Dear Community,
We recognize that the current misinformation attack against Sexy Sex Ed is part of a long-term, highly funded, and coordinated strategy of the right to maintain and entrench their power through media and narrative control. In the past legislative week in the US, the right has advanced this strategy by limiting and banning access to abortion and reproductive care, pushing anti-trans legislation, and by passing the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida. Attacks on queer and trans children and on all folks accessing reproductive care are happening strategically in conjunction with their efforts to dismantle our public education system, maintain corporate control of our health care system, and limit the rights of workers to organize and form unions. We clearly see the coordination of their strategy through the ways that the misinformation attack on our LGBTQIA inclusive, consent-based sexual education work has been mobilized by right-wing media to directly galvanize support for this violent legislation.
Contrary to the allegations made by Rufo and others, Sexy Sex Ed has never held an in-person summer camp in Kentucky or anywhere else. The 2021 Sexy Sex Ed Summer Camp was a one-time virtual workshop series held on Zoom and the participants were ages 16 and up.
Sexy Sex Ed was started by young people for young people in rural Appalachia who felt like they desperately needed sexual education resources that were not abstinence-only, or rooted in shame. Since 1995, there has been a concentrated decline in access to formal sexual education in rural areas of the US [Lindberg, 2016] — particularly in the South where there are higher rates of sexual activity and lower rates of contraceptive use than in other regions of the country. Extensive research has shown that when young people — particularly children and teenagers — have access to comprehensive sexual education, it lowers instances of child abuse, intimate partner violence, STIs, and homophobic bullying; and increases willingness to report intimate partner violence. Knowledge makes people safer. Sexy Sex Ed’s comprehensive sexual education work makes all people safer.
Sexy Sex Ed’s work providing access to comprehensive sexual education is deeply rooted in principles of political and personal consent, safety, and bodily autonomy. We teach people about their bodies, that their bodies are their own, and that all people deserve to decide what happens to their bodies without external influence or coercion. We know our work will be distorted by those with their own political agendas, but we will not be silenced. Our work is a response to the needs of the communities in which we live. It is important and essential.
We deeply appreciate your support,
The Sexy Sex Ed Team
We all deserve to understand our bodies & desires
Sexy Sex Ed is a workshop series that invites teenagers and people of all ages to openly discuss personal and political consent, sexual safety, and anatomy. Using visual & performance art, open dialogue, and popular education methods, Sexy Sex Ed fills a vital gap in reproductive education as a creative, cultural healing solution in rural Appalachia.
You can find Sexy Sex Ed in Yes! Magazine, 100 Days in Appalachia, on MeansTV, NewNowNext, the Strong Feelings Podcast, and CNN.
OUR COVID-19 RESPONSE:
As we all figure out how to keep each other safe, we’re making our commitment to community sharing more digital & accessible. First, we want you to have access to contraceptives. This is a confusing and lonely time, and let’s be honest, people are horny. Email or DM us your address/ needs and we’ll mail you condoms, no questions asked. Second, we still want to create interactive space for sexual health conversations and to put money in the hands of sex educators across Appalachia. You can donate to support any of this work HERE.
We’re in the throes of deep recession, a deadly pandemic, and now community uprisings for Black lives & liberation for us all. These are unprecedented times but they do not come as a shock to those who’ve been organizing for a new world for a long time. We are so grateful to be in solidarity with you and on this journey for a more joyful & just world with pleasure for us all.
