Thursday, July 31, 2008

Abstinence and LBGT students

Critics of abstinence-only sex education note that it doesn't teach any material to help LGBT students understand and feel comfortable with their sexual orientations. One school which teaches AOSE has used this to justify a ban against allowing a student Gay-Straight Alliance to meet in the school, saying "The defendant's club policy is not discriminatory because it legitimately removes an entire subject matter category from its limited public forum, a category the defendant determined poses a risk to student well-being because school students are adolescents who lack the maturity to properly handle the sensitive subject of sexuality."

The school's justification is a funny statement in itself, but particularly so because the issues of a student LGBT club are primarily for psychosocial and even mental health support given the high rates of mental health issues among LBGT adolescents. If they wanted to be smart-asses about pointing out that the club has very little to do with sex, they could properly call the club, "The Gay Suicide- and Runaway- Prevention Club."

At any rate, such a renaming is unnecessary because a federal judge rejected the school's justification, so the one student who wants to revive the club may now do so.

No comments: