Conspiracy of Silence

TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 INTRODUCTION 9 THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY Sex Education in Texas by the Numbers 17 KEY FINDING 1 Abstinence-only programs and school districts still mislead students by promoting the falsehood that condoms and other contraception are ineffective and using them is high-risk behavior. 21 KEY FINDING 2 Fear- and shame-based instruction remains extremely common in Texas sex education classes, particularly in classrooms relying on abstinence-only curricula. 25 KEY FINDING 3 Abstinence-only programs continue to teach stereotypes and dangerous misinformation about gender and sexual assault. 29 KEY FINDING 4 Sexuality education in the vast majority <strong>of</strong> Texas classrooms seems to assume all students are heterosexual and LGBTQ+ people are irrelevant or do not exist. 33 KEY FINDING 5 Texas students learn little but misinformation about abortion in sex education classes. 37 SOME POSITIVE SIGNS 41 RECOMMENDATIONS 45 APPENDIX A Research Methodology 49 APPENDIX B Sex Education Providers and Speakers 50 ENDNOTES