“This Is How You Hetero:” Sexual Minorities in Heteronormative Sex Education

ABSTRACT

The efficacy of sex education has been questioned, as students participate in high rates of unsafe sex after completion. Without exploring various sexual minority (SM) identities (e.g., gay, lesbian, and bisexual) and forms of sex, sex education may be especially unhelpful for SMs by perpetuating the heteronormative (i.e., assuming heterosexuality is normal) environment they typically experience. In the present qualitative study, semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 SMs regarding their experiences with sex education using a grounded theory approach. Participants described sex education as being heteronormative and exclusive of their identities, making them feel invisible, sexually unprepared, and shameful. Sex education also reportedly contributed to sexual hesitance, sexual violence, and risky sexual behaviors. Participants endorsed histories of depression, anxiety, and suicidality, often associated with their identity. To become more informed and sexually prepared, they sought information through conversations with others, online searching, college courses, and trial and error sexual experiences. Participants also advocated for inclusive sex education, which would incorporate all identities and associated safe sex practices. They concluded that inclusivity in curricula could lead to various improved outcomes for SMs, such as safe sex, a sense of community, identity confidence, healthy relationships, and resilience.

KEYWORDS:

• Heteronormative
• sex education
• sexual minorities
• lesbian
• gay
• bisexual
• LGB
• queer

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded by Psi Chi through a Mamie Phipps Clark Research Grant awarded to the first author.We extend our gratitude to our two research assistants, Alexis Alman and Sarah Townsend, for their diligent transcriptionwork, and to the study participants, for their thoughtful ideas, which made this project possible. We thank Shari Reiter, who provided feedback on an earlier draft of this document, and Stacey Hust, Leonard Burns, andWalter Scott for their feedback throughout the project.