Oregon’s Department of Education must do more to provide comprehensive, LGBT-inclusive sex education in schools. It is common for queer and trans youth to go through their emotional puberty in their early 20′s due to a lack of educational resources. The department’s “Guidance for Creating Safe Environments for Transgender Students,” says it is committed to affirming LGBT students are treated with respect and dignity and given an equal education on their bodies and their form of safe sex. This stance is cemented by Oregon’s Equality Act.
Despite these words, my experiences, and the experiences of my transgender and queer counterparts in the Oregon public school system’s sex education classes, have been far from inclusive. No genuine effort has been made to include comprehensive sex education for LGBT students, and when subjects are discussed, it is often negatively. During units where we discussed STDs and STIs, HIV/AIDS was portrayed as a disease only gay men could get. This not only breeds discrimination, but it also is false. A 2014 study by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network found that only 5% of middle and high school students said their health classes included positive discussions of LGBT-related topics. Studies like these only further prove that more comprehensive and more LGBT- friendly laws are needed. This includes more rigid rules about what is acceptable in sex ed classes and updating curriculums (such as explaining safe sex for every body type) to guarantee LGBT students receive equal access to education and resources.
Grayson Carroll, Forest Grove
