This month (or two since there was no March newsletter) in sex and repro justice news is similar to most: a little good, a little bad, a little ugly. Here’s what you should know.
I often discuss successes against radical changes to sex ed curriculums, but it’s important to address failures as well. In Leon County, FL, Moms for Liberty stormed school board meetings demanding changes to the coming years human growth and development (read:sex ed) curriculum, stating it was “too aggressive”, and “harmed children” while promoting promiscuity in young girls because there were egregious mentions of things like the word “anal” and a cartoon video in the optional materials identifying what the clitoris was. God forbid! It’s important to note that Florida requires STI education in their sex education curriculum, in conjunction with “abstinence based education” which provided an in for these monstrous moms. This is the first year the sex ed material has been contested and the fact that MFL was successful this quickly doesn’t bode well for future censorship.
The Leon County story can be found here
Pope Francis has expanded the sex abuse church laws, with the amendments including church laypeople & leaders while also affirming for the first time, that adults can be abused as well, particularly by religious superiors (it’s important to note the Bishop/Cardinal-Nun relationship was named specifically in these new laws in response to the 2018 indictment of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in PA.) Though it sounds good, it’s all lip service as many survivors of catholic leadership abuse have come forward about their stories being dismissed and purposefully suppressed under Pope Francis’ leadership. For instance, there’s no mandated reporting in the church hierarchy if someone were to be confided in about abuses by clergy.
CBS wrote about the new laws here
If you’re interested in the sheer volume of allegations and abuses that have been levied against the Catholic Church, there’s a concise database available, updated frequently (unfortunately), over here
As I was writing this piece, the archdiocese of Baltimore came under fire for aiding and abetting over 150 Catholic priests accused of abusing 600+ children. That story here. This is also the same archdiocese named in the 2017 Netflix docuseries The Keepers, which follows the murder of sister Catherine Cesnik unfurling years of coverups by church leadership and is one of the few true crime series I’d recommend. Watch here
No more digital exams! New evidence in the field of prostate cancer research has confidently stated that the digital prostate exam (finger in the toot, feeling for plasticity and size of the gland) is an outdated tool and ineffective for diagnostic or treatment purposes. Between advanced residual marker testing using blood testing and AI invigorating how we utilize imaging technology, it seems one no longer has to fear the infamous digital exam as it’s proving to be obsolete.
There’s more info about that here
Little shock to us former and current heaux’s but… more research supports the notion that decriminalizing sex work decreases sexual violence experienced by sex workers. When various legal models were compared, it was shown that the Nordic Model (aka partial criminalization aka the entrapment model aka what is touted as the ultra pro-women model by radfems & liberal feminists) incited the MOST sexual violence towards sex workers and the model with the lowest rapes were countries with decriminalized sex work. It’s almost like people should listen to marginalized people about what makes us safer.
The Indian Supreme Court is hearing final arguments in a case that could legalize same sex marriage this month. If that were to happen, India would become the 35th country to legalize same sex marriage, a huge victory for a country with possibly tens of millions of LGBTQ+ people. This decision would align well with recent legal victories such as the 2018 ruling that decriminalized gay sex, a law that came out of British Colonial rule.
You can read the NPR story about it here
On the sex science and public health side. As y’all know, I am a sex educator and speak frequently about the ongoing STI epidemic we’ve found ourselves in due to a slew of reasons such as: poor testing habits, low condom use and lack of disclose of status to new partners but there’s some hope! The New England Journal of Medicine released a promising article recently stating MSM (men who have sex with men) and trans women reported lower new infection rates of Gonorrhea, Chlamydia and Syphilis when they received post-exposure doses of Doxycycline, after condomless sex. Though it isn’t foolproof and will require further examination, it begs the question whether pre and post exposure medication is an option for bacterial infections as it is currently for HIV. The full article is available with an account, but you can watch a 2 min. video summary as well.
The video is right here
As well as the CDC data about the alarming increase in various STI’s contraction rates in recent years here
Fascism and bigotry is global, something we’d all do well to remember.
Hungary is set to sign into law via right wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s pen, a bill that will allow citizens to report same sex families to authorities for breaching the “constitutionally recognized role of marriage and the family”, sound familiar? This law is wide sweeping, with purposefully ambiguous language about where it can be enforced to include the workplace, schools and neighborhoods. This is coming off of last year’s censorship bill that banned the viewing or sharing of any and all queer content with individuals under age 18. The EU is stating these legislative actions are human rights violations and some countries within the EU are calling for Hungary’s removal from the Union unless or until they rollback these laws.
And in the UK, the Tory government is finalizing new rules that’ll force educators and school staff to out trans and non-binary youth. The attack on LGBTQ+ folx, particularly trans folx is calculated and manufacturing consent for larger attacks on autonomy, human rights and liberties. This is genocidal and that should be named, your neighbor’s oppression is your oppression and no one’s free until we’re all free. If you believe these totalitarian laws and attacks are contained to one group, you’re misinformed.
In some of the most heartbreaking yet unsurprising news, a Georgian ninth-grader hopped on birth control due to fears of rape in light of Georgia’s abortion ban. NPR spoke to her and her mother about this decision and is one I expect to be echoed more frequently over the next few months and years as Mifepristone access becomes more precarious and later Supreme Court and/or congressional decisions potentially decide abortion criminalization.
Juliet’s story can be found here
As is my way, I’d like to end this newsletter uplifting the voices of sex workers. The sex worker led Canadian organization, By Us For Us released a huge report providing insight into the conditions, risks and proposed supports for sex workers by sex workers. To no surprise, the majority of the workers surveyed reported having disabilities, living in poverty and almost half were indigenous.
As the weather heats up, so should our action. If y’all are gonna be outside… let it be for reproductive justice, workers rights, disability justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, let it be for aiding revolutionary action meant to liberate our siblings!
An essay will be dropping soon so keep an eye out for it. The continued support is always appreciated and as always, comment, share your thoughts, send the newsletter to someone who’d appreciate it. Be good to the world, however you can.
Till next time,
Nia Òla 💛