HRC Blog

Comprehensive sex education bill introduced in Congress today

March 17, 2009

Today Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) re-introduced the Responsible Education about Life (REAL) Act, legislation to authorize federal funding for comprehensive and medically accurate sex education. With the Washington, DC Health Department reporting yesterday that the District of Columbia is fighting one of the most severe HIV/AIDS epidemics in the nation, the re-introduction of the REAL Act on Capitol Hill couldn't be more timely. Joe Solmonese released this statement today praising the introduction:

Our nation’s youth deserve the facts about how to protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. The federal government has tied states’ hands when it comes to providing prevention education to teens. We thank Representative Lee, Senator Lautenberg and all of the congressional supporters of this legislation for their commitment to the health of our nation's youth. It’s time to ensure that states can provide comprehensive sex education that gives students the tools they need to make responsible decisions. The needs of the vast majority of American students, especially LGBT students, are currently ignored by federally funded sex education programs. Sex education must be based on public health, not narrow right-wing ideology. We urge members from both sides of the aisle to co-sponsor and support this critical legislation.

Currently, states can only receive federal funding for sex education if they teach abstinence-only-until-marriage programs that are prohibited from openly discussing condoms and other forms of contraception. In addition, the federal government has spent more than $1 billion providing funding to abstinence-only programs whose federal guidelines mandate defining marriage as “only a legal union between one man and one woman as a husband and wife.”