Schedule:
Friday, January 22, 2027: 2:00 PM-3:30 PM
Golden Gate 7 (Hilton San Francisco Union Square)
Cluster: Gender
Symposium Organizer:
Samantha Guz, PhD, University of Alabama
Discussant:
Shanna K. Kattari, PhD, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
An ongoing area of exploration in gender and sexuality studies is the role of queer-affirming sex education in amplifying young people’s agency. Ongoing questions include: What do queer young people perceive and experience as queer affirming in sex education? What information do queer young people desire in sex education and how do they experience the delivery of such information? How does access to queer affirming sex education impact young people’s long term perception of themselves and society more broadly? The lack of queer affirming sex education across the United States is an ongoing injustice in direct conflict with social work values- state organizational actors withholding medically accurate and identity affirming information from young people is a form of epistemic violence, which places queer young people at greater risk for maternal violence. What is often missing in these investigations is how grassroots organizations within queer communities may counter this epistemic violence and amplify young people’s agency.
This symposium extends existing scholarship on queer affirming sex education foregrounding the perspective of queer young adults as well as the role of grassroots organizations affiliated with queer communities in providing queer affirming sex education. Much of the research on sex education is focused on reducing negative sexual health outcomes and experiences. While this is an important aim, we believe that the amplification of young people’s agency is an important process and outcome to study. Our symposium uses various methods to examine the relationship between queer affirming sex education and agency. While reducing negative sex outcomes has long been a focus of study, we offer research that foregrounds the perspective of queer young adults and the role of grassroots organizations in providing free, queer affirming sex education.
Presenter 1 leverages phenomenological interviews to explore queer young adults' experiences accessing Scarleeten, an online source for queer affirming sex education. Presenter 2 explores the relationship between interpersonal violence and sex violence experiences and health outcomes of former and current adult users of Scarleteen. Presenter 3’s paper examines how high school graduates in Michigan perceive their sexuality education experiences and how those views may vary by sexual orientation and gender identity. Our analyses emphasize the implications of access to queer affirming sex education in the amplification or subjugation of queer young people’s agency. Our emphasis on the perspectives of queer young people and agency offers new insights for social workers and organizations aiming to provide queer affirming sex education.
* noted as presenting author
Preferences for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Content In High School Sexuality Education
Deirdre Shires, PhD, Michigan State University;
Sterling Bentley, MSW, Michigan State University;
Yuan Xiong, MSW, Michigan State University;
Hannah Boyke, MSW, Michigan State University;
Annabelle Beck, Michigan State University;
Sacha Klein, PhD, Michigan State University;
Taryn Gal, Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health
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