Maine Says No to Abstinence

Liberated Christians
Cyber Swing/Polyamory Resource Center
Promoting Intimacy and Other-Centered Sexuality

Maine Says No to Abstinence

Maine has become the third state, after Pennsylvania and California, to reject federal funds to teach kids the alleged importance of sexual abstinence until marriage.

Maine has accepted $1,000,000 in federal money to promote abstinence-until-marriage since 1998. But the state did not apply for $165,000 in these funds this fiscal year and will not seek it for '05-'06.

"This money is more harmful than it is good," said Dr. Dora Anne Mills, the state's public-health director. With this money, "You can't talk about comprehensive reproductive information." And since gays can't marry, the government message requires lifelong abstinence for them. Of course, since ź of self-identified high school "virgins" have had oral sex, that might not be quite as bad as it sounds.

Until recently, Washington allowed states to emphasize three of its eight abstinence funding guidelines. And so in the past, Maine used these funds to discourage premature sexual activity; show that alcohol and drug use compromise sexual decision-making; and describe abstinence as the best way to avoid unwanted pregnancies and STDs.

But last year, federal officials "strongly encouraged us to emphasize all eight of them equally," said Nancy Birkhimer of Maine's Department of Health & Human Services. And two of those guidelines state that "a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the context of marriage is the expected standard of human sexual activity," and "sexual activity outside of the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects."

It's terribly painful to think that our government requires public schools to teach this to children. Imagine using such frankly religious, scientifically inaccurate nonsense to teach about, oh, the origins of Earth. Wouldn't that be silly!

"Reprinted from Sexual Intelligence, Š Marty Klein, Ph.D. (www.SexEd.org)."