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Emily Mejia

Dr. Camhi

English 101, Section 12940

13 July 2020

LGBT Inclusive Sex Education in Schools

Sex education has been taught in different ways across the country for years. In those years

there has been a big debate on what exactly should be in the curriculum. Some people believe

that schools should teach abstinence-only sex education and others believe that they should teach

abstinence-plus/comprehensive sex education. Both curriculums are not inclusive of people who

are a part of the LGBT. As people who are a part of the LGBT community have grown up

without inclusive sex education, they are advocating for more inclusive sex education in schools.

With a lot of this advocating, there has been an equal amount of pushback from people across the

country. Now in today’s society, there has been the question of should LGBT sex education be

taught in schools. The answer is that LGBT sex education should be taught in schools because

they need to learn about safe sex practices, and it can improve the school environment.

Sex education is supposed to inform young people on how to navigate and make healthy

decisions in their life. In many schools across the country sex education only talks about straight

cisgender people, which makes it hard for people who are a part of the LGBT to learn about safe

sex practices. Without having access to information in schools’ teens and young adults are forced

to figure out what to do on their own. In an article, The Power of Inclusive Sex Education, the

writer tells a story about a teenage girl, named Madison Russel, reacting to an LGBT sex

education episode of a show. The writer says that this high schooler identifies as a lesbian and

was crying because “at her Hiram, Georgia, high school, she couldn’t see herself in the
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curriculum” (Sager 1). Madison Russel said she learned about protection when it was about

heterosexual couples but learned nothing different types of protection for a lesbian and gay

couple. Due to this lack of knowledge on how to have safe sex, teens like Madison are looking

towards the internet for guidance. This method is not always useful because some teens can learn

false information or do not feel comfortable enough to search it out, making it important for

teens to learn it at schools.

One of the consequences that come with the lack of comprehensive LGBT inclusive sex

education is the high rates of STIs. Most teens that are a part of the LGBT community are

unaware of how to prevent STIs and pregnancy. By excluding them from the resources they need

to protect themselves causes the rates of STIs and pregnancy to grow in the united states. Some

people who are affected by unplanned pregnancy are transmen. Transgender men are not taught

that after hormone replacement therapy there is a chance that they can get pregnant if they have

unprotective sex with a partner that has a penis. In an article from Vice, it states that “(923)

transgender people between the ages of 14 and 25 were surveyed. For this new study on trans

youth and pregnancy… finding that pregnancy rates among sexually active trans youth [is] (5

percent)” (Tourjée 2). Another thing trans people go through is the risk of getting STDs. The

article made by the CDC states that the “Laboratory-confirmed HIV prevalence was 14.1% for

transgender women, 3.2% for transgender men, and 9.2% for transgender people overall. By

comparison, the estimated HIV prevalence for U.S. adults overall is less than 0.5%” (CDC 4).

The article, HIV and Transgender Communities  also states that the lack of education about the

use of condoms during anal sex, HIV testing, and medicines used to prevent HIV is why

transgender people are at an increased risk. It is important to talk about trans people and what

they go through so the teens can understand how to better protect their bodies from STDs and
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unplanned pregnancies. Also, the myths about lesbians not being able to get STDs is something

else that needs to be discussed in sex education. By teaching teens that lesbians and bisexual

women can get STDs and how to prevent it is important. According to the article, Information

for Lesbian and Bisexual Women, it says that “In fact there is evidence that the rate of STDs

among women who have sex with women (WSW) is at least as high as among heterosexual

(straight) women” (Los Angeles County Public Health 2). This is due to lesbians having sex with

men in the past and can be carrying it from the guy without realizing it. By teaching the way that

STDs are spread through sexual relations with lesbian and bisexual women and what resources

can be used to prevent can severely reduce the spread of HIV and more.

The next reason why LGBT sex education is important to have is that it can help improve

the school environment which will help better student’s mental health. In today’s sex education

curriculum that is taught in schools, only 12 states required that they talk about sexual

orientation. Out of the 12 states, 3 of them teach students negative and inaccurate information.

By teaching kids to have a negative outlook on the LGBT community. Some things that students

do that makes school hard for teens a part of the LGBT is bullying and discrimination. Also,

teachers who say things like being gay is unnatural or they do not deserve their own sex

education can make them feel alienated and abnormal. According to Hannah Slater, “Unsafe

school environments prevent LGBT students from reaching their full academic potential. LGBT

students who experience frequent harassment at school report lower grade-point averages than

those who are not harassed, and nearly one in three LGBT students has skipped class because

they feel unsafe” (Slater 18). They also have higher rates of substance abuse and mental health

problem like depression. It is also said that “Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are four

times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers, and more than half of transgender
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and gender nonconforming youth who experience harassment, assault, or discrimination in

school attempt suicide” (Slater 19). Some teens who deal with this discrimination have high rates

of substance abuse to cope with this trauma. By having LGBT inclusive sex education, it will

break down the stereotypes so that students have a better understanding of what they go through.

It has been said that “LGBT students whose curricula include, for example, positive discussion

of LGBT people, history, and events hear fewer homophobic remarks and feel safer in school

than students without inclusive curricula” (Slater 20). This proves that having kids in school

learn about LGBT sex education can make school a safer space. It might also help teens meet

new people who are from the same community and not feel alone.

In conclusion, LGBT inclusive sex education is important to have in schools to teach teens

to have safe sex practices. Just like there straight cisgender classmates’ kids who are gay or

transgender face the same health risk. These kids can still get pregnant and pass around STDs if

they are not told who to prevent it. Talking about LGBT topics in school can also make the

school fell like a safer environment. This can help students feel more accepted and helped make

new friends in the community. It can also help them be themselves if they do not feel safe at

home. Although some parents do not agree with talking about LGBT topics in school, I think we

should break those barriers and talk about it because it helps better the student’s mental health

and work ethic. By knowing you are not the only one it can stop kids from substance abuse or

potentially attempting suicide. I rather have a couple of parents uncomfortable than have many

students getting STDs, feeling alienated, and taking drugs to cope with not feeling accepted.
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Works Cited

CDC. “HIV and Transgender Communities.“ 2019. PDF.

Edes, Alyssa, and Ailsa Chang. “When The Conversation Doesn't Include You: LGBTQ+ Sex

Ed In A Small Town.” NPR, NPR, 1 Apr. 2019,

www.npr.org/2019/04/01/706944327/when-the-conversation-doesnt-include-you-lgbtq-

sex-ed-in-a-small-town.

Human Rights Campaign. “LGBTQ Youth Need Inclusive Sex Education.” Human Rights

Campaign, www.hrc.org/resources/a-call-to-action-lgbtq-youth-need-inclusive-sex-

education.

“Including LGBT-Content in Sex Education: Four Wrong Ways (and One Right One.” GLSEN,

www.glsen.org/blog/including-lgbt-content-sex-education-four-wrong-ways-and-one-

right-one.

“Inclusive Sexual Health Education for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender.” GLSEN,

www.glsen.org/activity/inclusive-sexual-health-education-lesbian-gay-bisexual-

transgender.

“Information for Lesbian and Bisexual Women.” LA County Department of Public Health,

publichealth.lacounty.gov/dhsp/Lesbian-Bisexual.htm.

“The Majority of Schools in 15 States and DC Offer LGBTQ-Inclusive Sex-Ed Curricula.” Child

Trends, 9 Apr. 2020, www.childtrends.org/the-majority-of-schools-in-15-states-and-dc-

offer-lgbtq-inclusive-sex-ed-curricula.
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Paulk, Lauren. “STD Awareness for LGBTQ Youth.” National Center for Lesbian Rights, 2 May

2014, www.nclrights.org/std-awareness-for-lgbtq-youth/.

Sager, Jeanne. “How Some Schools Are Making Sure Sex Ed Is Relevant to LGBT Youth.” The

Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 17 July 2017,

www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/07/the-power-of-inclusive-sex-ed/533772/.

Slater, Hannah. “LGBT-Inclusive Sex Education Means Healthier Youth and Safer Schools.”

Center for American Progress, 28 June 2013, www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbtq-

rights/news/2013/06/21/67411/lgbt-inclusive-sex-education-means-healthier-youth-and-

safer-schools/lparada/.

Tourjée, Diana. Trans Youth Get Pregnant at the Same Rate as Cisgender Peers, 2016,

www.vice.com/en_us/article/mbqj5x/trans-youth-get-pregnant-at-the-same-rate-as-

cisgender-peers.

Wong, Brittany. “Everything You Should Have Been Taught If Sex Ed Was LGBTQ-Inclusive.”

HuffPost, HuffPost, 3 Apr. 2019, www.huffpost.com/entry/lgbtq-sex-

education_l_5ca24af0e4b014390a16a495.