Last week, parents pressed Rhode Island state lawmakers on a proposed sexual education bill that includes so-called “pleasure based sexual relations” along with gender identity and alternative sexual lifestyles.
On Wednesday, the state’s House Education Committee held a hearing to discuss the proposed legislation, during which one parent pressed the sponsor of the bill on the phrasing “pleasure based sexual relations.”
In recent years, many states have adopted sexual education standards outlined by groups that adhere to the “sex positive” philosophy, which posits that any consensual sex that is pleasurable for those involved is positive.
Yet when pressed over the inclusion of the phrase “pleasure based,” Democratic state Rep. Rebecca Kislak failed to define what this even meant, as The Blaze reported.
“I think that one word in the legislation is not, should not be the focus here,” Kislak said.
Parents were not so sure.
“Any child under 18, we should not be talking about sexual pleasure. We shouldn’t be talking about some of these topics that they’re looking to roll into sexual education,” parent Kimberly Quagan told local ABC affiliate WLNE. “I think it should be basically from a clinical standpoint that’s one thing, and I actually think anything they want to teach regarding this matter, the curriculum should be approved by parents.”
Republican state Rep. Sherry Roberts agreed, asserting that teaching such sensitive information should be the job of the parent.
“Let them decide,” Roberts told WLNE. “Because each person is different, and parents know their own children.”
Yet the proposed legislation attracted the emphatic support of Kislak’s fellow progressives, including state Sen. Tiara Mack, which the Blaze notes ran as an “unapologetically black and queer” candidate, praised the bill on Twitter in a now highly-ratioed tweet:
Really excited for the house sex ed bill hearing later today. Teaching comprehensive, queer inclusive, pleasure based sex ed was a highlight of my time teaching ✨
— Tiara Mack (@MackDistrict6) February 2, 2022
Many users echoed the concerns of Quagan, wondering why a teacher should be instructing schoolchildren on “pleasure based sex.”
There is something terribly disturbing about random adults teaching middle/high school students about pleasure based sex via “community activism” or otherwise.
— JLaw (@yoopermomma) February 2, 2022
yea im gonna be as charitable as possible here but i'd rather an adult not have a discussion with my minor child abt how to have sex in the most pleasurable way
— Kate Whitaker ❄️☕️ (@kwhitaker_) February 2, 2022
This is NOT ok. What is wrong with you???? @MackDistrict6
NO. Public School or any SCHOOL is not the place for this! Neither is a workplace. Learn there is a time & a place & forcing it to be part of a curriculum is wrong.#DefundSchools #HomeSchooling
— Resting Doll Face 👑 (@RestDollfaceJMT) February 3, 2022
OMG you are not serious? It’s one thing to educate children on sex education and their bodily functions; it’s quite another to say teaching “pleasure based sex Ed” was the “highlight” of your teaching. Truly concerning 🚩
— Doryrapter 🦕🦖 (@FifeRight14) February 2, 2022
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