2009 Health Awareness Week
By: Gary Hollander - Posted on: 3/10/2009

LGBT youth should have equal access to competent public health services and health care. One major reason that health and health risk disparities between LGBT youth and their heterosexual peers persist is that they are not exposed to the tailored messages that will make sense in their lives. Further, local and state government sources have failed to devote the resources necessary to develop and disseminate useful health information for them.

One example of this situation that fosters disparity involves sexuality education programs. Many abstinence only and abstinence-based programs encourage youth to put off sexual intercourse until marriage. This traps LGBT youth in an untenable situation in a couple of ways. First, what constitutes "sexual intercourse" for same sex couples? Typically this term is meant to imply penis-in-vagina sex. However, insertive genital sex for same sex couples precludes this definition. Second, delaying sex until marriage when marriage is not possible sends a powerful message of life-long abstinence. Even more benign educators who use abstinence-based programming leave it to the young people to figure out what makes sense to them in terms of what constitutes marriage and how to define intercourse. This liberal approach basically abandons young people looking for guidance and education.

Funding for school programs in HIV prevention similarly fails to protect gay male youth in Wisconsin. While some schools cover the basic topics in HIV prevention (though it would appear many more say they do than actually offer substantive content and skill development), few cover homosexuality or same-sex behaviors that transmit the virus. While unprotected same-sex behaviors remain the greatest transmission mode among Wisconsin males, this lack of courage is reprehensible.

Further, school anti-violence programs involving bullying rarely specifically cover the incredibly high incidence of violence sexual minority youth, based either on sexual orientation, gender expression, or both.

LGBT youth deserve sexuality education and supports for school safety that engage them in learning and promote their well-being.
For more information see:
• http://lgbthealth.net
• http://www.advocatesforyouth.org
• http://www.pflag.org
• http://www.youthresource.com