SIECUS Statement on Resolution Supporting #SexEdForAllMonth
May 10, 2021
WASHINGTON – Thank you Representative Pramila Jayapal for introducing a new Congressional resolution to recognize May as Sex Ed for All Month!
We appreciate Representative Jayapal’s leadership to change the way we talk about sex education for youth in America. This resolution acknowledges that young people need to receive “equitable, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed” information about their bodies, reproductive health, consent, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and more. It calls upon the nation to recognize that all young people, and especially our most at-risk and vulnerable youth, need comprehensive, evidence-based, age-appropriate, medically accurate, reliable information.
“At SIECUS, we believe that comprehensive sexuality education is a powerful vehicle for building a foundation for a long-term culture shift that will positively impact all young people, particularly in support of dismantling disparities in sexual and reproductive health outcomes, and eliminating stigma and shame around sex, sexuality and identity across the intersections of age, race, size, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, and ability,” said Christine Soyong Harley, the President and CEO of SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change. “SIECUS applauds Representative Jayapal for her resolution recognizing May as Sex Ed for All month. This resolution is an important step in moving the national conversation forward.”
The data shows that accurate sex education benefits individuals in all aspects of their lives. Sex ed enables young people to make informed reproductive health decisions, can decrease unintended pregnancies, reduces the transmission of STIs, provides youth with skill-building on consent, and so much more.
We look forward to seeing what more can be done to provide and promote comprehensive sex education.
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SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change has served as the national voice for sex education for 56 years, asserting that sexuality is a fundamental part of being human, one worthy of dignity and respect. Through policy, advocacy, education, and strategic communications efforts, SIECUS advances sex education as a vehicle for social change—working toward a world where all people can access and enjoy sexual and reproductive freedom as they define it for themselves.
