Yearly, throughout the month of September, American Sexual Health Association offers expanded sexual health resources including podcasts, fact sheets and other online resources. Within this month is Bisexual Awareness Week (September 16-23rd). Bisexuals make up the largest portion of the LGBTQ+ community (40% of American) according to the Bisexual Resource Center (BRC) in Boston. The BRC reports that this community experiences significantly higher rates of physical, sexual, mental and social health problems than the heterosexual population.
Megan Maas, Ph.D., researcher at Michigan State University finds that college kids are having less sex, but spending more time looking at Porn. Her survey of four colleges revealed in 2020 that:
- less than 1/2 of students’ parents discussed sex more than once!
- The parents mistakenly thought “the talk” had to be given only once.
- Only 26% of parents discussed sexual violence with their kids.
- Less than 7% of parents discussed pornography, sexual pleasure and sexual consent with their children.
Many schools have inadequate sex ed. classes that teach an “abstinence only” curriculum or conception that doesn’t apply to LGBT students. Consequently, you cannot leave your child’s sexual education to the schools.
Did You Know:
- Sexually active youth (aged 15-24) have the highest STD rates of any age group.
- 1 in 4 adolescent females has an STD and by age 25, 1/2 of all sexually active young people will become infected with an STD and not even know it. (https://www.ncbi.nim.nih.gov.)
The LGBT population is increasing with an estimated 5.6% of Generation X (born 1981-1996) identifying as LGBT and one in six adults in Generation Z (18 to 23) considering themselves LGBT, according to a recent Gallup report, parents need to do their homework.
For tongue-tied parents, here are some resources:
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Resources for Families: How to talk to Teens About Difficult Topics.
- iwannaknow.org: ASHA’s website designed for teens and young adults. The site offers comprehensive information on sexually transmitted infections and sexual health issues, from risk prevention to healthy relationships, geared to a younger audience.
- Answer: Answer is a national organization dedicated to providing and promoting comprehensive sexuality education to young people and the adults who teach them.
- Tools for Parents from Planned Parenthood offers advice to parents on talking to kids about sex and sexuality, setting healthy boundaries, and parenting LGBT+questioning kids.
When Your Child Is Gay: What You Need To Know
For more detailed advice, see book, co-authored with a mother of a gay son and a psychiatrist, Jonathan L. Tobkes, M.D.
