Let’s keep in mind folks whose been funding Derek the Abstinence Clown for the last three years…. The Democrats! Most notoriously, David Obey the House Appropriations Chair…. Speaker Pelosi has yet to reign him in despite her commitment at the Netroots conference in August that abstinence-only programs hurt young people and all she needed was more Dems to be returned to the House in the ’08 election. Well, we the voters have spoken, now its time for Speaker Pelosi to follow through and end funding for these programs that make a mockery of public health, negate the rights and agency of youth when it comes to sexuality, promote homophobia in our schools, and fund a conservative grassroots that opposes the vision and policies of the Democrats in the first place! Please, end the madness!

Two stories in the news today highlight why the U.S. is so screwed up when it comes to sex and prevention:

Reuters reports that the CDC has announced that the STD crisis in the U.S. has hit record levels with syphilis and Chlamydia leading the way and gonorrhea remaining at alarming levels. Almost 19 million new STD infections occur each year with nearly half among young people age 15-24.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Morning News reports that the Dallas County Commissioners narrowly approved the distribution of free condoms but limited the distribution to “high risk” zip codes, mainly areas with high HIV rates. Commissioners expressed concern about distribution in high schools despite the fact that teens account for half of all STD’s and the urging of the American Medical Association to make condoms available in all U.S. high schools.

Why do we keep tip toeing around the issue of prevention? Could it be that fear, shame, and denial continue to trump prevention and basic common sense? No wonder why the U.S. has the highest rates of STD’s in the developed world except for Russia and Romania!

Bad news on the international AIDS front...

The Obama transition team has asked Ambassador Mark Dybul to remain in place as Global AIDS Coordinator, flying in the face of opposition by many HIV prevention, youth rights, and reproductive rights groups, 50 of whom recently signed a letter calling for a change in leadership. Ambassador Dybul helped enforce the exportation of abstinence-only programs denying millions of young people around the globe access to information about condoms. As if that isn’t bad enough, he has also been an opponent of integrating HIV prevention and reproductive health, a major mistake given the tremendous numbers of young girls and women at risk for HIV infection.

This is not the change young people in this country voted for. This is not the change young people around the globe need and deserve.

Contact the Obama transition team to register your protest and stay tuned to Amplify as this story develops.

The Washington Post has a story that is sure to send chills down the spines of parents around the country and feed the public panic about social networking sites.The study shows that 54% of teen social networking profiles contain information on risky behaviors about sex, substance abuse, and violence. The study highlights the risk posed to future careers by displaying this information publicly with the researchers expressing their surprise that teens are so open about behaviors that adults struggle to get them to talk about.

Hmmmmm. What’s at play here? My guess is that it’s more than just a generation gap. It’s the deeply conflicting norms in our culture around sex, substance abuse, and violence that is mirrored by young people on these sites. “Wait until marriage to have sex”, young people hear from the Government of a country where 95% of adults are sexually active before marriage. “Don’t drink” says the health teacher wearing his Raven’s jersey in anticipation of the NFL playoffs sponsored by the beer companies. “Violence is no solution” says the billboard on the way to the cinema showing the latest Hollywood blockbuster hit featuring non-stop blood and gore.

It’s easy to foster public panics around teens and social networking sites. Young people make easy scapegoats. Thankfully, the authors of the study mentioned above “get it”. They don’t recommend parents banning these sites for their kids. Rather, having a discussion about content. Smart approach. A respectful conversation might tease out the real issue—how young people can learn to navigate an American culture that has yet to reach a healthy place when it comes to sex and a whole lot of other issues.

A just released scientific study, featured in the Washington Post, shows that virginity pledges have no impact on teen sexual behavior - -with over 80% of young people participating in these programs later ignoring their pledge. Worse, virginity pledgers are significantly less likely to use condoms and birth control when they do become sexually active.

So, the question is why do key Democrats, like Nancy Pelosi and David Obey, continue to fund these failed programs? President-elect Obama supports comprehensive sex education - - so will the Democrats in Congress continue to fund this abstinence-only nonsense even after he is sworn in? If they do, it will constitute a slap in the fact to the millions of young people who supported the Democrats this past November. We will be watching!

TELL CONGRESS TO DEFUND ABSTINENCE -ONLY PROGRAMS NOW!

A December 9th Bloomberg news story spotlights adolescents as the biggest users of hospital emergency rooms for routine health acre. What’s Up?

“Even when services are accessible, many adolescents may not find them acceptable because of concerns that confidentiality is not fully ensured, especially in such sensitive domains as substance use or sexual and reproductive health,” according to the report.