Appalachian nonprofit's sex education was too sexy for some; sort of harassment that stopped it is seen nationwide

Education group's logo

Sex education in Appalachia has traditionally focused on abstinence and when one group sought to change that approach, it had to stop hosting booths and workshops due to a harassment campaign, reports Maria Godoy of National Public Radio, who says the push against sexual educators is being felt nationwide.

In 2012, a sex-education group called Sexy sex ed began offering workshops to Appalachian youth that focused on a comprehensive sex-education approach. Godoy visited with an educator who was hosting a table at a community art festival in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, pop. 5,206. The table was filled with educational materials and condoms with the group's theme of "CONSENT" emboldened on products. The non-profit group touts a "cheeky, irreverent" approach to sex ed among young people. But this was Sexy sex ed's last event for the foreseeable future:

"The barrage of harassment started in March when conservative activist Christopher Rufo criticized the group on Twitter, among other platforms. He accused the group of offering summer workshop courses for children that discussed graphic sexual practices. Other conservative activists also weighed in." The educator, whom Godoy identified only as Shaylan, said those attacks misrepresented what they taught and to whom: "They put their own spin on it to make it seem as if we were posting an in-person summer camp with five-year-olds, when in reality, the summer camp was virtual. And nobody under the age of 16 attended the summer camp." 

Rufo told NPR in an email that the group was “doing something that was 'way outside the mainstream' and "Sixteen-year-olds are still minors and that the group has a very different definition of age appropriate than most parents."

Nora Gilperin of Advocates for Youth, a national health-rights nonprofit, told Goday that it has seen a surge in harassment and disinformation campaigns against sex education providers since last spring. Gilperin said, “One strategy is to take what is being taught out of context. . . Now many sex educators are afraid to share even basic information like where to get contraception."

Harvard University physician Rebecca Ralston, a native of Appalachian Tennessee who has studied sex education, told Ralston, "The more serious implications here are that people are not going to be using birth control appropriately or at all. . . so for those who do not want to become pregnant. . . they will have very few options."