There might not be any way to get around the fact the no one really likes sitting in on a sex ed lesson. Yet however awkward it is, there’s also no way to get around the importance of and need for sex ed; everyone should know more than just the basics about healthy and safe sex. But after a quick look at the status of sexual education in America, it’s easy to see that we get a failing grade. There are so many aspects to talk about, and self expression of sexual identity is an important one. Not many know about many things surrounding things. Majority even believe that dildos are only for women and condoms only for men. when in fact there are dildos for men and condoms for women. A basic example of the misinformation that teens have.

Currently, because education is largely left to the control of State governments, American kids learn many different things about sex. While some students in Texas have strict abstinent-only lessons that ignore or even discourage contraceptive use, schools in California are required to have medically accurate sex education that is culturally sensitive and does not promote religion. You can read a full brief on state sex education policies here.

Many states do not require any kind of sex education in schools.

In states that don’t require sex education, schools can still choose to offer it but they do not have any mandatory guidelines for content. Most states don’t even obligate that sex education must be medically accurate.

So what does this mean for America’s students?

Nothing good.

Lack of a clear legal requirement to have medically accurate sexual education in schools means that, in many cases, students will not learn basic information about sex and how to maintain their sexual health with True Pheromones.

The Center for Disease Control recently announced that STI infection rates have “reached an all time high” because many sexual health clinics are closing (thanks, Republicans) and the amount of people getting tested and seeking treatment for STIs has decreased.

However, this increase in infection rates can’t be solely attributed to political attacks on sexual health clinics like Planned Parenthood. It is also important to consider how the lack of reliable sex ed across the country contributes to this. If students are not learning the life long impacts of some incurable STIs and how to prevent getting them, then there is no way that we can realistically expect STI infection rates to decrease.

However, sexual education is about more than just STIs.

There are a wide range of topics that should be covered in sex ed lessons, because there are a wide variety of things that affect a person’s sex life. Content pertaining to LGBTQAI sexual health, healthy relationships, and affirmative consent is missing in most curriculum in the US, which means that students are not learning everything they need to know.

A solution to this problem will be hard to find, and the answer probably doesn’t lie with Bill Nye. Given this incredibly awkward clip from one of his episodes, we probably can’t trust him with a full length feature about sex ed.

As many Americans continue to lose faith in our government, we may need to seek community-based answers to social problems we want to solve.

Genuine Justice is a column about reproductive justice focusing on current events, historical perspectives and systematic racism in women’s healthcare.

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For a little while, I felt surprised after reading the (very pale) list of Oscar nominees.

I had watched Straight Outta Compton and heard great things about colored actors in Creed. I read about Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation, and loved watching Oscar Isaac in Ex Machina. So many actors of color had great performances this year, and none of them received any recognition from the Academy.

Straight Outta Compton was nominated for one award: Best Screenplay. Two white people write the screenplay of a movie about gangster rap and they’re the only ones who are acknowledged for their work. Sylvester Stallone, one of the only white main characters was nominated for his role in Creed despite incredible performances by Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson.

This is not a new problem.

The Academy has an insidious history of only praising movies cast, produced, directed, written, adapted, and performed by white people. Each year they face criticism for their homogeneous population of nominees when numerous actors of color deserved recognition for their performances, and each year we hear the same story.

In 2014, 12 Years a Slave received three Oscars, and seemingly, the Academy feels that is enough.

The 94% white, 76% male group of people seems to have decided that their decisions in 2014 will carry them for a few years until they’ll be obligated to award nonwhite actors, producers, directors, and writers for their work again.

I couldn’t find a picture of the Academy, but here’s a picture of a rally for Donald Trump. I’m sure the images are basically the same.

The whiteness… it’s almost blinding…

Many celebrities of color have spoken out about the pattern of exclusion and reacted differently. Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith both plan to skip attending and watching the event. Chris Rock, the host of the 2016 Oscars, dubbed the night “The White BET Awards.” Idris Elba posed critical questions in an interview, asking viewers to analyze the casting of women, actors of color, LGBT+ people and disabled people.

These responses are all valid and important, and encourage us to consider how we consume media and what we choose to watch, listen to, read, experience. Many people choose to watch movies based on the Academy’s recommendation, but the overwhelmingly white and male board may enjoy different media than a queer woman of color, or a trans man with a disability. If the Academy isn’t willing to acknowledge underrepresented artists in film-making, we cannot rely on the Oscars to provide an exhaustive list of movies worth watching.

So what if we just stopped acknowledging them?

What if we sought out other movies to watch that include all kinds of people?

Various Internet sources have compiled lengthy lists of LGBT+ films, movies by and about women, movies directed by non-western women, films about disabilities, and so many more. A quick Google search will yield innumerable results of little-known movies that address all sorts of issues.

I’ve recently began this habit and I have already watched incredible movies. I’ve seen Mississippi Masala, which tackles anti-black attitudes among South Asian culture and more, Pariah, which portrays a young queer woman of color navigating her sexuality and tradition, and The Black Power Mixtape, which documents the evolution of the Black Power Movement.

Queen, SLC Punk!, Dear White People, and Gulaab Gang portray beautiful stories of non-heteronormative people, too.

Assume an active role in your media consumption. Take every opportunity to decolonize your mind by valuing nonwhite, non-heterosexual, non-western art.

The idea of “decolonizing our minds” comes from writings of the author, feminist and social activist bell hooks. She encourages us to critically examine every thought and action, free ourselves from the coercive ideologies, and overcome the impacts of structural oppression. This bimonthly column will analyze spaces and times where and when we can pause and make strides in this arduous process, and also highlight figures who are helping us to decolonize ourselves.

The post Decolonize Your Mind: #Oscarssowhite appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Born in South Africa but raised in Australia, Troye Sivan Mellet has been making his mark online for a long time. A now famous Youtuber (and a winner of a Teen Choice Award alongside Tyler Oakley for their video “The ‘Boyfriend’ Tag”), Troye Sivan released a debut EP titled TRYXE in late 2014, which was a surprise hit and landed at number 5 on the iTunes charts. Having found his musical voice, he continued to create music and dropped a second EP, WILD, in September 2015, which had similar success, possibly thanks to its endorsement by Taylor Swift, Sam Smith, and Adele. Shortly thereafter, he announced that WILD was actually an introduction to his debut album Blue Neighbourhood, and I can gladly say that the full product is one of the best debuts of the year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLKkwQM7uEY

The term “post-modern” is thrown around a little recklessly in regards to all types of art, but if the touchstone for “post-modern pop” is Lorde, Troye Sivan fits in neatly beside the girl from the land down under. His music consists of synth washes, tight and snappy percussion, dance tracks and ballads both assisted by electronic production. Both of them are able to deliver vocals that turn from soft-spoken and introverted to demanding and evocative.

Troye Sivan is also as gifted at songwriting as his female counterpoint: the title of the album is in reference to the concept of feeling trapped in the homes that we grow up in, but also the melancholy that is present when we do leave our places of origin. “I’m down to my skin and bone / and my baby listens to me on the phone / but I can’t help feeling like I’m all alone,” he coos on “Ease,” illustrating the anxiety so many young adults face even when surrounded by their loved ones; “When you heard me on the radio / did you turn it up?” he asks the ones he left behind in the string-adorned closer “Suburbia.” There’s melancholy laced through all the hope, and it makes for a relatable listen.

However, Blue Neighbourhood may arguably be one of the most important albums to come out in the mainstream pop demographic for a specific reason: its honest portrayal of a young person who identifies within the LGBT spectrum. Troye Sivan came out to his Jewish parents when he was 15, and came out three years later on a video blog. While openly gay artists Adam Lambert and Sam Smith have made strides in bringing a wider world view to queer performers in the industry, Troye Sivan comes off more explicit, and all the better for it: album centerpiece “Heaven” recounts his emotions with coming out to his father and others (“without losing a piece of me / how do I get to heaven?”); “Bite” pulses with desire and sexual awakening (“Kiss me on the mouth and set me free / but please don’t bite”); “For Him” recounts nights of being lightweights and “not having to say ‘I love you’/ to say ‘I love you.'” Even better, the three music videos he released prior to the album’s release (for songs “Wild”, “Fools”, and “Talk Me Down”) create a narrative arc that covers hidden sexuality, parental abuse, and suicide. It’s impressive for such a young artist to come out of the gate with something profound to say.

Blue Neighbourhood does so many things right within the pop world: all the tracks hit that sweet spot of a three minute run time, the album doesn’t overstay its welcome (even the deluxe version, with the essential bonus song “Blue,” feels worthy of its duration), and it melds familiar and new pop sounds in order to create a distinctive voice for its precocious artist. Even if he doesn’t break through to the mainstream, Troye Sivan deserves a place in the upper echelon of pop singers.

I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Grade: A

Key Tracks: “Wild”, “Bite”, “Heaven”, “Youth”, “Suburbia”, “Blue”

Blue Neighborhood can be listened to on Spotify here.

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“It gets better” – Helping Queer Youth

Life for Trae Krum would most likely be considered normal given the traditional American narrative. The southern California native grew up in a religiously conservative household with her 3 sisters and mother and father, who affectionately referred to her as Tracy. Trae attended church, kept her hair long, wore dresses, showed cleavage, and dated boys. None of this, however, was normal for Trae.

“Living in the closet is almost as painful as what happens after coming out.” Trae said.

Her adolescence, a confusing and traumatic enough experience for straight, cisgender (biologically male or female) youth, was inundated with messages of homosexuality “is a sin” and “a choice”. So for Trae, who now identifies as Gender Queer and a Lesbian, becoming the person she is today involved forging an identity in the face of incessant invalidation of her very existence. Being a lesbian means that Trae is attracted to other women, while being Gender Queer means that Trae does not identify as male or female and sees her gender as being more “fluid”. Even as an adult, friends and family continue to tell Trae to “tone it down” or “keep it to herself”.

“People have told me numerous times that they ‘don’t want to see it’ or would rather I just ‘keep it to myself.’” Trae explained.

Trae’s experience, although unique in its own right, parallels the experiences of millions of gay and transgender youth across the country whose very identity is challenged and questioned. While the rest of us toe the line and play gendertyped sports, date members of the opposite sex, and dress in traditionally gendered fashion, many are severely punished for simply wanting to express who they are. According to Trae, the visceral reaction experienced by LGBT persons is unique to other nontraditional personal expressions. Trae spoke of our cultural binary systems that place matters of gender and sexuality into an “either/or” category in which people are straight or gay, male or female, masculine or feminine, etc. For those who do not fit into this binary system life can not only be personally agonizing, but socially punishing.

A report released by Advocates for Youth on the experiences of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) youth reveals a traumatic and nearly unbelievable reality. Close to 85% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed in school, while 20% reported being physically assaulted at school. Additionally, 29% missed a class and 30% missed a day of school in the past month because they felt unsafe at school. The abuse is not confined to schools, as 26% of LGBT youth report being kicked out of their homes upon coming out to their parents. This has lead to LGBT youth making up 20-40% of homeless youth. The tragic reality is that these early traumatic experiences do not merely fall by the wayside as these youth grow and develop. The mindless phrase ‘what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger’ painfully ignores the residual damage caused by abusive environments and scarce sources of support.

So where does this lead? Do Lesbian women, gay men, and transgender persons graduate the traumatic experiences of their adolescence and enter into a much more welcoming and accepting adulthood surrounded by strong systems of support? People like Trae and syndicated columnist Dan Savage, argue that life does in fact get better in the hopes of reaching LGBT youth before they contemplate or commit suicide. United States surveys demonstrate that LGBT youth and adults are 2-6 times more likely than their straight counterparts to attempt suicide. Additionally, youth who face familial rejection of their sexual or gender orientation are eight times more likely to report a suicide attempt compared to LGBT youth in less rejecting families. In order to curb these disturbing trends organizations such as the It Gets Better Campaign and the Trevor Project specifically target the issue of suicide among LGBT youth. Dan Savage’s It Gets Better Campaign began with Dan and his partner posting a youtube video attempting to uplift troubled LGBT youth by telling them life gets better. They have found that having LGBT adults convey messages of hope and support can be a powerful tool in helping youth persevere in the face of immense rejection and hardship. The Trevor Project is a suicide hotline that offers support to LGBT youth who may be at risk for a suicide attempt. The hope is that LGBT youth will connect with the Trevor Project and receive crisis intervention to curb suicidal ideation or attempts.

Although Trae may not necessarily describe her life as being better now than before, she certainly represents that narrative. Trae is currently a PhD candidate in the Couple and Family Therapy (CFT) program and is part of a soon to be initiated LGBT Clinic that will provide counseling and medical services for LGBT youth. As a therapist, Trae can serve as both a clinical specialist helping LGBT youth experiencing psychiatric conditions such as Depression, Anxiety, etc. But as a Lesbian, Gender Queer person, Trae can serve as a beacon of hope for LGBT youth coming into the clinic. Trae goes on to describe:

“The most important thing to offer in counseling LGBT youth is support; to just offer a place that is safe and welcoming where they can express themselves fully.”

Youth who are Transgender and may be interested in transitioning their gender through hormone therapy will have access to medical professionals who specialize in LGBT care and counseling that will be best suited to their needs. Trae went on to emphasize that not only can our society be described as heterosexist (meaning heterosexual traits and relationships are emphasized while others are rejected outright or described as deviant), but even our counseling practices can devolve into harmful stereotypes as well. Many are aware of therapies such as reparative therapy in which counselors tell LGBT persons that they can choose to be straight, even though the American Counseling Association, American Psychological Association, American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, and many others have rejected the therapy, citing it as harmful to LGBT persons. But even mainstream therapies that do not discriminate based on sexual or gender orientation can sometimes place too much of an emphasis on sexuality, while forgetting that it is instead the harmful environments in which LGBT persons reside and not their sexuality or gender that leads to psychological distress. The point must be reemphasized that the relationship between psychological dysfunction and distress is not a causal one; rather, the psychological distress experienced by LGTBQ youth is a microcosm of lived experience in a heterosexist and homophobic world.

“It’s important in a therapeutic setting to affirm our LGBT youth. This can be as simple as having a rainbow flag in your office, or as involved as attending a gay rights rally. All of these indicate support.” Trae said.

As Trae continues to support LGBT youth in Iowa City and the surrounding areas, the issue of acceptance for LGBT people remains a significant civil rights issue in our time. For Trae, tolerance can no longer be the satisfactory minimum by which people absolve themselves of responsibility in a homophobic world. As Trae notes, “Tolerance lets you hate me, and devalue me without saying it to my face.” Whereas acceptance validates the lives of persons who are LGBT and places them on an equal plane with their straight and cisgender counterparts. In the recent elections LGBT persons saw some progress as same sex marriage ballots were supported and a gay marriage ban was voted down in 3 states. Moving forward, however, there continues to be a need to develop and implement supportive services for LGBT persons of all ages that validate their lives and accept them holistically.

The post LGBT Youth in Iowa City appeared first on KRUI Radio.