Spotlight

Make A Call For World AIDS Day

On December 2, we’ll be marking World AIDS Day by advocating for the one proven way to bring down the rate of new HIV infections – comprehensive sex education. The Real Education for Healthy Youth Act would make access to medically accurate information about sex – including HIV and other STI prevention –  a right for all young people. Not only would the Real Education for Health Youth Act provide young people with the information and skills to make informed, responsible decisions, but it would also prohibit federal funds from being used for programs that deliberated withhold life-saving information about HIV. This is not the first time this act was introduced in Congress, but now is the time for Congress finally step up and support our right to access comprehensive sex education.

Join our national call-in day and ask your Senators to co-sponsor the Real Education for Healthy Youth Act and help fight HIV/AIDS!

Before You Call

Click here to find your Senator. Be sure to use the state where you vote.

We’re targeting the Senate because right now only six Senators are co-sponsoring the Real Education for Healthy Youth Act:

  • Sen. Robert Menendez, NJ
  • Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, HI
  • Sen. Al Franken, MN
  • Sen. Richard Blumenthal, CT
  • Sen. Dick Durbin, IL
  • Sen. Elizabeth Warren, MA
If one of these Senators represents you, call and thank them, for anyone else you can use the script below.

Call 888-960-4826 to be connected to the Capitol operators.

 

Sample script for your call

Operator answers

Hello, can you please connect me with Senator_________’s Office? (You may need to provide information about which state they represent.)

Call redirected

Hi, my name is ______________ and I am a constituent of Senator ______________ and a student at ___________. I’m calling because today is World AIDS Day and I’d like to ask the Senator/Representative to cosponsor the Real Education for Healthy Youth Act (HR725/SB 372) so that every young person in this country has medically accurate information about HIV and prevention practices.

Young people ages 13 to 29 account for 39% of new HIV infections annually in the US—the largest share of any demographic. The Real Education for Healthy Youth Act is a sex education bill that would increase awareness of how young people can prevent themselves from contracting/ spreading HIV and other STIs. Young people have a right to comprehensive sex education to make informed decisions, build healthy relationships, prevent contracting and spreading HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections.

That’s why, as a constituent of Senator _________, I urge him/her to co-sponsor the Real Education for Healthy Youth Act.

Thank you

Other Talking Points

  • Real Education for Healthy Youth  Act gives students the information they need to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases as oppose to abstinence only  programs that hinder young people ability to make  healthy and informed decisions about their bodies.
  • Real Education for Healthy Youth Act will help empower young people to make the right decisions when it comes to their health and sexuality by providing them with accurate information.
  • I stand with the millions of Americans who support teaching both abstinence and contraception. Nationwide polls show that eight-in-ten voters want young people to receive a comprehensive approach to sex education that includes teaching about more than just the birds and the bees.
  • 77% of American parents want schools to teach  comprehensive sex education, in order for their children to have the necessary information to make healthy decisions about their bodies.
  • Young people in the US, between 15 to 24, make up only one-fourth of the sexually active population but contract about fifty percent of the 19 million sexually transmitted infections cases each year.
  • According to the CDC, most new HIV infections in youth (about 70%) occur in gay and bisexual men.
  • Young people in the US are bombarded by ads, music, and movies that are sexually explicit in a society that does not overtly talk about sex.  Comprehensive sex education is vital for young people because it will allow them to make health decisions about their health and sexuality.
  • I believe comprehensive sex education is important because… [share a personal story]