May 2012

U.S. Teen Birthrates Are Down, But Still High in Bible Belt

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News of Note: U.S. Teen Birthrates Are Down, But Still High in These States

In 2009, a landmark study found a strong correlation between religion and teen pregnancy. The CDC’s newest data suggests not much has changed. Teen pregnancy closely follows the contours of America’s Bible belt, according to the map (above) from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

It’s quite clear that teenagers want to have sex and no amount of discouragement or abstinence-only sex education is going to stop them.

The religious idea that sex should only exist for procreation has no business denying teenagers access to valuable health information (about birth control). Take a look at divorce rates in the bible belt, they are equally embarrassing. How much longer do you think this hypocrisy will last before everyone realizes it’s okay to enjoy sex?

The Sexual Freedom Project: Invisible Trans Youth

What are some of the ways the US healthcare system could be improved to better aid transgender youth?

Leave a comment and let us know what you think, or make your own video or blog to share. We will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt or slap bracelet to thank you.

Video edited by Tiye Massey.

Female Genital Mutilation in the UK

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News of Note: Medics Offered Genital Mutilation, Report Says

As many as 100,000 women in Britain may have been mutilated in the name of culture and religion, a report claims.

Refuges from other countries, particularly from Africa, perpetuate this “procedure” illegally, while practitioners charge more than $1000 to have the clitoris cut and the wound and vagina stitched.

It’s hard to think of anything that better exemplifies the depth of our world’s sexual repression than the serial genital mutilation practiced all over our planet.

There is absolutely no excuse for this practice, and I can only hope that any culture or religion that embraces such immorality is adequately and rapidly purged from this planet. Global sexual freedom activists unite!

Image source

The Sexual Freedom Project: Growing Up

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Can you relate? Are you old and aware enough to explore your sexuality but not old enough to fully enjoy it? What are some other limitations to sex and gender expression that are stifled by your age or situation?

Leave a comment and let us know what you think, or make your own video or blog to share. We will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt or slap bracelet to thank you.

Video edited by Tiye Massey.

Afghan schoolgirls poisoned in anti-education attack

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News of Note: Afghan schoolgirls poisoned in anti-education attack

Conservative radicals are suspects in the recent poisoning of about 150 Afghan high school girls who drank contaminated water at their high school, and other similar attacks on female students, teachers, and their buildings.

It may be hard to believe that anyone would literally poison school girls to discourage them (and all girls and women) from having an education, but this type of violence is all too common. These conservative groups have forced women to live in constant fear of physical harm, even acid throwing for something as simple as attending school.

I believe it is necessary to identify these violent and sexist teachings, and to actively speak out against them, irrespective of any religious connections. What else can be done to expunge these deeply sexist ideologies?

The Sexual Freedom Project: Prostitution in a Vacuum

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Is it possible for society and government to create a safe field of sex work? Are there too many complications such as child prostitution and human trafficking that make this impossible?

Leave a comment and let us know what you think or make your own video or blog to share. We will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt or slap bracelet to thank you.

Video edited by Tiye Massey.

Anti-gay adverts pulled from bus campaign in London

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News of Note: Anti-gay adverts pulled from bus campaign by Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, has stopped a Christian advertising campaign by the “christian” group Core Issues Trust that promotes the idea that gay people can be converted to heterosexuality and whose leader, Mike Davidson, said “homoerotic behavior is sinful” and that “reparative therapy” will help queer people  “develop their heterosexual potential.”

In the US,  reparative therapy has been deemed “junk science” by the American Psychological Association and the American Medical Association. And, this month, California is introducing a bill that would outlaw it for all children and require those over 18 must sign a severe consent form to obtain it.

Unfortunately, the world doesn’t have a shortage of hate groups like Core Issues Trust and PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays) and they are clearly not limited to the United States.

As always, we need to identify and label religiously-motivated discrimination and not let it masquerade as anything else.

Creative Commons image by: Jon Bennett

The Sexual Freedom Project: A Combination of Constructs

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How do we dig ourselves out of the social constructs that begin at birth to shape us, control us, diminish us, and, ultimately, enslave us?

Demand sexual freedom as you birthright! No one can take that from you and you can’t let anyone take it away.

Leave a comment and let us know what you think, or make your own video or blog to share. We will send you a free VenusPlusX t-shirt or slap bracelet to thank you.

Video edited by Tiye Massey.

Maryland Legislature to Employers: Hands Off Facebook Passwords

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News of Note: Maryland Legislature to Employers: Hands Off Facebook Passwords

The state of Maryland just passed the first bill in the nation that bans employers from asking for the social media passwords of job applicants and employees.

Maryland should be congratulated for not only standing up for online privacy, but privacy in general. Logging into someone’s private Facebook account can easily be compared to reading their mail, and may be even more intrusive. I’m very happy to see Maryland taking the first step and hope that this is the beginning of a positive trend.