by Emily Bridges, Director, Public Information Services

USA Today has published two articles posing some different theories about why HIV rates are so high in the Southern United States, each of them informative but troubling.

As we know, the South suffers from the highest rates in the United States, with the virus concentrated in the African American/Black community. No one reason exists for the disparity in rates – rather, it is a combination of a number of social factors, including poverty, lack of education, and lack of access to health care. USA Today’s analysis also found that of counties stricken with both poverty and high HIV rates, most are located in the South. Yet the paper quoted HIV researcher Harold Henderson thusly:

"The age when kids first become sexually active is pretty young in the Deep South," he says. "That has a lot to do with the fact parents don't do a good job of (educating their kids about sex). And if you happen to live in a broken home, with drug use and poverty involved, you may not be getting the parental supervision you need."

The quote bears unpacking because it is so laden with myth.

by Sarah Audelo, Senior Manager, Domestic Policy

The Public Religion Research Institute has released new research on the attitudes of millennial youth (18-29) toward abortion and a number of other social issues including gay marriage.

It's important to note at the outset, that millennial youth favor abortion access in their local communities by a significantly higher percentage than any other age group in the population — 68% for millennial youth compared to 58% for the general public. It’s also important to note that millennial youth are generally more supportive of abortion across all the other categories measured in the poll compared to other age cohorts.

The question is, why?

Abby Rosenstein, State Strategies Coordinator

This May marked the fifth national gathering of state sex education leaders at the State Summit in Washington, DC. State Summit V brought together 75 participants from 25 states and the District of Columbia. The group was diverse—hailing from teen pregnancy organizations, AIDS service organizations, reproductive justice organizations, youth service organizations, and religious groups, as well as state departments of education and state education associations—and participants had much to share and learn from one another.

 Advocates for sex education have been through a lot of ups and downs in the last few years, and at this year’s conference, participants strategized about preserving and making the most of wins in federal funding and state policy, as well as moving forward collaboratively for continued and sustainable successes in the states.