The Not-So Separation of Sex & State: How Human Sexuality Intersects With Policy

Sex, sexuality, and human intimacy are universal experiences for mankind. Still, despite how pivotal those aspects are to our lives, mainstream conversations on human sexuality are relatively new within our society. Widespread value on human sexuality has recently been recognized for its influence on many hot-topic debates and problems in contemporary society. Due to contributions from the feminist movement, the rise in LGBTQ+ support groups, new efforts to prevent sexual abuse, and emerging academic and economic opportunities to specialize in human sexuality, there’s been a significant uptick in the discourse on human sexuality.

We’re now focusing more attention on how gender and sexuality are shaped, how progressive culture sets the tone for practical beliefs regarding sex, and how sexuality relates to overall health and issues of social justice. With that said, there’s been subsequent pushback on sex positivity that has seeped its way into policy.

Abortion

Chaos erupted after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe in June 2022. Since then, abortion bans and restrictions that many states hadn’t completely implemented yet quickly went into effect as a ripple effect of the Supreme Court’s controversial decision. As of mid-December 2023, 14 states are enforcing complete bans on abortion. As a result of tese policies, “almost 18 million women of reproductive age, in addition to transgender and nonbinary people who may need an abortion, no longer have access to abortion care in their state of residence,” according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Gender-affirming care

The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, defines gender-affirming care as “age-appropriate care that is medically necessary for the well-being of many transgender and non-binary people who experience symptoms of gender dysphoria, or distress that results from having one’s gender identity not match their sex assigned at birth.” Unfortunately, gender diverse adolescents face significant health disparities compared to their cisgender peers. As of November 2023, three in ten trans youth aged 13-17 are living in states that have passed bans on gender affirming care. Policies like these ultimately prevent transgender youth from accessing medically necessary, safe health care.

Sexuality education in schools

As of now, 38 states and the District of Columbia mandate sex education and/or HIV education. In 2023, 17 states enacted more than 30 laws aimed to restrict LGBTQ+ related education in schools. There was also a rise in protests against LGBTQ+ related materials and teaching in schools, which may cause more such laws to influence state policy agendas.

Sex-positive content online

Unfortunately, the sex-positive landscape online faces challenges too. Due to new community guidelines of Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok, a lot of educational sex-positive content on social media becomes censored. If a social media platform’s algorithm senses that a topic is inappropriate (a category many sex ed videos fall into despite most of them being educational or comedic rather than explicit), that specific content may get restricted on the app and get lower views which ultimately mean fewer likes, fewer shares, and less engagement overall.

These are just some of many topics that demonstrate how human sexuality and its multi-dimensional facets intersect with politics. Other sexuality-related social issues include, but aren’t limited to: intimate partner violence, sexual assault, gender equality in the workplace, period poverty, and more.

Social issues that relate to human sexuality are nearly as integral to the human experience as breathing. Any time we ignore these issues or use them as fodder for negative agendas, we ultimately fail our society. However, that doesn’t mean all hope is lost. Directing attention and resources to issues of sexuality is the key to making an outstanding impact on public health and social change.

Here are three things we can do today to make a positive change:

Invest in sex-positive research and education

Support research and academics like the Kinsey Institute, Indiana University’s trusted source for scientific knowledge and research in sexuality, and Widener University, one of the few universities in the United States that have graduate programs in Human Sexuality studies. Being involved in these kind of institutions helps strengthening the links between research, knowledge and eventually, action

Advocate for policy and social change

Promote events that educate the general public in hope to mobilize support for changes in laws, policies and actions of governmental and nongovernmental institutions.

Encourage collaboration

Whether you’re a sex educator, sex therapist, doctor, lawyer, or community organizer, you can work with other professionals to create strategies and human resources nationally, regionally and globally.