33 replies on “Rising STI Rates Proves Need For…”

  1. I’m gearing up for your Mayoral campaign Dan. I’ve created a nice flyer to staple around town. It has a photo of you off Google and tear offs on the bottom with tinyurl links to some of your best stuff.

    I need to know Dan–what color will be the theme of your campaign so I can use that for the flyers?

  4. Let’s call Abstinence Education what it really is: How To Have Furtive, Unsafe Sex And Feel Guilty About It Afterward Education.

    First Lesson: “Lower your inhibitions through drinking!”
    Second Lesson: “If you don’t plan for it and it ‘just happens,’ you can worry about the consequences later!”

  5. Dan there must be something wrong with the SLOG website. I couldn’t get this comment to post. I had to re-set my IP address. Surely, you are not blocking comments supporting your campaign for Mayor of Seattle. That would be censorship. You haven’t changed your mind and decided not to run, have you Dan? You get us Dan-fans all worked up and then you just give up on the campaign. Don’t worry about your colleague Erica being a convicted thief. That simply gives a politician credibility. Anyway—

    Dan, I’m also designing postcard sized versions of the flyers to leave in cafes, pizza parlors, that sort of thing. I’ll bet Mama’s pizza would love to have some. They surely still recall the times you have promoted them here at Slog. Dan you have so many people in the community who love and respect and owe you and wish you success that you are a shoo-in for Mayor. But Dan, I really need to know the color theme for your campaign as soon as possible so I can get this stuff printed.

  7. @4 Speaking from experience, you are 100% correct.

    I was given abstinence-only “sex ed” in late elementary and middle school – it was the Focus on the Family cirriculum, which devoted all of one short paragraph to sexual intercourse, with (of course) no mention of STI’s or birth control. As a result, my early sexual behavior was reckless and unsafe. I consider myself extremely lucky that I didn’t knock anyone up or contract a disease.

  8. I have had trouble commenting since the Erica-caught-shoplifting story surfaced last week, and I was very vocally against her last week.

    My IP address has been banned, and I can only comment now when I go to anonymizing sites.

    There’s no telling how many people the Stranger banned who simply don’t know how to get around I.P. blocking and haven’t spoken out.

    The Stranger is blocking I.P. addresses.

  10. @8 If you have DSL simply turn it off and on and it will reset the IP.

    People think that The Stranger is a liberal organization, but for all the cocksucking talk and evangelical bashing they are conservatives in that they are really bullies and hypocrites just like the Republican party..

  12. You know, the American Family Association doesn’t really represent anybody. I think you’re giving them way more credit than they deserve.

  13. Dan, if I run some ads (with tinyurl links to your really good Slog stuff) do I need to report the expenditure to your campaign if we don’t collude on the ads?

  14. Fnarf, the AFA is a major source of information and opinion for religious conservatives. I still have fundie relatives forwarding me the occasional “AFA Action Alert”. While they may not officially represent anyone, their influence reaches farther than you think (which is disturbing, when you think about it).

  16. Dan, when are you going to write a sex-ed book for teens? It would be great to have something witty, informative, hip, and accurate to give my nieces and nephews. You’re the one to write it!!!

    thanks.

  18. @15 If it was anyone but Slog doing it you would be screaming censorship. The critical thinking ability of commenters here is a millimeter deep.

  19. I agree — banning IP addresses makes Slog’s admin part of the problem. But there are some significantly repugnant people commenting who are just spewing — not thinking, not debating, not engaging, just spewing. It’s a real shame to have to put up with that. Is there a solution?

  20. Oh no! The slog bans people who repeatedly make non sequitur, random remarks. The monsters!

    Meanwhile, STD rates rise because of wacky Christian groups who think that people deserve to be sick if they have sex.

  21. STI rises because people engage in unsafe behavior. Promiscuous sex outside a monogamous long term relationship is inherietly unsafe and a thin layer of latex does not change that.
    The homosexual community is not a hotbed of Bible-thumping fundamentalists but it manages a pretty high STI rate so blaming the religious right is a smokescreen.
    People need to take responsibility for their behavior.

  24. @21:

    STI rises because people engage in unsafe behavior.

    This doesn’t explain the opposition to things like condoms that make said behavior substantially less unsafe. That thin layer of latex has an extremely significant impact on the risk factors, as numerous studies have shown. Deliberately concealing that information from people who have shown that they will have sex even if they are told not to is hard to interpret as anything but a deliberate attempt to increase the associated risk.

    Why would you wish to do that?

    Remember that even if you think sex between long-term monogamous partners is a good idea, it isn’t the law. Most people will have multiple sex partners in their lives. Withholding accurate information that might help to reduce that risk results in more people getting STIs and more unplanned pregnancies, and those who advocate this approach need to own up to what they are really promoting: Disease, neglect and death.

  25. @21:

    It’s all well-and-good to tell people to take responsibility for their own actions, but in order for them to be able to do that, they have to first be supplied with the tools, information, and insight that allows them to make such responsible choices. Just telling kids, “don’t have sex until you’re married and want to have a baby” simply doesn’t come anywhere close to providing a foundation for making such a rational, well-considered decision, not about a subject already rife with myth, misunderstanding, and flat-out prevarication.

    Unfortunately, groups like AFA don’t really seem to care about empowering kids to make responsible choices; they’re only concern seems to be to force kids to make the choice they want them to make, whether it’s the most appropriate/responsible one for them at the time or not.

    The basic problem with an abstinence-only approach to sex education is that it’s perversely unrealistic, as the Texas survey clearly shows. The kids don’t believe it, they don’t practice it, and they end up in regrettably miserable – yet thoroughly preventable – situations because of it.

    And in the face of such an utter failure, the best the AFA can do is insist that even MORE A-O Ed. be forced down these kids throats – if 94% program saturation isn’t making even a scintilla of headway in one of the most conservative states in the nation, what sort of tortured logic on their part does it take to conclude pushing their agenda on the remaining 6% is going to result in a some sort of a sudden, massive, all-encompassing turn-around for their point-of-view?

    They’re delusional, plain and simple.

  26. 24
    25

    Is English you boys’ second language?
    Pay attention.

    AFA is irrelevant, a distracting straw man piece of red meat Dan throws out for the slog faithful to gnaw on.

    Promiscuous sex outside a monogamous long term relationship is inherently unsafe.
    inherently unsafe
    It is not what I think.
    It is a fact.

    The condom crowd will tell you that using a rubber magically turns unsafe behavior into ‘safe sex’.
    it is a lie.
    Less unsafe is not safe.

    People need to take responsibility for their behavior.
    Quite blaming AFA and the Religious Right.

    Most people out there with and spreading STI know about condoms.

    According to Wiki …

    http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condom

    … The actual failure rate when condoms are used to prevent pregnancy can be anywhere between 10 and 18% per year.

    According to a 2001 study by the National Institutes of Health, correct and consistent condom use:

    Reduces the risk of HIV/AIDS transmission by approximately 85%.
    Reduces the risk of gonorrhea for men by approximately 71%.
    Other sexually-transmitted infections may be affected as well, but they could not draw definite conclusions from the research they were working with. In particular, these include STIs associated with ulcerative lesions that may be present on body surfaces where the condom does not cover, such as human papillomavirus (HPV), genital herpes simplex (HSV), chancroid, and syphilis. If contact is made with uncovered lesions, transmission of these STIs may still occur despite appropriate condom use.

    Are kids told that even when they use a condom properly they still have a significant chance to get AIDS and other STIs?
    A wise man once noted that deliberately concealing that information from people who have shown that they will have sex even if they are told not to is hard to interpret as anything but a deliberate attempt to increase the associated risk.

    Give kids the truth.

  27. I grew up in Lubbock, TX. When I was in school, we had comprehensive sex ed and normal teen pregnancy/STI rates. Now that abstinence-only sex ed has taken hold (in conjunction with the Baptist/Church of Christ stranglehold on the city), Lubbock’s teen pregnancy and STI rates have shot up to among the highest in the nation. PBS did a documentary on the subject.

    Abstinence-only sex ed doesn’t work. Of course there are still risks endured by kids who do have adequate sex ed, but at least they know what they are getting into from the get-go.

  29. @27, with apologies to the rest for feeding the trolls.

    Condoms have a 10-18% failure rate with typical use, which means not using them correctly every single time . That includes attempting to put them on inside out; not pulling out while the penis is semierect and thereby spilling semen; and putting them on correctly before any sort of genital contact occurs; amongst many other things (like keeping them in a reasonably climate-controlled environment–not a wallet–and keeping them away from pets, which sometimes like to chew on them).

    So, class, how do you teach perfect use? Not via abstinence only education, which focuses strictly on the failures of condoms (say, 15% failure rates with imperfect use) rather than the prevention (85% pregnancy and disease prevention with imperfect use). AO education also fails to point out the 85% or greater chance that unprotected straight sex results in pregnancy in these age groups.

    Do condoms, perfectly used, prevent everything? No. But, if you want to live a completely risk free life, I suggest perusing actuarial tables before deciding to stay locked in your bedroom the rest of your life (that’s where most people die, btw.)

    Real sex education should cover how to do things more safely (hence “safer sex.”). That means choosing and using appropriate protection every time you have sex, not getting so fucked up with drugs that you do risky things without realizing it, and taking responsibility for yourself and your partners to not spread disease or make babies wantonly.

  30. Oh Dan! Ohhhhhh Dan! I am so geared up for your mayoral campaign. I’ve been combing the Slog archives for your best writings. I want the citizens of Seattle to know the real Dan Savage. Compassionate, thoughtful, empathetic, generous, OH Dan!!! I can hardly wait for the campaign to begin. I’ll be there for you Dan. I’ll be there for you every day promoting your past musings on matters large and small to the citizens of Seattle.

    Must I report my expenditures to your campaign if we don’t collude on the message?

  33. 29

    It should be advertised as “less unsafe sex” then.

    In the real world condoms have a considerable failure rate. Even if used properly, condoms have a considerable failure rate.

    Abstinence, if employed, has a 100% success rate.

    Kids should be taught the truth about both.

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