On Love, Gratitude, and Anatomy

“You don’t have a penis, Mommy!?”

Even though I’ve worked in HIV, sexual health, and education for over 20 years, I never imagined I’d be having a conversation like this with my 3-year-old son.

Pregnant and Parenting Students Access to Education Act Introduced

The American Sexual Health Association (ASHA) has joined 80 national education, civil rights, women’s, health, children’s advocacy and faith organizations, as well as over 100 state and local organizations, in expressing support for the Pregnant and Parenting Students Access to Education Act.

The legislation (S. 870/H.R. 1845) is aimed at improving graduation rates among secondary school students expecting or parenting children.  U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) and U.S. Representative Jared Polis (D-CO) introduced the legislation in Congress on May 7, 2013.

STI Dating Websites

VeggieDate, ChristianMingle, and even Atlasphere for Ayn Rand lovers. There are so many niche dating sites, it’s no real surprise that STI dating sites have been growing in popularity, so fervently that there are now top ten lists. Sites such as H-YPE and DatePositive, meant specifically for singles with STIs, are rapidly gaining members, just as rates of incurable infections, such as herpes, HPV, and HIV are increasing. PositiveSingles.com, which features the sign-up call to action, “You are not alone. Start dating again,” has accrued over 700,000 members worldwide.

STI Awareness Month: The reality condom is a safe alternative for sex work

For sex workers, condom usage is extremely important to protect themselves against HIV and STIs, but in reality, this doesn’t always happen. A customer might pay much more for sex without a condom then sex with a condom, and depending on the day a sex worker has, the decision to not wear a condom may be one of necessity, then one of safety. Wearing a condom might be more risky in the short term if a sex worker is threatened with violence, or a sex worker has had something to drink.  Based on these barriers, for sex workers to exclusively use the male condom during sexual contact might be unrealistic, unsafe, and a question of survival.

STI Awareness Month

20 million new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the U.S. each and every year.

20 million…

ASHA recognizes each April as STI Awareness Month and an appropriate theme this year might be STIs By the Numbers.