For Immediate Release
September 20, 2007 |
Press contacts:
Noel Alicea, GMHC: 212.367.1216,
noel_a@gmhc.org |
GMHC APPLAUDS NY STATE CANCELLATION OF ANTIGAY, SEXIST ABSTINENCE-ONLY CONTRACTS
CALLS FOR STRICT ENFORCEMENT AND MONITORING TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE
New York, NY — Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) applauded New York State Health Commissioner Richard Daines's announcement today that New York is ending its federal abstinence-only contracts effective October 1, and redirecting state funds to expand science-based comprehensive sex education. GMHC called on Commissioner Daines and Governor Elliot Spitzer to prioritize training, enforcement and monitoring to ensure that all schools throughout the state comply.
"With HIV infection rates rising steadily among young gay and bisexual men and heterosexual women of color, it is critical that we provide young people with the information and tools they need to protect themselves and stay healthy," said Marjorie J. Hill, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of GMHC. "We applaud Governor Spitzer and Commissioner Daines for their leadership in rejecting funding for harmful, antigay and sexist abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. We call on them to ensure that state funding is directed toward training, enforcement, and monitoring to ensure that schools are complying with this important public health policy."
Programs that call for abstinence-only-until-marriage promote sexist gender-based stereotypes about women and men and their roles in sex and relationships. They also promote anti-gay bias, insisting that the only proper place for sex is within the context of heterosexual marriage, and that AIDS is the inevitable result of homosexuality.
A 2003 study by then Assemblymember Scott Stringer showed that 63% of NYC schools failed to meet the city's requirement that students receive sex education classes from teachers certified in health education. Stringer also found that the requirement to give general health and age-appropriate HIV/AIDS instruction in every grade was being met "unevenly at best."
"We also call on New York's Congressional delegation to stand up for young people's health and against homophobia, sexism and ignorance by defunding abstinence-only in the Labor HHS appropriations bill," added Robert E. Bank, GMHC's Chief Operating Officer. "Unfortunately, the House of Representatives has proposed increasing funding for abstinence-only by 25 percent. This cannot stand."
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GAY MEN'S HEALTH CRISIS (GMHC) is a not-for-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based organization committed to national leadership in the fight against AIDS. Our mission is to reduce the spread of HIV disease, help people with HIV maintain and improve their health and independence, and keep the prevention, treatment and cure of HIV an urgent national and local priority. In fulfilling this mission we will remain true to our heritage by fighting homophobia and affirming the individual dignity of all gay men and lesbians. We provide services and programs to over 15,000 men, women and families that are living with or affected by HIV/AIDS in New York City, and outreach and education to hundreds of thousands throughout the world. For more information about GMHC programs and services, please visit www.gmhc.org.
© 2007 Gay Men's Health Crisis
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