Newsex education curriculumfails young Texans
On Friday, the Texas State Board of Education approved a new sex education curriculum that will teach forms of protection beyond abstinence. Although this is a step in the right direction — as the curriculum had not been updated since 1997 — it fails to include critical components to sexual health and wellness education: the importance of listening for and giving consent, or teachings on gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.
Consent is a complex yet seemingly simple subject, and a board member voiced in a September meeting that consent is a “gateway term” that pedophiles use to prey on children. This is a negligent and gross misunderstanding of the topic and reflects an even greater need for education on the subject, starting with the board. They are failing Texans and ignoring the basic need to teach adolescents about listening for affirmative consent at a minimum.
The board continues to fail all Texans by not including sexual orientation, gender identity and expression in the curriculum. This stance represents the divisive ideology that refuses to acknowledge and listen to others, a problem that led to violence and vitriol within the past month across our country. If we can’t teach developing minds to be respectful of others, we are failing our youth and ultimately all Texans. The position of the board is reflective of a broader misguided path to make Texas the “exclusionary state,” no longer that of friends or allies.
There is no doubt that the lack of information about consent, gender identity and sexual orientation has contributed to the history of violence against the queer community in Texas. There is an avoidable epidemic of brutality against transgender and intersex people in our state, especially against trans women of color. According to the Human Rights Campaign, Texas has led the nation in transgender murders. Across the nation, at least 37 transgender or gender nonconforming people were shot or fatally killed by other violent means this year. Just this weekend in Houston, 22-year- old Asia Jynaé Foster, a Black transgender woman, was shot and killed. This list includes Dallas resident Merci Mack and San Antonio resident Helle Jae O’Regan. A curriculum that includes gender expression and gender identity can help end this epidemic.
Other adverse effects of ignoring an entire community include barriers to employment and health care. At Texas Health Action’s Kind Clinic, we provide access to sexual health and wellness in a safe and supportive environment. Many of our clients have faced discrimination from their family and society, leading to loss of employment, housing and barriers to accessing health care. For LGBTQIA+ individuals who are employed and have health care access, finding a kind and compassionate health care provider can be impossible depending on where you live in Texas.
At Kind Clinic, we also provide patients who have suffered sexual assault with post- exposure prophylaxis, an emergency intervention to prevent HIV acquisition. This is unfortunately on the rise as we see a greater number of patients in clinic that need post- exposure prophylaxis. Actively addressing consent in the sex ed curriculum will help reduce sexual violence.
As the 87th Texas Legislature prepares to convene in January, I ask our lawmakers to consider new legislation that would require school districts teach, at the bare minimum, the importance of listening to and giving consent. While there are several proposed bills that would support and provide justice for sexual assault survivors, which are certainly needed, this would not help prevent assault from taking place. Legislation should also require educators use the most current, medically accurate information about protected sex, HIV and prevention of sexually transmitted infections.
Finally, parents, educators and students should continue to take action at the local level, and urge school boards to adopt comprehensive, inclusive sex education that reflects our communities in Texas.