In many states, there are few laws surrounding sex education. Only 23 states and the District of Columbia require schools to teach sex ed, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Only 13 states require that lesson to include information on sexual orientation, but four of those states require that teachers only include negative information on LGBTQ identity.

Though there are relatively few laws mandating that schools teach students about sex and sexuality, some states do have laws that ban schools from talking about being gay, lesbian, transgender, or queer in a positive light. These so-called “No Promo Homo” laws are in place in Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.

Alabama’s law tells teachers that “classes must emphasize, in a factual manner and from a public health perspective, that homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under the laws of the state.” (It should be noted that though Alabama still has anti-sodomy laws on the books, they are unenforceable because of a Supreme Court decision.) In Arizona, students can’t be taught “that some methods of sex are safe methods of homosexual sex,” though legislators recently introduced a bill that could reverse that.

It's clear that sex ed across the country is lacking, especially for LGBTQ students — so Teen Vogue turned to the experts to fill in the gaps. Here's what they say LGBTQ students won't learn in health class, from safe sex to coming out, and more.

That safe sex methods are for everyone

While some schools teach students how to put on a condom, the discussion is often around using the barrier for heterosexual sex, notes Wesley Thomas, program coordinator for LGBTQ health and rights at Advocates for Youth, a nonprofit dedicated to honest sex ed and open access to sex and sexuality resources for teens. Not explicitly saying that condoms should be used for anal sex, and that other barriers like dental dams should be used during other forms of penetrative or non-penetrative sex, can lead to the belief that protection when having sex with a same-sex partner isn’t necessary.

Instruction for how to use condoms and dental damns is only taught in some schools, and "when you think about how LGBTQ young people engage in sexual intercourse, there is no conversation around how (those barriers) work for those students," Thomas tells Teen Vogue. “When you talk about prevention, it’s always from a heterosexual standpoint. When we do talk about condom use for gay men, specifically, there isn’t a conversation beyond putting it on, what needs to be done.”

One safe-sex measure Thomas says schools aren’t mentioning, but should be, is pre-exposure prophylaxis, which are drugs that lower the risk of contracting HIV if exposed to the virus.

Pregnancy isn’t just a straight girls thing

Young women in the LGBTQ community are more likely than their heterosexual peers to become pregnant, says Brian Mustanski, PhD, director of Northwestern University’s IMPACT LGBT Health and Development program.

“We know that young lesbian and bisexual girls have higher rates of teen pregnancy. I think that’s a statistic that really speaks to the fact that we’re not preparing these young women for thinking about pregnancy,” Mustanski tells Teen Vogue. “We’re saying, ‘If she’s lesbian-identified, we don’t need to teach her about pregnancy prevention.’ That leaves people really unequipped.”

Teachers might not think that preparing LGBTQ students for sex is important, in part because sexuality is still confusing for adults who never had comprehensive sex ed. The reality is that everyone needs to be prepared, regardless of sexual orientation. It's also important to note that people in the LGBTQ community are more likely to be sexually assaulted — something that might also contribute to the high pregnancy rates in lesbian and bisexual females.