LGBTQ Breaking News Service

• Less than 8.2% of LGBTQ students are receiving inclusive sex education in school, according to a May report by several LGBTQ health and policy organizations.
• Only seven states and the District of Columbia require sex education to be LGBTQ+ inclusive, according to the report.

With more Americans than ever coming out as LGBTQ, the need for inclusive sex education is more pressing than ever – but few students are getting it, according to a report released ahead of Pride Month.

Less than 8.2% of LGBTQ students said they received inclusive sex education in school, a failure that could have lasting effects from adolescence into adulthood, according to “A Call to Action: LGBTQ Youth Need inclusive Sex Education,” published in May by several LGBTQ health and policy organizations.

“Far too many LGBTQ youth are attending schools that lack inclusive policies and sitting in classrooms where their teachers and textbooks significantly fail to address their identities, community, and experiences. Nowhere is this absence more clear, and potentially more damaging, than in sex education,” says the report, citing a number of other analyses.

Only a fraction of the 50 states – 18 – require sex education to be medically accurate, and just seven states and the District of Columbia require sex education to be LGBTQ+ inclusive, according to the report, an absence causing drastic consequences.

“We know non inclusive sex education can cause significant harm to young queer and trans folks, particularly LGBTQ youth of color,” said Preston Mitchum, policy director for Unite for Reproduction and Gender Equity, one of the report’s authors.

But the report says those students are “lacking information about themselves, and how sex and sexuality might be applicable to their own life experience,” said Joseph Kosciw, GLSEN research director. 

“For any students seeing themselves included in the curriculum, they are more engaged in their education, and they thrive more, they’re more connected to school, and they often do better in school,” he said.

But “when you don’t see yourself being reflected in the education that you receive and in the information that you learn,” Mitchum said, that can cause negative mental and physical health outcomes.

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The lack of inclusive education, not just sex education, contributes to a stigma, the report says. 

For one, a lack of identity reflection in school curriculum can lead to a cultivation of hostile school environments by ignoring identities and experiences – making LGBTQ students less likely to feel comfortable speaking with their teachers about LGBTQ issues, less likely to feel safe at school, and face greater rates of anti-LGBTQ harassment, according to the report. 

A lack of inclusive education can also lead to youth isolation and an absence of trusted adults, leading LGBTQ youth to be much more likely to seek health information online around sexuality, health, and STIs, information which can be medically inaccurate and inappropriate.

For many students, part of inclusive sex education is learning what’s applicable to their own life, Kosciw says. If sex education is not inclusive, health risk is much greater.

“The more that they’re not learning what they can do to protect themselves, [the more] they’re not taking appropriate actions around pregnancy and HIV risk,” he said.

And nearly one-quarter of LGBTQ youth were not taught about HIV/AIDS in school, compared to 18% of non-LGBTQ youth, according to the report, citing a 2019 analysis by the HRC Foundation.

The result, the report finds: Nearly seven in 10 new HIV diagnoses from 2018 were gay and bisexual men. And an overwhelming majority of new HIV transmissions among youth ages 13-24 occur among gay and bisexual men and transgender straight women.

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Mitchum says that though sex education is stigmatized especially for LGBTQ youth, the stigma exists for all students. 

“When you think about the environment that the United States and other parts of the world have created around stigmatizing sex… we are a culture that has sex, but don’t talk about it,” Mitchum said.

Thus, sex education must be viewed with a wider lens – one that takes into account all young people’s experiences.

“[Sex ed] means informing young people of all the information and access that’s available so they can be informed about the decisions that they make,” he added.

For parents, educators, and policymakers to integrate a more inclusive sexual education curriculum, the report details several measures that every group can take.

Among them, Mitchum said, are calls for policymakers to “talk about the need for inclusive or comprehensive sex ed,” especially sex ed that is inclusive of all gender identities.

In addition to URGE, the report was authored and endorsed by Advocates for Youth, Answer, Black & Pink, the Equality Federation, GLSEN, the Human Rights Campaign, the National LGBTQ Task Force, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The largest gay pride parade in central Europe took place again in Warsaw on Saturday for the first time in two years after a pandemic-induced break — and amid a backlash in Poland and Hungary against LGBT rights.

The year’s Equality Parade came 20 years since the event was first held in the Polish capital. It was banned twice in its early years by a conservative mayor who feared it would promote homosexuality and last year it was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski walked at the head of the parade in a sign of support for LGBT rights, joining thousands who were cheered on by others waving rainbow flags from apartment balconies and sidewalk cafes.

But that level of acceptance is not universal in Poland, a heavily Catholic, largely conservative nation.

The joyful and colorful celebration was tinged with fear of what the future holds for the rights of gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people after setbacks first in Russia and now in Hungary.

“The day of the parade is always a bittersweet moment for our community,” said Rafal Wojtczak, a spokesman for the organizers. He described feelings of sadness and helplessness that LGBT people have not achieved rights liked same-sex partnership or marriage in Poland, while also facing new threats.

The parade comes only days after Hungary’s parliament passed a law that makes it illegal to show any materials about LGBT issues to people under 18.

Hungary’s conservative ruling party portrayed the law as an effort to fight pedophilia. But human rights groups say it will stigmatize LGBT people and prevent youth from accessing critical information.

Poland’s populist ruling party has taken a political direction very similar to that of Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orban, pushing conservative policies and tightening ruling party control over courts and media. The European Union has criticized both nations, accusing them of eroding democratic norms.

One prominent Polish activist, Bart Staszewski, carried a Hungarian flag in Saturday’s march, saying it was a message to the EU to defend LGBT people because he fears that “Poland will be next.”

Among those who participated was Misza Czerniak, a 37-year-old musician who was born in Russia and emigrated to Poland 10 years ago in part to flee the homophobia there. Czerniak said the recent scapegoating of LGBT people by Polish officials feels reminiscent of Russia, in particular local anti-LGBT resolutions that “create an atmosphere of hate, suspicion and fear.”

“The right-wing turn has made Poland feel much closer to my country of origin than I would have liked. It made me question why I moved here,” he said.

Ambassadors and other diplomats from 14 embassies in Warsaw also took part, including the U.S. charge d’affaires Bix Aliu, who tweeted “Let’s choose love not hate.”

A year ago, the Polish LGBT community faced a backlash from ruling conservative politicians, local communities and the church. In his successful bid for reelection against a challenge from Trzaskowski, President Andrzej Duda declared that “LGBT is not people; it’s an ideology” while also claiming that it was “even more destructive” than communism.

A Polish archbishop warned of a “rainbow plague.” And dozens of local communities in Poland passed resolutions against “LGBT ideology,” claiming to protect traditional families. The resolutions were strongly denounced by EU officials and a handful have been rescinded.

“We’ve been through a very, very rough time. But at the same time, we are going out in the streets and we are saying we are stronger and we are not going to give up,” said Miroslawa Makuchowska, vice director of Campaign Against Homophobia.

Click here for updates on this story

    Connecticut (WFSB) — It’s Pride Month, and Channel 3 is sharing stories celebrating the LGBTQ community while also looking at the challenges it faces.

In March, Eric and Tyler Dashner finally held their dream in their hands when Hazel Lou was born.

“We always had it in the back of our minds that we wanted to be parents,” said Tyler Dashner.

On the journey to get there, the Dashners experienced fleeting hope at times.

An adoption fallout slashed the Washington, D.C. couple’s dreams until they met Dr. Mark Leondires.

Just because you happen to be LGBTQ+ doesn’t mean you can’t be a parent,” Leondires said.

In 2002, the medical director opened the Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut, also known as RMA.

After helping heterosexual couples build their families, he felt ready to do the same with his husband.

“I kind of thought I knew I was getting into because I’m a fertility doctor, but I didn’t realize all the things I didn’t know,” Leondires said, referring to the toll on mental health a couple may face as they learn about the family building process while screening donors.

Then, there’s needing the help of a reproductive attorney who can guide same-sex couples through contracts, parental rights and protections.

After successfully welcoming his two sons, Leondires started what he calls a passion project, “Gay Parents to Be.”

It’s a one-stop hub for information and resources featuring experts in reproductive medicine, reproductive law, counseling, surrogacy and egg donor agencies.

The organization is supported by RMA of Connecticut.

Leondires said about 15 percent of his patients are LGBTQ couples. He’s also helped people around the world.

“Part of the gay parents to be ethos is let’s educate people so they know what they need to know,” Leondires said.

For the Dashners, they credit Leondires for not only turning a dream into reality but also creating a community of people who’ve experienced the same hardships and joys of starting families.

“He didn’t have to do that and we’re incredibly grateful that he did because he made our journey really, really flawless and special and great,” Dashner said.

The dads plan to expand their family with by having a boy in 2023.

Progress is slowly being made for same-sex couples wanting to start families.

Earlier this month, the governor signed the “Connecticut Parentage Act,” which ensures any parent, regardless of sexual orientation, has equal parental rights.

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