Kaz Fantone for NPR
Sex can be a nerve-racking experience no matter what. That s especially true if you have no clue what to do. And since LGBTQ+ topics are often left out of the conversation in school sex ed classes, many queer people know this feeling well.
There is no national mandate for sex education in the U.S., and even in the states that do provide courses, homosexuality is often disregarded or vilified. According to the organization SIECUS: Sex Ed For Social Change, nine states require educators to portray homosexuality in a negative manner or do not allow them to speak about LGBTQ individuals, while only 11 states require classes to include affirming sexual orientation instruction. That number shrinks to seven when SIECUS accounts for states that mandate affirming instruction about both sexual health and gender identity.
Sex Ed For Queer Students: What School Health Class Left Out : Life Kit : NPR
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Naima Green s Solo Museum Debut Brief & Drenching Is a Study in Stillness and Sensuality
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On Standing Up For Black Trans Lives
Many of us have that one person who we can openly speak to about sex, and for almost half a million people on social media and in real life, that someone is Ericka Hart. When Hart isn t teaching sex education (she s an award-winning sexuality educator), she s either writing, modeling, or speaking publicly. No matter what they re up to, people know and love her for the Black, queer, femme activist she is. Not to mention, they re also a fearless disruptor and breast cancer survivor.
In 2016, Hart gained recognition for going topless at a music festival and showing their double mastectomy scars in public. Since then she has used their platform to speak out about human sexual health as it intersects with race, gender, chronic illness, and disability. And they don t just talk the talk. Most recently, Hart spoke out on social media about the racism and gas lighting they experienced at Columbia University School of Social Work (CSSW), where they were a