VOLUME 27 NUMBER 4 SIECUS 35TH ANNIVERSARY APRIL/MAY 1999 SIECUS I ruxfl I 35 YEARS VOL. 27, NO. 4 l APRIL/MAY 1999 Debra W. Haffner, M.P.H. President and CEO Christopher 1. Portelli, J.D. Director of Information Mac Edwards Editor The SIECUS Report is published bimonthly and distributed to SIECUS members, professionals, organizations, government officials, libraries, the media, and the general public.The SIECUS Report publishes work from a variety of disciplines and perspectives about sexuality, including medicine, law, philosophy, business, and the social sciences. Annual SIECUS subscription fees: individual, $65; organization, $135 (includes two subscrip- tions to the SIECUS Reyovt); library, $85. Outside the United States, add $10 a year to these fees (in Canada and Mexico, add $5). The SIECUS Report is available on microfilm from University Microfilms, 300 North Zeeb Road,Ann Arbor, MI 48106. All article, review, advertising, and publication inquiries and submissions should be addressed to: Mac Edwards, Editor SIECUS Report 130 West 42nd Street, Suite 350 NewYork, NY 10036-7802 phone 212/819-9770 fax 212/819-9776 Web Site: www.siecus.org E-mail: [email protected] Opinions expressed in the articles appearing in the SIECUS Report may not reflect the official position of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. Articles that express differing points of view are published as a contribution to responsible and mean- ingful dialogue regarding issues of significance in the field of sexuality. SIECUS is affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education 3700 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19104-6216 Copyright 0 1999 by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, Inc No part of the SIECLJS Report may be reproduced in any form without written permission. Design and layout by Alan Bynett, Inc. Proofreading by E. Bruce Stevenson Printing by Success Printing Library of Congress catalog card number 72-627361 ISSN: 0091-3995 ARTICLES 4 THE FIRST 35YEARS: A HISTORY OF SIECUS Sarah Cunningham, B.A., M.Div., Ph.D. Historian 11 DR. CALDERONE ON SEXUALITY AND SEXUALITY EDUCATION 12 A SIECUS TIMELINE: 1964-1999 14 ANALYSIS OF STATES’ IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ABSTINENCE-ONLY-UNTIL-MARRIAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM Daniel Daley, SIECUS Director of Public Policy and Vivian C. Wong, SIECUS Public Policy Associate ALSO IN THIS ISSUE... FROM THE PRESIDENT SIECUS AT 35 By DebraW Haffner,M.P.H.. 2 FACT SHEET THE NATIONAL COALITION TO SUPPORT COMPREHENSIVE SEXUALITY EDUCATION 19 BIBLIOGRAPHY 35 BOOKS THAT HAVE INFLUENCED s. OUR UNDERSTANDING OF SEXUALITY. 21 VOLUME 27 NUMBER 4 APRIL/MAY 1999 SIECUS REPORl FROM THE PRESIDENT SIECUS AT 35 Debra W. Haffner, M.P.H. r*; $ *: icture a diverse group of professionals meeting at a concept of sexuality, as introduced by Mary Calderone in i Conference on Religion and the Family in 1961. 1964, is now understood to encompass much more than the They include the medical director of Planned Parenthood, biological meaning of sex. Sexuality education has replaced the director of the National Council of Churches of Christ, the term sex education to emphasize its more comprehen- and the leader of the marriage counseling movement in the sive scope. Sexual harassment and date rape now have United States. Together, they talk about the absence of any names. They are no longer something that women have to discussion on sexuality issues at this meeting and in their “put up with” in their working and personal lives. work, and the need for a national organization that focuses The field of sexuality has matured during these past 35 on sexuality issues. years. Since 1964, our work has been greatly enriched and Three years later, they incorporate and name Dr. Mary informed by such researchers, scientists, and educators as Calderone, one of the cofounders, as their first (then William Masters,Virginia Johnson, Helen Singer Kaplan, the unpaid) executive director. Their mission was “to establish Boston Women’s Health Collective, The Alan Guttmacher man’s sexuality as a health entity.. to dignify it Institute, and others. The 35th anniversary bibli- by openness of approach, study, and scientific How fur ography in this issue highlights some of these research designed to lead toward its understand- important contributions to the field. ing and its freedom from exploitation.” In we have Public dialogue about sexuality has prophetic words, Wallace Fulton, the first Board changed dramatically during the past 35 years. president, wrote in the first SIECUS newsletter come! And such change is not just the result of sexolo- that “if the present group had not created it gists talking to each other. In February 1999, [SIECUS], others would have inevitably had to do so.” SIECUS conducted a public poll on our Internet site to ask 1964 was a very different world for people’s sexual the general public who had the greatest impact in bringing rights. Married couples did not have a constitutional right to about a positive change in the way America understands obtain contraception. Abortion was illegal. Sex education, as and affirms sexuality.The top ten, chosen from a list of 100, it was called then, was almost nonexistent. Gays and lesbians are listed in the article on page 3. were labeled as deviant. Sexually explicit materials were only There is now an acceptance of the need for sexuality available in dark stores that “nice” people didn’t enter. The education in schools that would have been undreamed of in “pill” was newly available and Playboy was breaking barriers. the early years of SIECUS. In the late 196Os, such groups as The women’s movement, the youth movement, and the gay the John Birch Society and the Christian Crusade published and lesbian rights movement were all to come. booklets with such titles as Is the School House the Proper How far we have come! Today, 90 percent of all couples Place to Teach Raw Sex? I remember being picketed in the use contraception. Today, almost all teenagers report that 1970s with signs that said “Keep Sex Education Out of they have received some formal instruction in sexuality the Schools.” issues compared to only half of all people who graduated There is now broad-based public and professional con- from high school in the early 1970s,Today, in many places, sensus about the need for sexuality education for children gays and lesbians live openly and proudly in their commu- and youth. In the latest Gallup opinion poll, 87 percent of nities, workplaces, and religious institutions. Today, adults paretts support school-based sexuality education, up from can obtain sexually explicit materials for their personal use 76 percent just ten years ago. More than 115 of the coun- from their local family video stores. Today, more than 90 try’s most mainstream national youth, health, medical, and percent ofAmericans endorse the concept of gender equity religious organizations support sexuality education as mem- in the workplace. bers of the SIECUS-led National Coalition to Support The reality is that Americans think and talk about sex- Sexuality Education. A current list of all Coalition members uality differently now than they did in the mid-1960s. The is on page 19. 2 SIECUS REPORT VOLUME 27, NUMBER 4 But, the need for SIECUS is as great as ever. Since recent murders of Matthew Shepard, Dr. Barnett Slepian, 1990, there has been a steady attack on comprehensive and Billy Jack Gaither are dramatic examples of how tenu- sexuality education. Fewer states (19) now require sexuality ous sexual rights are. education than at the start of this decade. Since SIECUS’ But, there is no question that we are closer to our vision community advocacy project began in 1992, we have docu- of a world where sexuality is affirmed and where all people mented more than 700 controversies in every state over the have the education, services, and rights they need to make content of sexuality education. responsible sexual choices consistent with their own personal The federal abstinence-only-until-marriage program is values. I like to think that our cofounders would be pleased beginning to change the landscape of sexuality education; to visit SIECUS today and learn more about the activities of five states have already adopted this restrictive language into our 20 professional staff in Washington and NewYork. their state laws. The article “Analysis of States’ We are pleased to publish a history of SIECUS and the Implementation of Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage timeline of SIECUS milestones in this special issue of the Education Program” on page 14 provides a snapshot of the SIECUS Report. I am proud and grateful to have been part impact of the first year of the program’s implementation. of SIECUS’ history for the past 11 years, and deeply hon- SIECUS’ work is far from done. Alarming rates of ored to carry out the mission that was begun 35 years ago. I unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, raise an imaginary celebration toast to all of you who have sexual abuse, and other forms of sexual violence plague supported SIECUS and who in your daily work help make America, and indeed, most countries around the globe. The our vision a reality. * . ..**.......................,......... * . ..I _ . ..*........ If. I . _ . ..*...................................,....... * *...e....*...... *.*.... *............. * . * . ..I......... *..* . ..I.. IO INDIVIDUALS TOP SIECUS “PEOPLE ARE TALKING” POLL SIECUS Web site visitors participated in a “People Are The candidate list of 100 people included actors, Talking” poll in February to select 10 individuals from a artists, authors, historians, musicians, writers, columnists, list of 100 who have brought about a positive change in philosophers, playwrights, and leaders in the field of sexu- the way America understands and1 affirms sexuality as a zhzy, among others. natural and healthy part of Me.