After seeing so many of my friends and family member desperately struggling to get sexual health information and repeatedly making decisions that put them at risk, I realized that I needed to stand up and work to promote comprehensive sex education in middle and high schools.

Kimmins, 21, works with Advocates for Youth and the AIDS Task Force of Greater Cleveland as a member of the Ohio Advocates.

I became involved in sexual health activism when I entered college and realized I did not have the information that I needed to keep myself safe. Luckily I took the initiative to seek out the queer inclusive comprehensive sexual health information that I needed, but young people shouldn't have to search so hard for this information – it  should be given to young people so that they are prepared when the time comes.

After seeing so many of my friends and family member desperately struggling to get sexual health information and repeatedly making decisions that put them at risk, I realized that I needed to stand up and work to promote comprehensive sex education in middle and high schools.

Working with Advocates for Youth has been an amazing opportunity to meet and network with diverse group of passionate young people from across the world. I have gained experience with creating and changing legislation and working to incorporate LGBTQ issues into sexual health activism.

I think young people are the group most affected by poor sex education. Adults tend to have more experience and greater access to receiving comprehensive information regarding sexual health. Therefore when young people advocate for comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education, their voices are more strongly heard, because they are the ones who need the information the most.