

A few weeks ago I married my sweetheart in a beautiful outdoor civil ceremony. We’ve been together for years and have been talking about marriage for just as long: did we want to be married? Is it fair to enter into “opposite marriage” when same-sex couples in most states can’t? How do we throw a fun party while not getting sucked into the draining wedding industrial complex? What does marriage entail for couples’ finances? Family obligations? Names?Florida—the state best known for sunny beaches and spring break—is becoming known for its horrible abstinence-only policies about sex education. As information comes to light about all the sexual health misinformation being taught in Florida’s classrooms (and as we are reminded that the volume of harmful abstinence-only money funneling into the state is second only to the amount pouring into Texas), it’s heartening that there is a coalition standing up for Florida’s youth.
It's a good time for this...the sexual health situation in Florida is particularly bad right now. The state currently ranks sixth highest in unintended pregnancies and second highest in HIV/AIDS rate in the nation. Beyond that, I’ve heard from advocates on the ground in Florida that young people, while lacking factual sexual health information, have been subjected to sexual health myths like “drinking a capful of bleach will prevent against the spread of HIV/AIDS” (heard from a 14 year old boy in Miami), or “sitting in pans of bleach cures genital herpes” (info from teen girls in Jacksonville). Other lies being spread as truths on the bus or around town: smoking pot or drinking mountain dew will prevent against getting a female pregnant, and, astonishingly, if you put a little bit of earwax in a woman’s vagina, you could tell if she had an STI. Given all this, plus the $13 million for failed abstinence-only programs in the state last year alone, it’s no surprise that Florida gets consistent F’s on its report card.
The Healthy Teens Campaign in Florida is fighting back against all the rampant misinformation by trying to get better sex ed in schools. The Healthy Teens Act would require Florida public schools that already teach information about sexually transmitted infections, family planning, and pregnancy to provide medically-accurate and comprehensive sex education - including facts about abstinence and methods of preventing unintended pregnancy and the spread of diseases.
If you live in Florida, go here to send a message to your state legislator urging their support for the Healthy Teens Act. You can also forward the alert onto friends-- the Florida legislative session is a short 60 days, so legislators need to hear from as many people as possible now. Fight the earwax myth and all the failed funds...Support the Healthy Teens Act today!
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