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As I have said before, we are facing a crisis in declining curriculum on sexuality education in medical schools across the United States and Canada. There is a very clear need to better prepare medical students to be able to attend to the myriad of sexual health problems that their patients face. We have a public health imperative to address these problems.

Last fall we brought together 55 experts for a summit on medical school education in sexual health. The purpose of the summit was to examine the situation, discuss the challenges and opportunities, share lessons learned, and make recommendations for ensuring that physicians are properly trained to address the sexual health needs of their patients as they go into practice. In April the meeting report was published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

The expert consensus recommended:

•  Sexual health education should be integrated longitudinally throughout four years of medical school.

•  Sexual health education should be "introduced early and often."

•  Working together should be the norm and not the exception. There are other disciplines and experts who have an interest and a need in sexual health education.

•  Developing evaluation mechanisms incorporating multiple methods of measurement to help medical schools understand how to best teach sexual health.

•  Much like students, faculty members need content and curricula to build their skills and comfort in sexual health.

•  Create a cross-organizational effort using multiple partnerships to advance the cause.

•  Participants strongly endorsed an initiative to commission an Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, which would also describe the need to address sexual health education for health care providers. This IOM report would be a collaborative project.

One approach to building a healthier society is to better train physicians. The training of medical students is an essential step to advance sexual health. It is time to ensure that in our society new doctors as well as practicing health professionals are prepared to address the sexual health needs of their patients from adolescence through seniority.

As Joycelyn Elders, MD, said in the closing of the summit, "A society grows great when old men and old women plant trees under whose shade they will never sit. At least we're planting trees." The passion displayed by the summit participants needs to continue. The group is committed to carrying out the recommendations.

The Program in Human Sexuality has been on the forefront of sexual health education for medical students since it began in 1970. We have been able to preserve one of the country's premier courses and curriculum. With the support of the Joycelyn Elders Chair in Sexual Health Education, we are committed to taking a leadership role in ensuring that not only our curriculum remains the best, but that we foster the highest quality sexual health education for other medical students in the United States and around the world.

Coleman, E., Elders, J., Satcher, D., Shindel, A., Parish, S., Kenagy, G., Bayer, C. R., Knudson, G., Kingsberg, S., Clayton, A., Lunn, M. R., Goldsmith, E., Tsai, P., & Light, A. (2013). Summit on Medical School Education in Sexual Health: Report of an Expert Consultation. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 10(4), 924-938. doi:10.1111/jsm.12142

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We are excited to announce the new Michael E. Metz Fellowship in Couples' Sexual Health that will help prepare postdoctoral fellows for a career that will combine clinical and scholarly endeavors in the area of couples' sexual health.

The Metz Fellowship was created with a generous gift from Hildy Bowbeer to honor the life and work of her husband, Michael E. Metz, PhD. Metz was a nationally respected psychologist and couples therapist, who for 12 years served on the faculty of PHS and directed the relationship and sex therapy program. Metz passed away in March 2012.

Bowbeer said, "Mike was not only committed to couples' sexual health in his own clinical and research work, but was also passionate about training the next generation of scholars and therapists in this field. I'm thrilled to be able to help PHS carry on his legacy in this way."

The Metz Fellowship is a two-year program that will follow the training model of our postdoctoral fellowship, but the Metz Fellow will focus her or his clinical work on couples' sexual health. Bowbeer's gift will enable the Metz fellow to dedicate thirty percent of their time to research in the area of couples' sexual health. "This is a great opportunity for a postdoctoral fellow to have more time to focus on research and scholarly work," said Eli Coleman, PhD, director.

As a clinician Metz worked with more than 6,000 couples, addressing and resolving relationship and sexual problems, improving their quality of life. He authored 4 books and more than 60 professional articles and book chapters in the areas of couple intimacy, relationship conflict styles, sexual health, sexual medicine, and cognitive-behavioral features of satisfying relationships. He conceptualized the "Good Enough Sex Model" which was greeted with great appreciation. Throughout his career, Metz received many awards and honors.

Now accepting applications for fall 2013
http://z.umn.edu/metz

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A recent summit hosted by PHS gathered key medical school educators and sexual health experts to discuss the challenges and opportunities for ensuring physicians are properly trained to address the sexual health needs of their patients.

Participants included former US Surgeons General Joycelyn Elders, MD, and David Satcher, MD, PhD, as well as representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Medical Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the American Medical Student Organization, and a wide range of medical schools, universities, and organizations. The summit's premise was based upon a series of recently published papers, covering the state of sexual health education in the US and Canada and recommended curriculum changes. Invited speakers shared their perspectives in a think-tank format culminating in a working group session. A meeting report will be prepared and shared with interested parties and key stakeholders.

Eli Coleman, PhD, the event organizer said, "It is our hope that this summit and meeting report will serve as a catalyst for re-invigorating the necessary sexual health curriculum to meet the needs of physicians of the future."

During the summit participants heard from educators, students, and researchers, including many of the authors whose articles were used for background. Educators from a range of medical schools shared information about their sexual health curricula and training programs. On Tuesday morning participants gathered into work groups around the topics of curriculum placement, evaluation, faculty development, inter-professional education and training for integrated care, and cooperative strategies and partnerships.

The event was held on December 3 - 4, 2012, at the Commons Hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The event was made possible through funds from the Joycelyn Elders Chair in Sexual Health Education and the University of Minnesota Medical School through support of a Herz Grant and the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity.

PHOTO: summit participants; credit Duane Rost

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I am writing this letter from the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C. It has been 22 years since the International AIDS conference was held in the United States (mainly due to the unwillingness on the part of the United States to grant visas for HIV-infected individuals- only recently lifted).

Here 25,000 scientists, policy makers, health and education ministry officials, advocates, and activists from around the world are gathered with a renewed determination to stem the tide of this epidemic. Medical advances, improved access to care, prevention initiatives, and our nation's revived determination are all good signs, but as a culture we will need to shift our perspective to stop the spread of HIV.

Recent news of pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis treatment has been encouraging. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Truvada (emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent the spread of HIV to high-risk, healthy individuals. Other similar preparations are under investigation and HIV therapeutic drugs are being developed for prophylactic use. These drugs are very costly and require individuals to adhere to rigid compliance in order to be effective.

Also, last week, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced nearly $80 million in grants to increase access to HIV/AIDS care across the United States. The funding will ensure that low-income people living with HIV/AIDS continue to have access to life-saving health care and medications. This effort stemmed from President Obama's determination to create an AIDS-free generation.

In addition, there is reduced stigma for HIV infected individuals. The CDC just launched "Let's Stop HIV Together" a new campaign that is part of the 5-year initiative started in 2009 to reduce stigma around HIV and advocate for more access to testing and treatment "Act Against AIDS."

The United States, through its National AIDS Strategy, has outlined a "prevention" strategy through early detection and early treatment, focusing on vulnerable populations.

These new strategies are overdue. In the United States, we continue to experience 50,000 new infections a year. And, there are serious health disparities. People of color, youth, and sexual minorities are much more likely to become infected than other groups.

Over the last 30 years, where have we failed? We know that HIV is still mostly spread by sexual behavior. Yet, the disease is rather easily preventable through the use of condoms. Condoms are reasonably inexpensive, potentially readily available, easy to use, and highly effective in preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (and unintended pregnancy). What a bargain! So, why are they not used more?

Behavioral HIV prevention strategies and interventions have tried to get people to reduce risky sexual behavior and promote condom use. While reasonably effective, there needs to be continuous implementation of these interventions, and they are costly. Investment in prevention strategies has always been difficult. With the recently adopted National Prevention Strategy, National AIDS Strategy, and the Affordable Care Act, there is new hope that these investments will be made.

But a fundamental problem remains. We remain a sexually dysfunctional culture. We live in a culture that is still uncomfortable talking about sex and sexuality in a mature and honest fashion. We continue to debate and hold back on providing comprehensive sexuality education. It is very clear that what distinguishes the United States from other developed countries in sexual health indicators is the existence of (or lack thereof) early and sustained comprehensive sexuality education. When kids are educated early they grow up to be more comfortable with talking about sexuality, more likely to be sexually responsible, and have lower rates of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies. They contribute to a cultural climate that is sexually healthy. That climate then insists on comprehensive sexuality education and thereby creates a cycle of healthiness. In the United States, we are still caught up in a negative and unhealthy vicious cycle. The goal of the Joycelyn Elders Chair in Sexual Health Education is to reverse this negative cycle.

Both Walter Bockting and I, along with over 600 delegates from around the world attended the "Global Forum on Men who Have Sex with Men (MSM) and HIV" as part of the International AIDS Conference. While 60% of new infections around the world are found in gay and bisexual men, only 2% of the global prevention budget is directed at this group. Also, transgender individuals are an overlooked population at major risk for HIV, due in large part to continued stigma and discrimination. This disparity in funding efforts represents the institutionalized stigmatization, heterosexism, and homophobia that exist in our cultures as well as in our public health systems. If we do not attend to this population as well as other marginalized populations such as sex workers and drug users, we will fail in our efforts to stop the spread of infections.

Walter Bockting and I also attended two important meetings pertaining to transgender health and HIV. The first was called "The Great TRANSformation: Towards a Holistic Approach for Healthier and Happier Trans Communities in Latin America and the Caribbean." Walter Bockting talked about "Avenues for Action for the Provision of Care and the Promotion of Well-Being." This symposium represented some of our ongoing work with the Pan American Health Organization in developing and finalizing a "Blueprint for the Provision of Prevention and Care for Transgender Individuals through Latin American and the Caribbean." We also participated in a second special session on "Addressing Stigma in Transgender & Other HIV-Vulnerable Communities" sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care, the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition, and the Pan American Health Organization.
 
As the current Chair in Sexual Health, I was happy to participate in this conference and push a sexual health agenda in HIV prevention. I was very pleased that the Program in Human Sexuality was a co-sponsor along with the Pan American Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of a satellite session on "Addressing Sexual Health and Evidence-based Sexual Health Education: Evolving Opportunities." I spoke on "Towards a Broader Vision of Sexual Health in the New Millennium." I emphasized the need for a broad sexual health approach to stem the tide of the HIV epidemic, which emphasizes a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual expression throughout the lifespan and that acknowledges sexuality as a basic and fundamental aspect of our humanness and that the pursuit of sexual pleasure is natural and desirable. A broad sexual health approach combats sexual coercion, shame, discrimination, and violence. But a sexual health approach must go beyond venereology and, on an individual level, promote positive sexual identity and esteem, honest communication and trust between partners, the possibility of having pleasurable, fulfilling and satisfying sexual experiences, taking responsibility of the consequences of one's sexual choices and their impact on others, and optimizing reproductive capacity and choice. At the community level, it is achieved through access to developmentally appropriate, comprehensive and scientifically accurate sexuality education, clinical and preventative sexual health services, and respect for individual differences and diversity and a lack of societal prejudice, stigma, and discrimination.

The Chair in Sexual Health will continue to work with our faculty at PHS and with partners around the world to promote a sexually healthier culture - not only to address the sexual problems in the world -- but to advance the opportunity for everyone to lead sexually healthier lives which are pleasurable and satisfying.

Eli Coleman, PhD
Professor and Director
Academic Chair in Sexual Health

PHOTO: Omar Banos (Impacto at AIDS Project Los Angeles), Rafael Mazin (Pan American Health Organization), and Eli Coleman

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PHS joined Exposed Brick Theatre to create the new play based on the stories, experiences, and perspectives of transgender and gender non-conforming youth. Nearly 180 people attended the premiere performance of Trans/formation: Addressing Gender Issues in School at the Pillsbury House Theatre. After the production, the audience enjoyed a lively discussion with the cast, writers, and director about the themes of the play and their experience working on the project.

The aims of the project are to validate transgender and gender non-conforming youth experiences through performance, to educate peers, parents, families, friends, and educators about the experiences of transgender and gender non-conforming youth, and to encourage dialogues around gender issues, advocacy, and ally support for adolescents.

The performance on May 4, 2012, was the first step in a larger process. The next steps will be for the playwrights Anton Jones, Suzy Messerole, and Aamera Siddiqui to make final edits to the script and for PHS psychologists Katie Spencer, PhD, and Dianne Berg, PhD, to finalize the educational materials on the themes of the play. The play script and educational materials will then be made available for high school groups to download and perform at their schools, amplifying the impact of this project.

PHS and Exposed Brick would like to thank Stacey Mills and Sam Heins for their donation that made this project possible. We would also like to thank all of the people that helped to create this piece including the youth we interviewed, the advisory board whose thoughtful and creative feedback lifted the play to a whole new level, the youth who read the early drafts and whose honest feedback led us in the right direction. The youth performers are outstanding and their commitment to the piece has been amazing.

PHOTO: credit David Hannigan

 

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The Program in Human Sexuality graduated two postdoctoral fellows at the Family Medicine and Community Health commencement this spring. On June 7, 2012, Brad Nederostek, PsyD, and Aimee Tubbs, PsyD, were recognized for completing two years of intensive clinical and research training at PHS.

Nederostek will be completing his fellowship at the end of August and has plans on integrating his knowledge in the areas acceptance-based therapeutic models and human sexuality within the Veterans Affairs Health Care System (VA). He hopes on pursuing these endeavors within the VA System.

Tubbs completed her fellowship at the end of May. She has been enjoying some time off while pursuing a full-time clinical psychologist position. Clinical interests include continuing emphasis on sexual health issues, with a specific interest in addressing compulsive sexual behavior.

PHOTO: credit Libby Frost

 

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The PHS postdoctoral fellows honored Dianne Berg, PhD, with the 2012 Faculty Mentor Award. Graduating fellows Aimee Tubbs, PsyD, and Brad Nederostek, PsyD, presented the award on June 13.

The fellows selected Berg because she is "someone who has gone above and beyond the call of duty, is an outstanding leader, teacher, and mentor, and is supportive of our learning and development as professionals." Tubbs added that her, "clinical skills are top notch, her enthusiasm is contagious, she has the very important ability to instill hope, she seizes opportunities for teachable moments, she is compassionate, kind, approachable, down to earth, and she is ALWAYS open to the 'random door knock' to field fellow's questions. Berg provides balanced feedback, she gives constructive criticism and celebrates successes. She includes the fellows as colleagues and helps us see ourselves as part of the profession."

Berg herself is a graduate of the PHS postdoctoral fellowship. She has mentored postdoctoral fellows since 2000.

Dianne Berg, PhD, is an assistant professor involved in providing clinical services to adults, adolescents and children with sexuality concerns. Her areas of interest are compulsive sexual behavior, transgender issues (including gender identity disorder and intersex issues in children), women's sexual dysfunction including relationship and sex therapy, abuse recovery, and the treatment of sex offenders (including children with sexual behavior problems). She recently developed a time-limited psychoeducational/support group for partners of people with compulsive sexual behavior and has been instrumental in the development and implementation of a new community health seminar for the GLBT community called Our Sexual Health. While at the University of Illinois, Berg helped to develop, implement, and research the impact of a campus-wide acquaintance rape education program. She also was active in the establishment of lesbian support groups. For several years prior to coming to PHS, Berg focused on the psychological assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, and families in a variety of settings including residential treatment and a community mental health outpatient clinic. She continues to be a community faculty member of Metropolitan State University, where she teaches a course on the prevention, assessment, and treatment of child abuse and neglect.

 

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PHS has joined Exposed Brick Theatre to create a new play Trans/formation: Addressing Gender Issues in School based on the stories, experiences, and perspectives of transgender and gender non-conforming youth.  Dianne Berg, PhD, and Katie Spencer, PhD, are working with playwrights Anton Jones, Suzy Messerole, Aamera Siddiqui, and a community advisory group to develop the production and educational materials.  The aims of the project are to validate transgender youth experiences through performance, to educate peers, parents, families, friends, and educators about the experiences of transgender youth, and to encourage dialogues around gender issues, advocacy, and ally support for adolescents.
"In working with trans youth, it is integral to reach them in the settings they are in daily, it is not enough to intervene in the therapy office, but you also have to reach out to the classroom, to families, and to the community," said Spencer.  "This is a big step for PHS to put funding behind a community educative initiative like this, and I can tell you, from the community work I have been doing, people are really responding to it and they see it as a positive thing!"

The play production will be premiered on May 4, 2012, at the Pillsbury House Theatre in Minneapolis.  The play will also be performed at a Twin Cities high school.  Ultimately the play script and educational materials will be available for high school groups to download and perform at their schools. 

Messerole said that one of the individuals interviewed for the play shared that during his junior year of high school the gay straight alliance at his school brought in a speaker who was transgender.  The student shared with Messerole that it was the first time he had ever seen another transgender person and it was a very powerful experience.  Messerole added, "We all need to know that we are not alone, we all need to know that there are others who have similar stories. One of the most powerful things about theatre is its ability to hold up a mirror and see one's self reflected on stage. It's very validating to see someone one stage who 'gets you' in a way that is complex and nuanced."

Exposed Brick has worked extensively with area schools, creating over 30 Stand In It with Me performances since 2006.  Stand In It With Me performances are custom created for each school, based on interviews with students and teachers.  The performances fuel dialogue on issues of racism, gender discrimination, sexual orientation, classism, immigration, and more.

PHS and Exposed Brick are grateful to Stacey Mills and Sam Heins for their donation that made this project possible.  We would also like to thank all of the people that helped to create this piece including the youth we interviewed, the advisory board whose thoughtful and creative feedback lifted the play to a whole new level, the youth who read the early drafts and whose honest feedback led us in the right direction.  The youth performers are outstanding and their commitment to the piece has been amazing.

Community Advisory Board Members
Claire Avitable, director, 20% Theater Company
Katie Burgess, director, Trans Youth Support Network
Andrea Jenkins, trans activist, performer, poet
Moe Lionel, performer, Naked Stages Performer
Anthony Neumann, performer, director, Naked Eye
Ethan Turcotte, arts administrator, Kulture Klub Collaborative

Trans/formation: Addressing Gender Issues in School
By Anton Jones, Suzy Messerole, and Aamera Siddiqui

Friday, May 4, 2012 at 7 PM
Pillsbury House Theatre, 3501 Chicago Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55407

Parking: Free parking is available in the Pillsbury House lot next to Full Cycle, just south of 35th on the east side of the street.  Free street parking is also available on 35th and all other surrounding neighborhood streets.

Free and open to the public.  To reserve a seat, please RSVP to Jenae Batt at jenae@umn.edu or 612-625-1331.

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On January 9, 2012, four leading health organizations* released the first-ever national standards for sexuality education in schools. Published in the Journal of School Health, the ground-breaking National Sexuality Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, K-12 provide clear, consistent, and straightforward guidance on the essential minimum, core content for sexuality education that is developmentally and age-appropriate for students in grades Kindergarten through grade 12.

The standards are the result of a cooperative effort by the American Association of Health Education, the American School Health Association, the National Education Association Health Information Network, and the Society of State Leaders of Health and Physical Education, in coordination with the Future of Sex Education (FoSE) Initiative. Nearly 40 stakeholders including content experts, medical and public health professionals, teachers, sexuality educators, and young people developed the standards in a two-year process.

"These National Sexuality Education Standards provide teachers, schools, school districts, and state education agencies with a new national standard--the minimum they need to teach to set students on a path to sexual health and responsible adulthood," said Jerry Newberry, Executive Director of the National Education Association Health Information Network (NEA HIN). "They set forth essential sexuality education core content and skills responsive to the needs of students and in service to their overall academic achievement."

For years, research has highlighted the need to provide effective, comprehensive sexuality education to young people. The United States has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the industrialized world and teens bear a disproportionate impact of the sexually transmitted disease (STD) and HIV epidemics facing our nation. One in four sexually active teens has a STD and two young people every hour become HIV positive. Furthermore, there is also a pressing need to address harassment, bullying, and relationship violence in our schools, which have a significant impact on a student's emotional and physical well-being as well as their academic success. The National Sexuality Education Standards set the groundwork for the minimum of what sexuality education should look like in America's public schools.

"These standards are presented in a user-friendly way, making it possible for a health education teacher or parent, say, of a seventh-grader, to easily find out what is the next step in the learning process for a thirteen-year-old in regards to sexual health," said Stephen Conley, Executive Director of the American School Health Association.

The standards focus on seven topics as the minimum, essential content and skills for K-12 education: Anatomy and Physiology; Puberty and Adolescent Development; Identity; Pregnancy and Reproduction; Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV; Healthy Relationships; and, Personal Safety. Topics are presented using performance indicators--what students should know and be able to do by the end of grades 2, 5, 8, and 12--and are based on the National Health Education Standards.

"The National Sexuality Education Standards translate an emerging body of research related to school-based sexuality education so that it can be put into practice in the classroom," said Brian Griffith, President Elect of the Society of State Leaders of Health and Physical Education. "These standards, developed by education and health professionals, present sexual development as a normal, natural, healthy part of human development that should be a part of every health education curriculum."

The National Sexuality Education Standards were developed to address the inconsistent implementation of sexuality education nationwide and the limited time allocated to teaching the topic. General health education is given very little time in the school curriculum. Even less time is dedicated to sexuality education. According to the School Health Policies and Practices Study, a national survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Adolescent School Health, a median total of 17.2 hours is devoted to instruction in HIV, pregnancy, and STD prevention: 3.1 hours in elementary, 6 hours in middle, and 8.1 hours in high school. Studies have repeatedly found that health programs in school can help young people succeed academically and programs that included health education have a positive effect on overall academic outcomes, including reading and math scores.

*Organizations: American Association for Health Education, American School Health Association, National Education Association - Health Information Network, Society of State Leaders of Health and Physical Education, and the Future of Sex Education (FoSE).

Future of Sex Education Initiative. (2012). National Sexuality Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, K-12 [a special publication of the Journal of School Health]. Retrieved from http://www.futureofsexed.org/documents/josh-fose-standards-web.pdf

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A study conducted at the Stanford School of Medicine confirms that a majority of American medical schools are lacking LGBT-related health curriculum in the classroom and in clinical training. The study findings were published on September 7, 2011, in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The Stanford research team surveyed deans of medical schools in Canada and the United States.  Of the complete responses the group received (132 = 75%) they found that of the entire medical school curricula the median reported time dedicated to LGBT-related content was 5 hours.  Some schools reported dedicating no time to LGBT-related content in the classroom or the clinic.

At this time, most schools (128) teach student that when taking a patient's sexual history students should ask the question, "Do you have sex with men, women, or both?"  However, on a list of 16 LGBT-specific topics,* only 11 schools reported covering all 16 topics in their curricula.  The topics covered most frequently by schools are sexual orientation, HIV, and gender identity, and the topics covered least often by schools are genital reconstruction surgery, body image, and transitioning.

*LGBT specific curricula topics:  barriers to Care, body image, chronic disease risk, coming out, DSD/intersex, gender identity, HIV, LGBT, adolescents, mental health issues, safer sex, sexual orientation, SRS, STI, substance use, transitioning, unhealthy, and relationships/IPV

Obedin-Maliver, J., Goldsmith, E. S., Stewart, L., White, W., Tran, E., Brenman, S., . . . Lunn, M. R. (2011). Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender-Related Content in Undergraduate Medical Education. JAMA, 306(9), 971-977. doi: 10.1001/jama.2011.1255

Photo: PHS faculty teaching the human sexuality course at University of Minnesota Medical School

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On November 2, 2011, Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced the Real Education for Healthy Youth Act (HR 3324), a new bill that lays out a comprehensive, age-appropriate, and holistic vision for sex education policy in the United States.

The bill currently has 31 cosponsors. It has been referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Overview of Real Education for Healthy Youth Act (HR 3324)

To provide for the reduction of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, and the promotion of healthy relationships, and for other purposes

SEC. 2. PURPOSES; SENSE OF CONGRESS
(a) Purpose- The purposes of this Act are--

(1) to provide young people with comprehensive sex education that--

(A) provides the information and skills young people need to make informed, responsible, and healthy decisions in order to become sexually healthy adults and have healthy relationships;

(B) provides information about the prevention of unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, sexual assault, dating violence, bullying, and harassment; and

(C) promotes and upholds the rights of young people to information in order to make healthy and responsible decisions about their sexual health; and

(2) in order to provide the comprehensive sex education described in paragraph (1), to provide increased resources for sex education programs that--

(A) are evidence-based, having been proven through rigorous evaluation to change sexual behavior or incorporate characteristics of effective programs;

(B) cover a broad range of topics, including medically accurate, complete, age and developmentally appropriate information about all the aspects of sex needed for a complete sex education program, including--

(i) anatomy and physiology;
(ii) growth and development;
(iii) healthy relationships;
(iv) the prevention of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, through abstinence and contraception;
(v) gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation; and
(vi) protection from dating violence, sexual assault, bullying, and harassment;

(C) are gender- and gender identity-sensitive, emphasizing the importance of equality and the social environment for achieving sexual and reproductive health and overall well-being;

(D) promote educational achievement, critical thinking, decisionmaking, self-esteem, and self-efficacy;

(E) help develop healthy attitudes and insights necessary for understanding relationships between oneself and others and society;

(F) foster leadership skills and community engagement by--

(i) promoting principles of fairness, human dignity, and respect; and
(ii) engaging young people as partners in their communities; and

(G) are culturally and linguistically appropriate, reflecting the diverse circumstances and realities of young people.

The entire bill can be read at the Library of Congress website

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October 20 - 22, 2011, Eli Coleman, PhD, and Joycelyn Elders, MD, presented at the VIII Congreso Nacional de Educación Sexual y Sexología organized by the Federación Mexicana de Educación Sexual y Sexología, A.C. (FEMESS) in Chiapas, Mexico.

More than 800 individuals attended the conference, including 150 people form the academic sector and health organization and 54 civil servants from the Ambulatory Centers of Prevention and Attention in AIDS and STI (Centros Ambulatorios de Prevención y Atención en SIDA e ITS or CAPACITS).

In a post-conference statement made by FEMESS, the organization thanked the government and university of the state of Chiapas for supporting the conference.  The organization also commended the government for its commitment to reach the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.  The organization also reiterated its support of the 2008 Inter-ministerial Declaration which was adopted by all health and education ministries in Latin American and the Caribbean which advocated for comprehensive sexuality education starting in pre-school to stem the tide of the HIV pandemic.  

FEMESS restated its goal to depathologize transsexualism as a mental disorder.  The organization reaffirms the need for gender expression to be recognized as a fundamental human right of free expression.  Further the group called on mental health professionals to support this position and join in the goal.

Videos from the conference:

Eli Coleman & Youth's Sexual Health in the 21st Century: Get involved!

Joycelyn Elders & Youth's Sexual Health in the 21st Century: Education, Empowerment & Resources

Photo: Joycelyn Elders, MD, Eli Coleman, PhD, with FEMESS conference organizers

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