Devin Knox is a junior at The University of Texas at Austin, who is studying in London until April. Originally from  Lubbock, Devin is now a member of the Texas Youth Leadership Council -– a project of Advocates for Youth and the Texas Freedom Network.

I recently emailed Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas about the issue of comprehensive sex education in schools and she actually gave a decent response.

While she did maintain, like any good Republican would, that abstinence until marriage should be the main thing stressed and its up to the parents to teach sex education, she stated that, “The federal government should support and be guided by the decisions of local school boards and teachers with regard to sex education.” and that I should contact local officials with my concerns.

This is something that is quite easy to do, especially in the State of Texas. This is because Texas requires every school district to have a School Health Advisory Council (SHAC), “A SHAC is a group of individuals representing segments of the community, appointed by the school district to serve at the district level, to provide advice to the district on coordinated school health programming and its impact on student health and learning.” The SHAC must be made up of a majority of people who are parents of students in the school district but they welcome other members of the community to join and offer their advice and expertise.

I, along with some of my colleagues from the Texas Freedom Network, have participated in these SHAC meetings in Austin. We are lucky to be operating in one of the few school districts in Texas that already teaches comprehensive sex education and the district is very accepting of new ideas. I, however, do feel that we were able to make their policy better.

The Austin Independent School District allowed the SHAC to evaluate the different
organizations that provided sex education to their students. These organizations put on a presentation for the SHAC and then we voted on which ones we thought the district should and should not use.

I truly feel that people can make a difference by joining SHACs. For this reason, I encourage people in Texas to join one in your local area and if you do not live in Texas to see if your state has a similar committee. It seems that unlikely by the current composition of the United States Congress that we are going to get anything achieved at the federal level so we must looking at different ways to help the young people of this country. Looking local is the best way to do this. It is easier to change policy locally and  its quicker to see results. We may not be able to change national policy at this current moment but if we are able to change the policies of just a few local school districts, we can make a huge difference in many people's lives.

On February 17th, The Texas State Senate voted 21 to 10 to require women to have a sonogram shown to them only hours before they receive an abortion. The doctor must explain in detail the parts of the sonogram to the woman and make her listen to the heartbeat of the fetus.

A similar bill made its way through the house committee stages and as it was deemed an“emergency item” it will be the first bill considered by the House this year. While the bills do have some differences it seems likely that they can be reconciled if the bill makes its way through the house, which unfortunately, it probably will because of the huge Republican majority in the House.

The fact that Governor Perry has made the bill an “emergency item” is sickening. Even for pro-life supporters, it should seem that Texas has many more pressing problems than this guillotine to civil liberties. The state has a $27 billion dollar budget shortfall, has more uninsured people than any other state and ranks 3rd in the number of people living in poverty. However, our great elected officials in Austin believe that setting back women's rights is the most pressing matter facing our state.

Supporters of the bill state the bill is important because it allows a woman to see the development of the fetus and hear the heartbeat before making an irreversible decision. However, the bill is truly a abhorrent violation of civil liberties.

Roe v. Wade gave women across the nation the right to choose and it does not seem likely that this will change. For this reason, the Texas Legislature has resorted to scare tactics as a means to reduce the number of abortions in the state.

Through it seems unlikely that we will be able to stop this bill from becoming law, we must do what we can to let Austin know that we are shocked at this impediment of women's rights. I encourage all those reading this blog to go and sign the petition “Tell Texas Lawmakers to Stop Playing Politics with Women's Health” started be change.org.

You can find this petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-texas-lawmakers-to-stop-playing-politics-with-womens-health. I also encourage you to contact your representative and tell him how you feel about this bill.

Texas is great state and a great place to live, but we must not allow our elected representatives to stomp on our civil liberties. We must let our voices be heard.

Devin Knox is a junior at The University of Texas at Austin, who is studying in London until April. Originally from the Lubbock, Devin is now a member of the Texas Youth Leadership Council -– a project of Advocates for Youth and the Texas Freedom Network.

The United States and the United Kingdom have many marked differences, from their spelling of words that should have a Z with an S to their irony, sarcasm and sense of humor. However, when it comes to sex they are way more open about it, even though they are considered the most sexually conservative country in Europe. They talk openly about it with their co-workers and friends and sex is just not the taboo like it is in the United States. Additionally, abortion is a settled matter and is not very controversial.

When it comes to sex education, it is compulsory nationwide. Starting this year five years old students will be taught about parts of the body, relationships and the effects of drugs.  From the age of seven, students will learn about puberty and secondary school (high school) students will learn will learn about contraception, HIV and Aids, pregnancy and different kinds of relationships. Schools will be able to choose how they teach these things as long as it is within the program of study.

This is quite a marked difference from what I learned which consisted of learning I should use deodorant when I was 12 and hearing that I shouldn’t have sex until I’m married. The British are less afraid then us to give young people the information they need to live a healthy life.

However, Britain still has many problems. The United Kingdom has the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Western Europe. In 2007, Britain’s pregnancy rate for 15 to 17 year olds was 41.9 conceptions per 1,000 up from the year before and was the first rise in 5 years. This dashed the hopes of the British Government to halve the teenage pregnancy rate of 1999 by 2010. Hopefully, the new compulsory curriculum will bring British rates even lower.  Even with that said, this is still much lower than the United States who, in 2006’s, teenage pregnancy rates were at 71 per 1,000.

I think that the United States could learn a lot from the United Kingdom in mandating a certain minimum curriculum of sex education but there is still work to be done on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Cheers from London! 

Devin Knox is a junior at The University of Texas at Austin. Originally from the Lubbock, Devin is now a member of the Texas Youth Leadership Council – a project of Advocates for Youth and the Texas Freedom Network.

With the recent repeal of the “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy of the United States Military, there are many issues that both the military and soldiers must deal with to make the transition go smoothly.

A recent blog on the Dallas Morning News website raised the issue of how military chaplain should deal with the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The blog featured commentary on the issue by many religious experts across the State of Texas. One of the major questions raised was how the chaplains’ religious beliefs might interfere with their ability to offer advice and religious support to openly homosexual service men and women.

I believe that this should not be a problem. In a survey of military chaplains, only 3 out of the 145 would retire if “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” were repealed. Even if the chaplain believes that homosexuality is a sin, it is not like that he does not have to deal with the sins of other soldiers. As brought up in the blog, many military personnel drink alcohol, which is considered a sin by many hardcore Christians and Muslims, but more than likely any chaplain would be open to talk to the soldier and would not be condemning.

No one is asking military chaplains to change their belief system but they should be expected to be open and caring for any soldier no matter their sexual orientation, race, religion or anything else. Being in the military can be an extremely stressful occupation and everyone should have someone to be able to find comfort in and speak about their religion.

From my experience with church, I was always taught that we should treat everyone the same and that we are all sinners. Because of this, I believe that a man of God such as a chaplain will do the right thing and welcome homosexuals to come to them for assistance.

 religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/12/texas-faith-how-should-chaplai.html

Devin Knox is a junior at The University of Texas at Austin. Originally from the Lubbock, Devin is now a member of the Texas Youth Leadership Council – a project of Advocates for Youth and the Texas Freedom Network.

Last night when I was working on a paper and had the Colbert Report on in the background, something came on that drew my attention and I had to put my work down and watch for a few minutes. What drew my attention was the It Gets Better Project, which is aimed at young gay people who are distraught over the situation they are currently in, especially if they are being bullied, and thinking about taking their own lives. The Program tells them to hold on because life does get better.

The Project features many celebrities and prominent public figures telling homosexuals the reasons why life gets better and all they can achieve. What caught my ear the most was that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Conservative Party David Cameron.

This intrigued me so much for two reasons. One I will be studying abroad in England where I will have an internship involving the political systems of the United Kingdom and secondly, the difference between the Right parties in the United Kingdom and The United States.

It would be hard more me to imagine many Republican leaders coming out so publicly like Cameron has for Gay Rights

In his video, he reiterates how diverse, open, and tolerant Britain is. He exclaims the achievements that the British have made for the equality of homosexuals such as legally recognized same-sex relationships, allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military, and landmark anti-discrimination legislation. He also encourages homosexuals who have been bullied to reach out and talk to someone and not deal with this problem alone. Furthermore, he states that his government is taking on homophobic bullying and wishes to drive it out of schools.

No major Republican politician has come out in support of the It Gets Better Project. However, President Obama and Vice President Biden has already made videos in support of the project. No one, no matter what their political beliefs are, should stand by and let the bullying of homosexuals continue. For this reason, I challenge Republican leaders to join their conservative colleague David Cameron and support the It Gets Better Project.

While I am in England, I hope to learn the contrasts between our two societies and would like to be able to bring back with me a better understanding of how their society has become so much more accepting then ours.

Devin Knox is a senior at The University of Texas at Austin. Originally from the Lubbock, Devin is now a member of the Texas Youth Leadership Council – a project of Advocates for Youth and the Texas Freedom Network.

Lt. Dan Choi was the keynote speaker at the Advocates for Youth Urban Retreat that I attended and everyone was incredibly excited that he would be speaking especially some of my fellow Texans.

To be honest, I had never heard of him and had to have my colleagues explain to me why they were so excited to see him, but now i'm very glad that I was able to listen to him speak and meet him personally. He opened my eyes to a completely new subject that I had never truly given much thought.

Most of my focus had always been on sexual health and not really on gay rights but Choi's speech opened my eyes to the stupidity of "Don't ask, don't tell."

"Don't ask, don't tell" was enacted in 1993 as a compromise. President Clinton wanted to repeal the ban on homosexuals serving in the Armed Forces while Congress wanted to keep the ban. I believe the compromise was good at the time because it allowed homosexuals to serve in the military but should have only been used as a short term policy and has definitely outlived its' purpose. No one should be forced to hide who they are especially when they are willing to do something as noble as serve their country.

It was recently revealed that the Pentagon conducted a survey that included over 400,000 service men and women and 150,000 of their families asking them how they felt about gays serving openly in the military and they found that a majority felt that "don't ask, don't tell" could be repealed immediately without causing any major problems.

Some high ranking officers believe that repealing it immediately could cause a backlash from other soldiers, but I believe that the results of the Pentagon's survey prove that this will not happen. Service people become very close to each other because they have to trust each other with their lives. For this reason, I feel that the majority of those in the military who support repealing "don't ask, don't tell" will defend their gay comrades against the minority who are against repealing it. 

When I met Choi, I shook his hand and thanked him for his bravery in taking on this discriminate policy but I also thanked him for his service to our country. It is sad that this country has chosen to discriminate against the people who defend our rights and keep us free. We must repeal don't ask don't tell!

I spent this Monday doing something that I had never done before: Lobbying Congressmen. I visited 3 representatives, 2 from West Texas and one from Dallas, and Senator John Cornyn. A common theme came up, they all, in some form, argued with the statistic that 80% of Texans would like to see comprehensive sex education in Texas schools.

To me it seemed that all of them were worried about offending their  base support  who fund their campaigns, which, more than likely, are the extreme radical right who are against comprehensive sex education. As a student of Political Science, I could not help but wonder if our governmental institutions were set up differently would we have a federally mandated comprehensive sex education policy?

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Lubbock, Texas... A place with more churches per capita that has a serious sex education problem. This is where I was born and raised. My experience with sex education has been a very interesting one. The only sex education that Lubbock Independent School District believed in was a man by the name of Ed Ainsworth, or sex ed as he like to be called. Sex Ed is a horrible nick name for this man because he spreads false information through his faith based abstinence only program. He would tell students the the could receive a STD just by shaking hands with someone and other outrageous falsities. This and the ridiculous mentioning that condoms were 37% effective in the health book were the only sex education that LISD students received. Luckily, the PTAs of Lubbock schools took a stand and Ainsworth does not speak at as many schools. However, Lubbock is still in big trouble. The school board heavily censors any mention of comprehensive sex education even while STD rates continue to be sky high. When, I was Editor-In-Chief of the school newspaper at Lubbock Coronado and I was told by the administration that I could not express my opinions on sex education in the paper. The administration is too concerned with religion to see that the problem must be handled and they are afraid of anyone trying to make light of it. Activist like myself must take a stand in Lubbock and across the country to show that we are not afraid like them and we know what we want and need. This country was founded on the principle of separation of church and state and religion should never stop the education of the youth.  Comprehensive sex education is vital for not only for our youth but for our entire lives and should be taught just like any other subject. Lubbock ISD must stop hiding behind the BIble and give students the skills they need to be prepared for life.

- Devin Knox