Sex, Genderf*cked teaches inclusive sex ed
When Hannah Mollett sat in Sex Education in high school, her teachers demonstrated the value of virginity with a piece of tape.
"They made us put a piece of tape on our arms and then rip it off," the Ortonville senior said. "The tape was less sticky after, so it didn't work. That's how they tried to tell us that we were less valuable after losing our virginity."
To combat misconceptions like this, and in honor of Coming Out Week, the Office of LGTBQ Services held "Sex, Genderf*cked" on Wednesday night an event advertised as a gender neutral sex education, for participants.
Mount Pleasant junior and event facilitator Noelle Goffnett emphasized the importance of sex education that includes everyone.
"A lot of people don't get good information about straight sex, let alone queer sex," Goffnett said. "It's important that if that's the kind of sex you're going to be having, you know about it."
The event highlighted the definition of consent as an unwavering, enthusiastic "yes". The event coordinators also went over misconceptions about sex that weren't all that common.
"I think this is really important to learn because sex is not just one thing," Sterling Heights senior Jeana Najor said. "It's different depending on your gender and personal identity."
Students were asked where they received their sex education, and many hadn't had proper education, if any.
"There's a lack of inclusive sex education in schools," Goffnett said. "Talking to your parents isn't always the best sex education either."
Before coming to the event, Romeo senior Michelle Rogowski said she didn't know that not everyone defines sex in the same way, and that there are many different gender identities and orientations.
"For my health class I wanted to go to different sex events," she said. "I ended up learning a lot of new definitions, like androgyny and asexuality."
Though they were presented with knowledge that they may have not known before, students were able to learn about different definitions of sex. Wayne senior Danielle Borg said she will use what she learned in her health classes.
"Moving forward, I'm not going to assume that everyone I meet is straight," she said.
