White House Support of Gays and Lesbians

Today, for the first time ever, the White House held a reception to commemorate the Stonewall riots, an event that is frequently cited as the beginning of the Gay rights movement in the United States.

Today's reception, in combination with other events, shows clear Presidential support for Gays and Lesbians. This support is coming not only in the form of rhetoric or pageantry, but through a very significant appointment in the area of education.

Kevin Jennings, the founder of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network has been appointed Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education.

Read more about these events and their implication in our latest TwoMinuteBriefing, available by clicking here, or by visiting www.TwoMinuteBriefing.com.

British Boys to get Credit Cards for Condoms

A new British Government program will distribute condom cards to boys as young as 12. The program will allow boys to get condoms by showing this card at various locations, including football grounds, barber shops, and "scout huts."

Cards will be available to boys who have attended a safe-sex "lesson."

Josephine Quintavalle, who founded the group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, is quoted in a Daily Mail article as saying:

We are just facilitating and encouraging sexuality without any deeper understanding of the emotional side of relationships. We used to talk about recreational sex among 18-year-olds - now it is 13-year-olds.

To read the TimesOnline story, click here.
To read the Daily Mail story, click here.

Fairfax High in Los Angeles Elects Gay Male Prom Queen

Sergio Garcia, a gay male Fairfax High student, was elected prom queen this month.

Garcia indicated that this all started out as a stunt and challenge, but ended up being a serious effort which generated discussion at the school about gender roles.

Garcia's success in being elected Prom Queen brings to mind Robin Byler's statement, posted to this blog on August 20, 2008, in which she declared that the Gay Marriage battle was already won, although perhaps for the next generation, because young people already believed in it.

A solid majority of young people under the age of 24 believe that same gender partners should have the right to marry. So the Supreme Court is just one more battle in a war we have already won, be it for the next generation.” (emphasis added) (Robin Byler, Lesbian News, March 2008, Vol. 33 Issue 8, p.

Read more about this story, at GLBT.TwoMinuteBriefing.com.


- TwoMinuteBriefing thanks JP for recommending this story.

Empowering Girls - Brooke Shields Wishes She had Lost Her Virginity Earlier

In an interview posted on Health.com, Health Magazine's website, Brooke Shields stated that her biggest health regret was not having had sex earlier.

Shields states that as a consequence of not having lost her virginity earlier than age 22, she carried around a protective 20 extra pounds in college, and was not as in touch with herself as she might have been.

Brooke Shields appears on the cover of the June 2009 issue of Health magazine. The online article is entitled, "Brooke Shields Gives Back: Her Mission to Empower Girls and More".

To access the Health.com article, click here. The remarks referenced above appear on page two of the article.

Survey delves into high birth rate for young Latinas

Report says 53% of Latina teens become pregnant as teens

According to a study conducted by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, in conjunction with the National Council of La Raza, 53% of Latina teens in the U.S. become pregnant before age 20; this in spite of 81% of Latino teens believing that getting pregnant as a teen will delay or prevent them accomplishing their life goals.

The pregnancy rate among young Latinas is nearly twice the national average.

Although 79% of teens indicated that their parents had talked to them about sex, and 49% indicated that parents were their biggest influence in decisions about sex, 64% felt that parents did not know how to carry on a discussion about sex.

Another noteworthy finding from focus groups conducted in this study was that Latino teens often felt frustrated because of the pressure their parents placed on them to succeed academically, while those same parents were not prepared or in a position to help them reach those educational goals.

In light of all of the long term consequences that may result from a teen pregnancy, this report is very concerning. Community groups, churches, etc. working with and within the Hispanic population in the U.S. would do well to review this report, and particularly note that Hispanic parents may need additional assistance in working with their teen children.

Download the report here: Toward A Common Future: Latino Teens and Adults Speak Out

Read the CNN story here:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/19/latinas.pregnancy.rate/index.html?eref=rss_us

Additional Links:

National Council of La Raza

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy

High school dropout rate climbs to 34.9% in Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that the high school dropout rate for the Los Angeles Unified School District was 34.9% last year, up 3 percentage points from the year before.

For the state overall, the dropout rate went down 1 percentage point from the previous year to 20.1%.

Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell is quoted as saying that the rates are "unacceptably high" and that they are "alarmingly high" among Hispanic and African American students.

With many now saying that even a high school education is insufficient to obtain an adequate paying job, the implications of over a third of the high school students in Los Angeles Unified not even graduating from high school are very concerning indeed.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-briefs13-2009may13,0,4472466.story

Bristol Palin calls teen motherhood 'hard work'

Bristol Palin appeared on the NBC's Today show on Wednesday, May 6th. During her interview, she stated that whereas she previously was advocating safe sex, she is not advocating abstinence.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30597615/

Levi Johnston, the father of Bristol's baby appeared on CBS's The Early Show also on Wednesday and said that abstinence-only for teens was not realistic. He is quoted as saying, " ... It's a great idea and a great message she's trying to send out to the world and all the young kids. It's not easy raising a baby. But I do think there's more things to it than just not having sex."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/06/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main4995425.shtml

ABC news headlined a story "NYC Teens Chide Palin's Abstinence Call - Students Say Bristol Palin is a 'hypocrite,' a 'Celebrity' and 'Hasn't Been in Our Shoes'.

Bristol had appeared before approximately 150 teens in a town meeting forum at The Times Center.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ReproductiveHealth/story?id=7516975&page=1