Sex Education as Ideology
Abstinence only sex education is widely spread across the United States, pushed by friends in high places, and the Christian Right.
Opposition to LGBTQ equality has long been both a fundamental value and useful political tool for many U.S. conservative organizations, especially those associated with the Christian Right. Even as visibility and mainstream acceptance of LGBTQ people grows, the Christian Right continues their ongoing “pro-family” campaign, which enforces heterosexuality, champions gender essentialism or “complementarity,” and prioritizes procreation.
While substantial progress has been made in terms of legal rights, political representation, and cultural approval, these advances have not uniformly served all members of the LGBTQ community. Though hailed as a great victory by some, federal marriage equality in the U.S. has done little to alter the day to day lived realities of LGBTQ people affected by economic exploitation, geopolitical turmoil, and other effects of Western imperialism. Additionally, anti-trans rhetoric and campaigning is on the rise, fueled by right-wing fear mongering and pseudoscience and backed by an extensive Christian Right legal and political infrastructure.
