"I had to use YouTube 'Queer Sex Ed' videos"
-UT student
Chappell Roan
"Pop Girls" have always made explicit sexual lyrics part of their signature, but no one has done it quite as mainstream and queer as Chappell Roan. Her popularity among Gen Z speaks for itself, conversation around queer sex and female pleasure is wanted and needed.
Mouth condoms aka "dental dams"! This is important for everyone alike to prevent the spread of genital to facial herpes.
Homosexual sex still requires condoms (they sell some meant for that!)
Plan B doesn't work if you are over a certain weight and not if you are ovulating!
Most vaginas cannot <3 just on penetrative sex.
Queer people can and do end up in abusive relationships and get sexually assaulted. There are resources for both!
in this case.. a femininomenon is a well-rounded, inclusive, ACTUAL sex education that is created away from heterosexual patriarchal norms. Inclusive education that includes feminist and queer sex that will decrease bullying by normalizing the LGBT experience and decreasing pregnancy and STDS. Also freeing women from the male idea of what sex is. Students are not only more comfortable around subjects regarding feminism and queerness but also learn not to rely on penetrative sex for pleasure.
Works Cited
“19 TAC Chapter 115.” Texas Education Agency, Texas Education Agency, 3 Aug. 2022, tea.texas.gov/about-tea/laws-and-rules/texas-administrative-code/19-tac-chapter-115.
Rich, Adrienne. “Compulsory heterosexuality and lesbian existence.” Feminisms, 19 Feb. 1998, pp. 320–324, https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192892706.003.0054.
“Sex Education - Healthy Futures of Texas.” Healthy Futures of Texas - Advancing Informed Sexual Health Decisions, 18 May 2023, hftx.org/policy/sex-education/.
“Texas State Profile.” SIECUS, 8 May 2024, siecus.org/stateprofiles/texas-state-profile-23/.