Posts Tagged ‘safer sex’

POSTED: 5:04 pm EST February 7, 2011

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — A new controversial sex seminar that could be coming to Central Connecticut State University in New Britain is raising eyebrows. It’s an explicit seminar that’s also offered at a number of other schools in the state.

This one-hour presentation put on by a Rhode Island based sexologist was initially slated to come to campus last week.

Fornication 101 is a seminar that promised to help participants “experience the erotic attitude awareness and sexual skill building.”

“It doesn’t seem to be a bad thing,” said student Ethan Pelletier. “We’re all adults here.”

Many different topics were to be discussed in a steamy sexology seminar slated to come to campus at CCSU before being canceled last week.

Certified sexologist Megan Andelloux, also known as Ms. Sexuality Speaker, tours universities talking about adult sex education.

One concerned woman in Meriden emailed Eyewitness News saying she was appalled her tax dollars would support such an offensive program, but school officials said the program was privately funded.

According to a university official, funds for the $600 presentation would come from private donations given to the Ruthe Boyea Women’s Center in support of its educational mission.

Taxpayer dollars are not used.

Despite the provocative title, the presentation clearly focuses on health, sexual consent and on providing a frank, open, positive and factual presentation designed to appeal to college-age students.

Officials said the seminar hasn’t been re-scheduled, but according to the sex educator’s website, she’ll be on campus in March.

Source:  http://www.wfsb.com/education/26780069/detail.html

For Immediate Release

02/07/2011

Sexuality educators set the record straight: “Talking about sexuality does not increase sexually transmitted infections” despite what non-experts report.

Contact: 
Megan Andelloux

HiOhMegan@gmail.com

401-345-8685

Contact: Aida Manduley

Aida_manduley@brown.edu

787-233-0025

In yet another attempt to shut down access to quality sex education, South-Eastern New England conservative advocates hit the sex panic button in a multi-state, email and phone campaign to colleges all over New England last week.

On February 3^rd and 4^th , certified sexuality educator and sexologist Megan Andelloux (AASECT, ACS) received word that numerous colleges and university faculty received a document stating that colleges who brought sex educators such as Ms. Andelloux onto their campuses were linked to the increasing rate of transmission of HIV in RI. Furthermore, among other misleading “facts” that were “cited,” the author of this bulletin claimed that Brown University was facing an HIV crisis, which is false.

Citizens Against Trafficking, the face behind the fear-mongering, spammed numerous local institutions from a University of Rhode Island account with its latest malicious missive that targeted specific individuals as well as Brown University.  The author of the letter, Margaret Brooks, an Economics Professor at Bridgewater State, suggested that colleges and universities that host sexuality speakers, including those who are professionally accredited, are partly to blame for the four new cases of HIV which have been diagnosed amongst RI college students this year.

Ms. Andelloux states: “My heart goes out to those students who have recently tested positive for HIV. However, there is no evidence of any link between campus presentations on sexual issues and the spike in HIV cases. Rather, I would suggest that this demonstrates a need for more high-quality sex education to college students.“ It is unclear why people at URI or Citizens Against Trafficking, a coalition to combat all forms of human trafficking, is attempting to stop adults from accessing sexual information from qualified, trained educators. What is certain however, is that this Professor of Economics miscalculated her suggestion that a correlation exists between increased HIV rates in Rhode Island and the type of sex education these speakers provided at Brown University: one that emphasized accurate information, risk-reduction, pleasure, and health.

Barrier methods have been shown by the CDC to reduce the transmission of HIV and other STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections). Research has shown that when individuals have access to medically-accurate information, are aware of sexual risk reduction methods, and have access to learn about sexual health, the number of infections and transmission of STIs decreases, pain during sex decreases, and condom use increases. The CAT circulated bulletin is blatantly misleading about many issues, and often omits information that is crucial to understanding the full picture of sex education at Brown and in Rhode Island.

Shanna Katz M.Ed, one of the educators listed in the bulletin states, “In today’s world, many people are sexually active without having ever learned about sex itself. Educating adults about how to better communicate with their partner and how to protect themselves physically and emotionally is vital to the health and wellness of our culture. Without this information and skill sets, we are back in the 1950s, with people feeling guilt around sex, and feeling as though their desires are wrong.”

Reid Mihalko states, “In an age where the majority of college-age adults have only experienced federally funded abstinence-only sex education, continue to get their visual cues about sex from mainstream porn, and feel unsafe talking to their parents and school administrators about accurate sexual health information, I am committed to teaching men and women of all ages comprehensive, pragmatic safer sex practices and how to think for themselves when it comes to making the best sex and intimacy choices for them.”

When individuals who do not hold any background in sexuality education speak out in opposition because of their fear or prejudice, society becomes rooted in outdated beliefs and pseudo-science that do injustice to people everywhere. Furthermore, when those individuals personally and publicly attack those devoted to providing sex education with false and misinformed accusations, it not only hurts those who are defamed, but also the community at large.

We ask for an immediate retraction of the vilifying and inaccurate statements made by Ms. Margaret Brooks and Citizens Against Trafficking in their latest newsletter. We also ask that esteemed local universities such as URI and Bridgewater State continue to hold their employees to ethical standards of normal scientific inquiry and require that their faculty hold some modicum of expertise in a field of education before raising the public level of panic over it.

Megan Andelloux is available to answer any questions the press, Margaret Brooks, University of Rhode Island or Citizens Against Trafficking holds. Aida Manduley, the Chair of Brown University’s Sexual Health Education and Empowerment Council and Brown University’s is available to discuss the upcoming Sex Week and sexuality workshops held at Brown University.

Signed,

Megan Andelloux

Shanna Katz

Reid Mihalko

Aida Manduley

##########

Students Gather To Learn About Hot, Safer Sex

By Shannon Keating

Published 13 December 2010

Last Friday, everyone in the Women’s Center clutched what looked like oversized plastic Easter eggs that were not filled with candy. Their workshop leader warned everyone not to open the packages prematurely; they were Tenga eggs, flexible and doughy masturbatory tools, part of a goodie assortment that also included various lubes.

“This isn’t really the appropriate time to break them out,” their workshop leader said. “Now, to get started, if you have a cell phone, please put it on vibrate and stick it between your legs.”

Last Friday, the Women’s Center was overflowing with people trying not to sit on each other, all of them facing a table crowded with brightly colored sex toys and lube. They squeezed into the Smith/Burdick basement for a workshop by Oh Megan!, or MeganAndelloux, a board certified sexologist and nationally certified sex educator who came wielding tools of the trade to educate on “Supersex”: safe sex that’s hot and fun.

Skyler Volpe ’13, a student coordinator of the Women’s Center, said that Andelloux used to come to Conn through the Feminist Majority group, which has since been absorbed by the Women’s Center. “Her presentations were always well attended and widely talked about, so we wanted to bring her back this year,” she said. “She was glad to come back to Conn!”

“She eliminated all potential awkwardness for the audience from the beginning,” said Rachel Saltzman ‘14. “By telling us about herself and her background from the start, we could think of her as a real person and not as this strange sex speaker.”

Andelloux loosened up the crowd by chatting amiably about what led her to our campus. She worked for Planned Parenthood for nine years, but was “burned out by the bad stuff,” like the onslaught of teen pregnancy and STDs. She now wants to teach young adults that there are ways to make safe sex exciting, no matter your gender or sexual orientation.

“I really enjoyed how diplomatic and sexually unbiased she was,” said Alia Roth ’14. Andelloux took the time to explain that she would differentiate between “penis-owners” and “vagina-owners,” but these terms did not imply gender identity or sexual preference.

Her presentation commenced with a plush vulva puppet she named Veronica, the exploration of which allowed the audience to view a cartoonishly large, fluffy replica of the clitoris, the labia and even the G-spot (Stickers exclaiming “The G-spot does exist!” were included in the goodie collections).

Andelloux bluntly explained that “while deep-dicking sounds lovely,” there are more nerve endings towards the front of the vagina, and fewer the deeper one ventures. Additionally, the clitoris is about six inches long, but can get up to eight when stimulated, and is most sensitive in its upper left quadrant.

Sequentially, Andelloux hefted out an alarmingly large and apparently rare uncircumcised dildo to educate about the penis. She explained that circumcision was not the only method originally employed to suppress children’s sexual desires: the blandness of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and graham crackers were also used. They, as she pointed out, did not work.

Andelloux shared other “fun facts” throughout the presentation, including a few on the penis: length is not as important to vaginal stimulation as girth, the average speed of ejaculation is thirty five miles per hour (though the shots can reach eighty), the scrotum is constantly moving, and (lightly!) pulling down on the sack during foreplay or intercourse, will delay orgasm.

This last one was particularly useful information, because Andelloux then indicated that the average national penis-owner “lasts” about two minutes.

To demonstrate, three volunteers were called to the front of the room and instructed to thrust with invisible partners, persistently.

“You’re doing it wrong!” Andelloux yelled at them as she stood aside, smirking. “You’re not going fast enough! Faster! Ow, you’re hurting me!”

The crowd was atwitter and the volunteers were panting and laughing when she called Time; they had cleared a mere 46 seconds.

Next on the agenda was a discussion of the orgasm, which Andelloux indicated to be very healthy for the body: it lowers stress, helps sleep, can alleviate mild depression, and even allows wounds to heal faster.

She then transitioned into a talk on vibrators, tools originally created as a treatment for hysteria.

“Some people don’t want to use them because they say they want to do it ‘the natural way,’” said Andelloux. “Well, toilets aren’t natural, but they make our lives better.”

Vagina-owners on average take ten to twenty minutes to get off, which means the best way they can achieve orgasm during intercourse is through practice with self-stimulation first. “The G-spot is not like the Staples ‘Easy’ button,” said Andelloux.

The workshop drew to a close after an extensive run-through of sex toys and supplements, from lubes (the water-based kind can increase STI transmission, she cautioned; go with silicon-based instead) to strap-ons (Volpe unabashedly volunteered to wear it as Andelloux demonstrated applying a condom with her mouth) to whips and funky vibrators. A crowd favorite was OhMiBod, a dildo that syncs up with your iPod and vibrates to the beat of the song of your choice.

Andelloux took some questions the audience had written anonymously on note cards.  One asked for blowjob and handjob tips. She taught some moves – the ‘bottle-cap’ and the ‘octopus’ among them – but added, “Be confident, and be enthusiastic. You’d be amazed by how far that goes.”

“The center was packed, and people looked genuinely enthusiastic and interested in her presentation,” said Volpe. “It was also really cool to see so many people in the Center. It’s a beautiful space that doesn’t see nearly enough love from the campus community.”

Said Peter Herron ’14, “Andelloux knew exactly what she was doing. I would thoroughly recommend that girls learn from the vast wisdom this amazing woman has to offer. I definitely learned a thing or two myself.” •

Special Note: Water-Based Lubricant DOES NOT INCREASE STI TRANSMISSION. In controlled lab studies (not human based research), certain water-based lubricants damaged cell structures.  This is preliminary research.  For more information, please see http://www.microbicides2010.org/files/LubesDezzuttiAbstract.pdf

December 23, 2009

Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Global Health Affairs Hubert H. Humphrey Building Room 639H 200 Independence Avenue SW Washington, DC 20201

Comments on Office of Global Health Affairs; Regulation on the Organizational Integrity of Entities Implementing Leadership Act Programs and Activities, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 74 Fed. Reg. 61,096 November 23, 2009

Dear Secretary Sebelius:

The undersigned organizations and individuals submit these comments on the proposed regulation implementing the “anti-prostitution policy requirement,” 22 U.S.C. § 7631(f), contained in the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2003 (“Leadership Act”).

HIV prevention goals – as well as the human rights of individuals – are undermined by the Leadership Act’s “pledge requirement,” which requires recipients of funding to have a “policy opposing prostitution and sex trafficking.” We oppose the requirement because it compromises much-needed health and social services and the right to those services, as well as free speech. The law is bad – and the proposed regulations do not make a bad situation any better. Moreover, the proposed regulations are unworkable for foreign NGOs.

The Bush Administration originally found that the pledge requirement was unconstitutional as applied to US NGOs and, accordingly, prevented agencies from enforcing it against US NGOs. They reversed course in 2005 and a broad coalition of groups sued the US government on First Amendment grounds to stop enforcement. The draft regulation makes no mention of this litigation even though a federal court has twice found the pledge and its implementation unconstitutional. Instead, the draft proposes an extremely burdensome scheme for US groups to exercise their free speech rights. Moreover, the proposed regulation continues to be so vague that affected NGOs do notknow how to operate under it. The draft regulation is therefore deeply disappointing.

In order to cure the ongoing constitutional violation, HHS should refrain again from enforcing the policy requirement against U.S.-based non-governmental organizations, as it did from May 2003 through May 2005, and as it has been substantially ordered to do by the District Court.

The proposed regulations do not clarify what it means to “oppose prostitution” and leave it unknown whether the following activities are allowable:

1. A recipient uses private funds to support a “safe house” where meetings, counseling, and health services are provided for sex workers. The program supports efforts to negotiate with the police to assure that the sex workers will not be subjected to illegal harassment and exploitation. By ensuring a safe environment, health workers are able to engage and consistently reach vulnerable groups in need of services.

2. A recipient provides private funds to a group of sex workers that has come together as a collective to help them obtain access to such rights as wearing shoes outside a brothel and a proper burial. That group of sex workers either has no policy on prostitution or, on its own accord, takes a public position promoting or advocating the legalization of prostitution.

3. A recipient supports with private funds a range of health care providers, including some private entities that operate their own clinics. Such health care providers might advocate for the legalization of prostitution, conduct research, publish papers, or speak publicly on the topic of legalization of prostitution.

4. A recipient uses private grants to conducts trials on microbicides. These trials require the enrollment of individuals at very high risk of contracting HIV, such as sex workers, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of new products in preventing HIV transmission. Such trials must be carefully constructed to ensure that such women are not exploited as human subjects. Previous trials involving sex worker populations have been unsuccessful due to protests by sex worker groups (among others) over the perceived ethics of such trials. The recipient wants to work with this community in order to build bridges and help sex workers and their allies understand the potential of microbicides and prevention research. It also wants to contract with members of the community to conduct research and engage in outreach with their peers. The coalitions, NGOs and unions representing sex workers all take different positions on the issue of prostitution and its legalization.

5. Countries have experimented with a range of legal and health approaches with regard to prostitution. It is the responsibility of public health professionals to objectively examine these various approaches and to present evidence on their outcomes. A recipient uses private funds to engage in public health research and discourse related to the pros and cons of various legal regimes and health approaches to stemming the transmission of HIV/AIDS among this high risk group.

6. A recipient supports a privately funded study to examine the reproductive health needs of HIV positive women, including commercial sex workers. The study occurs in several countries, including some where commercial sex work is legal. The research findings indicate possible benefits arising from the decriminalization and/or legalization of sex work in stemming the transmission of HIV/AIDS and the organization publishes such findings.

7. A recipient provides privately funded technical HIV/AIDS support to a U.S. academic institution, in which faculty members take a wide range of positions on the legal status of prostitution and how it affects public health outcomes. The recipient would like to continue providing technical support.

There are additional concerns about the requirements to maintain separate organizations, because they are unworkable in most practical situations. Additionally, the regulations do not provide a process for approval of affiliate organization proposals and given the penalties for being out of compliance, this lack of clarity may make it more likely that organizations simply cannot provide the needed services.

In addition, the regulation calls for funding recipients to maintain “objective integrity and independence from any affiliated organization” that engages in undefined “restricted” activities. A recipient must be “to the extent practicable in the circumstances, legally, physically and financially separate from the affiliated organization.” Rather than listing clear standards, there are five non-exclusive factors, none of which is given any particular weight. The agency reserves the right to determine, “on a case-by-case basis and based on the totality of the facts, whether sufficient legal, physical and financial separation exists” and reserves the right to take other, as yet undisclosed, factors into account.

The harsh separation requirement is unnecessary, and has been rejected by HHS in other arenas. In regulations for the faith-based initiative, HHS required that federally funded activities are conducted either at a different time or in a different place than any privately funded, religious activities such as worship and proselytization. HHS has recognized that this level of separation is sufficient to ensure that the government neither funds nor endorses a grantee’s message. Therefore, such separation would be sufficient to ensure that HHS does not endorse any privately funded speech related to prostitution by recipients.

The unconstitutional limitation on free speech lead us to believe that the pledge should not be enforced against US-based NGOs. We also maintain that the proposed regulations are unworkable and stand in the way of providing essential services to human being, both because they fail to answer basic questions about what is required and they propose a budensome affiliation scheme.

Thank you for consideration of our comments. Sex Work Awareness, New York

Alan Clear, Harm Reduction Coalition, New York Sienna Baskin, New York Jeanne Bergman, New York, NY Jake Wolfhart, Capitan, NM

Jill Brenneman, Durham, NC Christopher Brown, Springfield, MO Ginger Ruth-Virago, San Francisco, CA Marie Camacho, Dallas, TX Juline Koken, Ph.D., New York Chris O’Sullivan, El Cerrito, CA Dee Dennis, Connecticut Melissa Hope Ditmore, Ph.D, New York, NY Lillian Cohen-Moore, Everett, WA Eric Wunderman, New York, NY Shelly Resnick, Portland, OR Karem Dion, Wahiawa, HI Melissa Gira Grant, Brooklyn, NY Christina Jones, Wichita, KS Analía Lavin, Montevideo, Uruguay Carol Leigh, California Sean Mannion, Brooklyn, NY Kevin Silvey, Seminole, FL Audacia Ray, Brooklyn, NY

Alicia Relles, San Francisco, CA Ilse Rumes, Brooklyn, NY Laura-Marie Taylor, Sacramento, CA Mae Quilty, Boston, MA

Julia Gelbort, Chicago, IL Kenneth Knoppik, Boca Raton, FL Amanda Brooks, Las Vegas, NV David Phillips, Berwyn Heights, MD Joan E Loza Mobry, Madison, WI Elizabeth Wood, Kew Gardens, NY Christiane Henker, Bad Laer, Germany Elisabeth Kelly, Washington, DC Linda Gottschalk, Green Bay, WI Rev Bookburn, Collingswood, NJ Slava Osowska, San Francisco, CA Candy Leblanc, Sacramento, CA Ron. Price, Pasadena, TX Catherine Simon, Northampton, MA Chelsea Ricker, Brooklyn, NY Dana Eckhoff, San Francisco, CA Lily Rocco, New York, NY Kim Carter, Van Wert, OH Darryl Warner, Rockaway Beach, NY

Elizabeth Barrette, Charleston, IL Stacey Swimme, San Francisco, CA Jenifer Mitchell, Tucson, AZ Kelli Wells, Rocklin, CA

Ginger Geronimo, Birmingham, AL Thierry Schaffauser, London, NY Lynn Maurine, Land o Lakes, FL Bill Piper, Washington, DC

Bob O’Connor, South China, ME James M Nordlund, Fargo, ND Anthony Bowles, Silver Spring, MD SWOP East, Raleigh, NC

AV Flox, Los Angeles, CA Bryan D. Freehling, Lahaska, PA Kee Hinckley, Winchester, MA John Bitters, Portland, OR Rebecca Dundon, Lexington, KY Evelyn Wolke, Manassas, VA Adjoa Tetteh, New York, NY Samantha Maloney, Bridgewater, NJ Jesse Evans, Berkeley, CA Cha-Cha Connor, Worcester, MA Elizabeth Nanas, Canton, MI

Lisa Skibenes, Yorktown Hts, NY Katharine Fisher, Berkeley, CA Anne Jonas, New York, NY Rachel Aimee, Brooklyn, NY Zanne Frandsen, Copenhagen, NE Kimberly Cornwell, Sacramento, CA Rachel Grinstein, Brooklyn, NY Julie Iversen, Copenhagen, CA Aoife Swane, Ludwigshafen/Rhein, DE Jenny Heilbronn, Offenbach, DE Barbara Carrellas, New York, NY Mark Woodward, Alexandria, TN

Lisa B Schwartz, Yardley, PA Juliana Williamson-Page, Monterey, CA Tara Hurley, Pawtucket, RI Katrin Redfern, Brooklyn, NY Kelly Boyker, Seattle, WA Carol Leigh, San Francisco, CA Veronica Monet, Nevada City, CA Ingrida Platais, Brooklyn, NY Diviana Ingravallo, L.A., CA Benny Jack Jerne, Vejen, DE David Henry Sterry, Montclair, NJ

Catherine Stephens, New York Shawna Colubriale, Las Vegas, NV Paul Arons, Friday Harbor, WA Padma Govindan, Brooklyn, NY Vanessa Forro, Cleveland, OH Claus Petersen, Århus, Denmark Meitar Moscovitz, San Francisco, CA Petra Timmermans, Amsterdam, CA Berta Avila, San Leandro, CA Shannon Williams, Oakland, CA Michelle Aldrich, San Francisco, CA Heather Bowlan, Long Beach, CA Barb Brents, Las Vegas, NV Edward Rippy, Concord, CA Caroline Coppola, Phoenix, AZ Soodle Billy, Co.Dublin, Ireland Jerry Isom, Lake Oswego, OR Flannery Rogers, Brooklyn, NY Bruce Evans, Portland, OR Laura Place, Takoma Park, MD Ashley Fairburn, Fresno, CA Mike Toohey, York, SC Robin Head, Las Vegas, NV

Jessie Abraham, Darwin, WY Erin Gannon, San Francisco, CA Juliana Piccillo, Tucson, AZ Kristen DeLuca, Pittsfield, MA Gregoire Bolduc, Flint, MI Janice Rocke, Carmel, CA Sue Metzenrath, ACT, CA Billie Jackson, M.A., Westminster, CO Jason Bowman, Sacramento, CA Danna Freedman-Shara, North Kingstown, RI Megan Andelloux, Pawtucket, RI Ledena Mattox, Portland, OR Monica Shores, Washington, DC Jason Flores, Merced, CA Tamara O’Doherty, Burnaby, WA Shawn Tamaribuchi, San Francisco, CA Peter Werner, Sausalito, CA William Colwell, Sturbridge, MA Sarah Grinstein, San Francisco, CA Renee Lamont, Washington, DC E. McInate, Oakland, CA Diego Basdeo, Richmond, VA Antonia Levy, Leipzig, NY

Jomeka Barnett, Murfreesboro, TN Melissa Broudo, Brooklyn, NY Dan Powers, Denver, CO Edward Miller, Johns Creek, GA Ceceilia Morrow, Astoria, NY Jenny Barto, Lakewood, OH Allena Gabosch, Seattle, WA Haven Wheelock, Portland, OR Loretta Bengivenga, Pen Argyl, PA Jennifer Wilen, Brooklyn, NY

Liz Coplen, Tucson, AZ Eric Mortensen, Brooklyn, NY Fred Cook, Hollywood, CA Jake Christian, Los Angeles, CA Annie Sprinkle, San Francisco, CA Deborah Valentine, Murrieta, CA Dara Cohen, Minneapolis, MN Kirsten Aspengren, Eugene, OR Michelle Holshue, Ambler, PA Urooj Arshad, Washington, DC Shanna Katz, Phoenix, AZ David Beasley, Brooklyn, NY Kay West, Tucson, AZ

Mark Reinert, Boston, MA

Juline Koken, Brooklyn, NY

Ellen Marshall, Louisville, Colorado

Maryse Mitchell Brody, New York

Mabel Bianco, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Julie Bates, Australia

Ted Cheng, Taiwan

Kate DeMaere, Australia

Jo Doezema, Ph.D., Visiting Fellow IDS University of Sussex

Kara Gillies, Program Development and Education Coordinator at Maggie’s: The Toronto Sex Workers Action Project

Dr. Michael Goodyear, Halifax, Canada Anneke Hut, Amersfoort, Netherlands Ingrid Peeters, Torremolinos, Spain Norrie May Welby, Australia

Global Network of Sex Work Projects, United Kingdom Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network Glyde Health, Australia Scarlet Alliance, Australia

Sex Workers Interest Organization, Denmark Syndicat du TRAvail Sexuel (STRASS), France