Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains: Get Yourself Talking, Get Yourself Tested

Get Yourself Talking, Get Yourself Tested
by Daniel Ceballos, Vice President for Community Education, Professional Training and Organizational Diversity at Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains

As many as one in two sexually active people will contract an STD by age 25. According to the CDC, men who have sex with men (MSM) accounted for 53 percent of the estimated new HIV infections in 2006. These startling statistics are a wake up call to us all! In many ways, we are failing to teach our young people the skills and knowledge necessary to prevent STDs.

Currently, members of the Colorado Senate are considering a resolution to recognize the need for science-based, comprehensive, medically-accurate, culturally relevant, and age-appropriate sex education. We applaud this resolution – but it’s not enough - we need to stress the importance of STD awareness and prevention in sex education that is inclusive of the LGBTQ community.

Today, many sex education programs focus primarily on preventing teen pregnancy. While these lessons are extremely important, STD prevention often falls to the wayside and does not receive the equal attention it deserves. Moreover, pregnancy prevention generally does not pertain to LGBTQ students. As a result of this neglect, scores of students and young adults, gay and straight alike, do not understand how STDs are transmitted and STD prevention is not made a priority. Additionally, myths related to STDs continue to flourish… and there is still a powerful stigma associated with simply being responsible and getting oneself tested.

Our goal should be to empower ALL young people to take control of their health and their sex lives-to be personally responsible with how they act in their sexual behaviors. In an effort to reach this goal, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains has joined with MTV, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a month long campaign to motivate youth to GYT — Get Yourself Talking and Get Yourself Tested. Components of the campaign include messages around talking with partners and healthcare providers about STDs and STD testing, low cost testing dates, and taking responsibility for one’s sexual life and sexual decisions.

This monthlong campaign should serve as a reminder to us all about the importance of STD prevention and STD testing. STDs do not discriminate! Everyone, young and old, gay and straight, who is sexually active (regardless of whether pregnancy prevention is one’s goal or not), should make GYT a regular part of their lives throughout the year. Let’s get talking- and let’s get tested!

Click here for more information about GYT.