Tag: condom

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Official Regrets Advice to Gay Student

The Obama administration Wednesday defended an Education Department official over advice he gave a gay student about sex 21 years ago. The official, Kevin Jennings, says he should have handled the situation differently when he told the boy he hoped he had used a condom during a sexual encounter with an older man. Jennings, who now heads the department's Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, has been under fire from conservatives and right-wing groups for not reporting the incident to authorities or to the boy's parents. In a statement Wednesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Jennings has devoted his career to promoting school safety. "He is uniquely qualified for his job, and I am honored to have him on our team," Duncan said. Jennings was teaching high school in Concord, Mass., in 1988 when a sophomore boy confessed of an involvement with an older man in Boston. Telling the story a dozen years later, Jennings described how the boy told of meeting the man in a bus station bathroom and going home with him. Jennings said he told the boy, "My best friend had just died of AIDS the week before. You know, I hope you knew to use a condom." Jennings was speaking during a conference of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, which he founded. Conservative psychology professor Warren Throckmorton unearthed an audiotape of Jennings' comments to the conference and posted it on his Web site recently. In the Education Department statement Wednesday, Jennings said, "21 years later, I can see how I should have handled the situation differently. "I should have asked for more information and consulted medical or legal authorities," he said. "Teachers back then had little training and guidance about this kind of thing. All teachers should have a basic level of preparedness. I would like to see the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools play a bigger role in helping to prepare teachers." The department noted that Jennings has won honors from groups including the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Association of Independent Schools, the National Education Association and the Massachusetts Counselors Association. Some NEA members protested their organization's award to Jennings. Story Reposted From The Associated Press.

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Unprotected sex better for mental health?

People who tend to use a condom during sexual intercourse appear to have worse mental health than those who do not, according to Professor Stuart Brody of the University of the West of Scotland in Paisley. His findings were based on a survey of 111 Portuguese men and 99 women, who were asked questions about their sex lives and their state of mind. The results suggested that using condoms negates the mental health benefits of what Prof Brody termed "evolutionarily relevant sex". Those who used them were more likely to suffer from depression, suicidal tendencies and be emotionally immature. The results were the same regardless of whether a person was in a stable relationship or not. In a letter to the journal Archives of Sexual Behaviour, Prof Brody wrote: "The more often they have sex without condoms, the better their mental health." He added: "Possible explanations for the interference of condoms with the health benefits of penile-vaginal intercourse include the blocking of antidepressant and immunological agents in semen and genital secretions [and] reduced sexual satisfaction and intimacy." Speaking to The Independent, the American-born academic defended his decision to highlight the research – even though it was not "politically correct" – in the cause of science. He said: "I don't want to let anything get in the way, whether it's political correctness, or religion. "Evolution is not politically correct, so of the very broad range of potential sexual behaviour, there is actually only one that is consistently associated with better physical and mental health and that is the one sexual behaviour that would be favoured by evolution. That is not accident." But the Family Planning Association stressed that condoms were essential for protecting against sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Natika Halil, its director of information, said: "Condoms protect men and women against most sexually transmitted infections, and they're also a very good – 98 per cent effective – method of contraception. "The male condom is also only one of two methods – the other is sterilisation – which men can use to take charge of their own fertility.” This is not the first time that Prof Brody's research has proved controversial. In 2007 a study claiming straight sexual intercourse was the only type that improves "psychological and physiological function" was attacked by gay rights groups. Peter Tatchell accused him of promoting an "unscientific and extreme" agenda, that "flatly contradicted" a previous study by sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson. Mr Tatchell said: "Their study found that levels of physical and emotional satisfaction during and after sex were almost identical for both heterosexual and homosexual couples."

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