by Meghan Rapp, Manager, State Strategies  

For the last three years, state sex education leaders have gathered in Washington, DC at the State Summit to strategize with national organizations about ways to pass comprehensive sex education policies at the state and national level. Much of these efforts had been directed at eliminating funding for abstinence-only programs, but this year, it was a new day in sex education and there was cause to celebrate during the conference – the President proposed eliminating federal abstinence-only funds from his budget. (And, as we have recently learned, Congress has followed this lead by keeping the funds out of the omnibus appropriations bill.)

This big victory was welcome news to the more than 60 key state sex education leaders gathered for State Summit IV. For the first time in a decade, sex ed advocates are beginning to shift from defense to offense. Thanks to years of local, state, and federal advocacy around ending dedicated federal funds for abstinence-only programs, President Obama zeroed out Title V and CBAE funds in his first proposed budget. At the Summit, we took a moment to reflect on this important victory and celebrate with each other. In the world of an activist, these moments are often too far between.

The fight to make sex education a reality in all states is still far from over. During the Summit, participants shared resources on pushing state policies and getting local school boards to adopt sex ed, and we began discussions on how to get ready for new Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative Funding. Also, all participants marched into their Congresspersons’ offices and encouraged them to support the REAL Act. Due in part to these efforts, in the week following the Summit, Senator Al Franken (D- MN) became a co-sponsor of the bill.

Beyond a shift in attitude, ths year’s conference had a new and different feel thanks to an increased scope– there were more people than every before, more than 30 states were represented (our largest group yet), and the room consisted of leaders from both the traditional teen pregnancy prevention organizations and state affiliates, but also from youth serving organizations, AIDS service groups, religious groups, education and research organizations, and reproductive justice organizations.

The conference’s national planners (Advocates for Youth, along with the ACLU, AIDS Action, Ms. Foundation for Women, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, and SIECUS) hoped to create an atmosphere where participants could explore new ways to push sex ed policy, but also begin building strategic alliances with the education, HIV/AIDS, and religious communities to achieve  sex education policy goals. One participant commented, “[I] appreciate longer term vision about sustainability,” and another person said, “I have been to all four Summits and this was the best!”