What is it about sex that so many people find so terrifying?

Ohio Republicans are attempting to ban the discussion of “gateway sexual activity” from the sexual education classroom. Apparently, they’re more worried about teens engaging in sex at all than teens engaging in sex safely, but that isn’t exactly new. During a debate concerning the budget of the state of Ohio, state House Republicans added an amendment to a two-year budget plan that would ban teaching “gateway sexual activities” in sexual education courses.

They’re defining “gateway sexual activity” to be, “any touching of an erogenous zone of another, including without limitation the thigh, genitals, buttock, pubic region, or, if the person is a female, a breast.”





The Columbus Dispatch reports the following:

“Today the Ohio House Finance Committee voted to send our state back to the 1950s” said Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice, in a statement. “The Ohio House is doing everything they can to restrict access to reproductive health care and medically accurate information that help Ohioans live healthy lives. Governor Kasich can stop these dangerous attacks on women’s health care. We need him to speak out against these budget provisions and to line-item veto these dangerous measures when they reach his desk.” The approved changes did not touch heavily on three key areas of the budget: taxes, school funding and Medicaid expansion. Total budget spending increased by about $99 million over two years under the latest changes, the bulk of that, $60 million, going to nursing homes.

Well, at least we know they’ve got their priorities straight.

In all seriousness, two minutes of research will turn up a simple fact that makes you wonder how politicians can truly be that ignorant and idiotic: the age of sexual consent in Ohio is 16 years of age:

2907.04 Unlawful sexual conduct with minor. (A) No person who is eighteen years of age or older shall engage in sexual conduct with another, who is not the spouse of the offender, when the offender knows the other person is thirteen years of age or older but less than sixteen years of age, or the offender is reckless in that regard. (B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. (1) Except as otherwise provided in divisions (B)(2), (3), and (4) of this section, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor is a felony of the fourth degree. (2) Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(4) of this section, if the offender is less than four years older than the other person, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor is a misdemeanor of the first degree. (3) Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(4) of this section, if the offender is ten or more years older than the other person, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor is a felony of the third degree. (4) If the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a violation of section 2907.02, 2907.03, or 2907.04 of the Revised Code or a violation of former section 2907.12 of the Revised Code, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor is a felony of the second degree. Effective Date: 10-17-2000

That means that not only are they refusing to properly educate adolescents about the dangers, risks and, yes, benefits, of sex, but they are making it against the law for behaviors that can lead to sex to even be discussed. That’s a major problem. Not only have abstinence-only curriculum laws been tied to higher incidences of STDs, STIs and pregnancy, but refusing to discuss sexuality publicly is a contributing factor to America’s rape culture. Sex is not a dirty or taboo subject to be swept under the rug. Like so many other human behaviors, it has a proper time and place, and in that context it can be a psychologically and physically beneficial activity, particularly when risks are minimized.

It’s not enough to assume that kids are going to be taught about sex at home; decades of misinformation before the sexual revolution should be evidence enough of that. Indeed, the rampant spreading of misinformation continues to this day — including essentially lying to constituents by pretending that abstinence-only sex education is going to stop or slow the rate of teen sex. As Think Progress reports,

Ohio isn’t the first state to worry about students being corrupted by learning about “gateway sexual activity.” Almost exactly one year ago, Tennessee Republicans pushed to strengthen their state’s abstinence-only law by defining kissing and hand-holding as gateway activities that could lead teens to engage in sexual intercourse. Of course, whether or not U.S. teenagers are taught abstinence in their health classes, most of them still become sexually active. By their 19th birthday, seven in ten American teens will have had sex.

Correctly educating our youth about sex and sexuality would go a long way toward fighting unsafe sex practices and teen pregnancy, as well as helping to educate our youth about relationships, sexual decisions and the definition of consent. Abstinence-only sex education is just sweeping the problems associated with adolescent sex under the rug, and causing probable irreparable harm, both psychological and physical, to many who are not educated properly.

The above point, coupled with the fact that Ohio’s age of consent is 16, illustrates the utter ridiculousness of the legislation being introduced by Republicans in the Ohio state House.