A friend of mine sent me his thoughts on part of last nights speech. I find him to be an excellent writer, who often makes valid, well thought out points, unlike myself :-).

So here it is:

America's Youth—King George Loves You

by Chris (name withheld by me as I don't have his implied permission to reprint yet)

RPCV Honduras 1999-2002

"Think! Think! It ain't illegal yet!"           --George Clinton

In his State of the Union speech last night, George Bush laid out a few ideas he has to protect and provide for America's young people. He may have been sipping his absinthe when he came up with the idea of promoting abstinence as the only effective means of fighting sexually transmitted diseases. Granted, in his limited way, he is right—no sex does equal no STDs, but taking into account that there are 6.5 billion people in the world it becomes clear—there is a whole lot of shakin' goin' on.

Seriously, how old were you when you lost your virginity? If you were like me, the answer is the earliest possible age that someone would go to bed with you. I was 16 and I can't say 'go to bed' is the best term for what happened; more like 'get in the back' of my '76 Pinto hatchback, but you get the point. Today's teenagers, like yesterday's, are actively trying to get laid, have sex, make love, you choose the term.

Let's face it, unless you have the libido of a panda bear, abstinence doesn't work, isn't realistic and will contribute to an increase in STDs among teens. The Prez and his friends among the Christian Right want to see condoms removed from high school sex-ed curriculums. This is because their worldview says that to have sex for pleasure instead of to produce more young Republicans is a sin.

This is yet another example of head in the sand politics that is being practiced in the USA. Waiting for marriage might be an option for straight American youth, but gay teens don't have, and if the Prez has his way, will never have the option of marriage and therefore don't see waiting in vain as a viable option. Teens need clear non-judgmental education about STDs and prevention. This education could include both abstinence and safe sex practices.

Teens are at increased risk of contracting STDs should condoms become unavailable and stigmatized. Parents need to teach their children well to protect them from the many threats that they face in the process of growing up. Although America isn't very good at accepting unpleasant truths, acknowledging the fact that humans are just horny monkeys is a good start toward adapting a pragmatic strategy to reducing STDs.