The Real Life. Real Talk.®Coalition is proud to sponsor the month-long event "It’s okay. You can say it." The goal is to increase open and honest dialogue about sexual health issues by collecting stories that answer the question, "What do you wish someone had told you about sex?"
Real Life. Real Talk. will model open conversations about sexuality and relationships by inviting a variety of participants—community members, local government leaders, celebrities, and business owners—to submit their own stories through postcards and videos and online.
"It’s okay. You can say it." is happening simultaneously in New Haven, CT; Portland, ME; Rockland County, NY; and Tucson, AZ. Through its advertisements, website, and education programs like Sex Ed for ParentsSM, Real Life. Real Talk. supports parents and other adults as they enable young people to make healthy choices about sexuality and relationships. During the month of October, which is National Family Sexuality Education Month, community partners will host a series of events at local schools and community venues.
Sex is about choices I lost my virginity at such a young age (13). I grew up in a home where the only real
discussion about sex was "don't do it until your married, because God said so." My
mother's message was driven by fear and regret. She is a single mother of four daughters,
and she didn't want us to make the same mistakes she made. What I wished she focused on
more was the importance of owning your sexuality, and more importantly your body.
I will tell my daughters that sexuality is about making informed decisions about your body
and who you choose to share it with. Sex is wonderful, but their are consequences beyond
getting pregnant, contracting diseases, or displeasing God. It comes with emotional
consequences and requires an ability to make very mature decisions. A sexually active
woman needs to understand that she has a responsibility to take care of her body. For most
thirteen year olds, buying condoms, having to see the GYN, getting HIV tests and having
very serious conversations with her partner about the act and its immediate and future
consequences (positive or negative) is unrealistic. Emotionally, a thirteen year old is
ill prepared to decide what love is and how it translates into the act of having sex.
I am 23 and I am just now beginning to understand this. Rather than the politics of fear,
I hope to instill a need to make educated decisions about their sexuality and the
consequences it entails, beyond the physical, with my child. - Carla, Trenton, NJ
