Sex, Etc. - Profile of a UU Friendly Organization
by Lydia Pelot-HobbsSex, Etc. is an amazing organization that works on multiple issues relating to sex education including (but not limited to) pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, abortion, abuse and violence, safer sex, and emotional health. Sex Etc., like Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUUs), is very youth empowering—all of the editorial staff of their website and newsletter are teenagers. While much of their website is heterocentric and reinforces the gender binary, they do have a section devoted to queer related issues and talk about gender identity. Its website has a lot of great resources such as message boards, articles, and sex ed related Q&A.
I think the best resource Sex Etc. has is "The Roadmap." The Roadmap is an organizing tool for students to organize around comprehensive sex ed in their schools. The editors of Sex Etc. developed it in conjunction with The Network for Family Life Education at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. The Roadmap has a ton of resources, suggestions, and directions for sex ed activism.
They have tons of resources, from basic facts to in-depth informational resources. These include "The ABC's of Sexuality Education", statistics on different topics dealing with teens and sex, state-by-state laws related to sex ed, the real facts about common myths, and contact info for several related organizations. They also have amazing informational resources on how to build coalitions. No matter what kind of organizing you're doing, coalitions are crucial to creating long-term effective change. The coalition section is a resource that can be used in other organizing as well.
Sex, Etc. has lots of resources and guides for many different tactics you may use in your campaign. The tactics for which they have resources and guides consist of student and parent surveys, petitions, community forums, school board lobbying, position papers, and media tactics. While having so many options can be overwhelming at times, it is also great because you are able to pick and choose which tactics would be more effective in your community.
In conclusion, I recommend anyone and everyone to check out Sex, Etc. whether your interested in comprehensive sexuality education activism, or you just have some questions about sex and/or your own sexuality. While there are a few problematic aspects of the organization, it is light years beyond most sex ed websites targeted at youth. This is one of the best sex ed websites I have ever seen.
Lydia Pelot-Hobbs is still the 2003-2005 Working Action Manager, and one of Betty Jeanne’s most favorite people ever. Holler!
For more information contact youth @ uua.org.
Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
