“Can You Get An STI If Both People Have Never Had Sex???” —a question box answer by Dr. Joanna Palmieri

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“Can You Get An STI If Both People Have Never Had Sex???” —a question box answer by Dr. Joanna Palmieri

So the short answer has to start with,”How do you define having sex?” Sex encompasses the physical activity between people that involves touching each other’s genitals. That touching can happen in many different ways including genital to genital, anus or mouth, as well as fingers and even objects.  All of these can lead to the transmission of an STI or sexually transmitted infection, so let’s define that while we are at it.  An STI results from the exchange of infected bodily fluids or skin cells. Bodily fluids including semen as well as pre-ejaculate, vaginal fluids and blood. Other STIs can be passed to partners via skin to skin contact with an infected body area.  

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Talk With Your Kids Month: no one ever said it was easy…

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Talk With Your Kids Month: no one ever said it was easy…

October is “Talk with your kids” month, and we encourage you to consider the wide number of intersecting topics that affect our understanding of human sexuality, and how we communicate these complexities to our children. 

In order to be comprehensive, sex education needs to cover many, many subjects, but we  can’t do it all at once. And it’s okay to focus on one thing at a time. A focus is not an exclusion. Just because we might be thinking and learning about Intersex Awareness issues on Oct 26, for example, doesn’t mean we can’t make connections between intersex identities and what we know, or want to learn, about mental health, or periods, or vasectomies, or AIDS, or menopause.

read on for a list of awareness days in the month of October that could inspire a conversation:


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Seven Ways to Have Better Conversations with Your Child About Sex (and Everything Else!)

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Seven Ways to Have Better Conversations with Your Child About Sex (and Everything Else!)

A central part of More Than Sex-Ed’s mission is to support parents in providing their children with the healthiest possible messages about sexuality—and we know that even the most caring and open-minded parents can struggle with this.  The good news is, no single “talk” will make or break your teen’s self-confidence or decision-making skills; the best thing you can do is cultivate open, honest, ongoing dialogue about everything.  Sex talk, when your child is ready, will grow out of that.  Here are some tips we hope may be useful:

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In a Heartbeat: Do you remember your first crush?

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The butterflies in your stomach, a racing heart and utter speechlessness, the film produced by Beth David and Esteban Bravo, perfectly captures the feelings of having a crush.  What the duo from Ringling College of Art and Design managed to convey was not only the emotions of seeing a crush but also "the experience of countless LGBTQ youth".  The film is about "a young boy struggling to come to terms with his feelings for a handsome peer" and the emotions present is relatable across all boundaries.  

At More Than Sex Ed, we understand that communication is vital to a healthy relationship.  Although it can be hard to talk to your crush, More than Sex-Ed provides workshops that are supportive of relationship communication for kids and teens.  To learn more about workshops, check out our website at morethansex-ed.org !