SIECUS reports on a decade of controversy.

This fall, SIECUS released a special edition of the SIECUS Report detailing sexuality education controversies throughout the United States over the past 10 years. SIECUS began tracking controversies in 1992 to provide a historical perspective, assist advocates, identify trends, and help communities prevent the blocking of critical health information from young people.

Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs: A National Trend Facing Local Resistance

Over the past decade, the most dramatic trend we have seen is the rise in abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Until 1996, average federal spending on these programs was a mere $4 million. Only eight years later, the government spends over $150 million each year. In recent years, we've seen schools implement abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, states mandate such programs, and "chastity rallies" held for students across the nation.

However, many communities are resisting this trend. As early as 1994, parents and community members in Colchester, Vermont, joined together in support of comprehensive sexuality education when a speaker from the conservative Medical Institute for Sexual Health tried to convince their school board to adopt an abstinence-only-until-marriage program. In 1998, the Colorado Council of Black Nurses returned a $16,000 abstinence-only-until-marriage grant they had received because they felt the message was not working in their community. These communities chose to provide their youth with the medically accurate information needed to make healthy decisions.

Attempts to Restrict "Explicit" Material

The other major trend focuses on the content of sexuality education classes and materials, as communities restrict what students are allowed to learn about sexuality. Programs have faced bans on what books can be used, what terms will be used for anatomy, and what topics will be discussed. In middle and high schools, condom availability and instruction are regularly at the heart of controversy.

In elementary schools, these restrictions often focus on the school library. Its Perfectly Normal, an illustrated book by Robie Harris, has been at the center of bans everywhere from Anchorage, Alaska, in 2000 to Montgomery County, Texas, in 2003. Small but vocal groups opposed the book based on its open discussion of masturbation, condom use, and sexual orientation. In Texas, a coalition called Mainstream Montgomery County formed to oppose such censorship and the book was ultimately returned to library shelves. The coalition felt that the library should provide all options and parents should determine what is appropriate for their children to read.

Sexual orientation remains one of the most controversial topics in sexuality education today. Classroom information on homosexuality, school anti-discrimination policies, gay and lesbian teachers, and student clubs addressing gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues have all been at the center of heated debate. Many schools and communities have attempted to prevent these clubs, most often called Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs), from meeting. SIECUS has followed a case this year in Boyd County, Kentucky, where after a long court battle, the GSA is meeting while negotiations continue.

SIECUS continues to monitor controversies and to provide support and technical assistance to advocates throughout the nation.