In honor of Sexual Health Awareness Month, we’d like to highlight the work of the American Sexual Health Association

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In honor of Sexual Health Awareness Month, we’d like to highlight the work of the American Sexual Health Association

 The American Sexual Health Association, ASHA, is a trusted, non-profit organization that has advocated on behalf of patients to help improve public health outcomes since 1914. They are a highly respected American authority for sexually transmitted infection information.

The information you find on their website is based on well-researched and documented medical facts and follows approved treatment guidelines as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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The Barbie Movie sparks plenty of discussion

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In the movie "Barbie" Margo Robbie lives in a pink Barbie world neighborhood where everything goes her way.

We’ve certainly had plenty of conversations over here about the Barbie movie. Lots of feels. Lots of quotes flying between our team members. Lots to think about when it comes to gender roles, patriarchy, inclusion, justice, and identity. Actually we could probably explore the whole More Than Sex-Ed curriculum using Barbie as the discussion starter. 

So I was really happy to find this blog post by gender specialist Rebecca Minor, with such great discussion questions that you can use to start your own conversations with the kids in your life.

Rebecca holds a master’s degree in social work and works extensively in the field of gender identity. You can subscribe to her blog here:

May is “Sex-Ed For All” month, and when we say ALL, we mean it!

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May is “Sex-Ed For All” month, and when we say ALL, we mean it!

May is “Sex-Ed For All” month, and when we say ALL, we mean it! All bodies, all identities, and even though the thought makes some people uncomfortable—all ages.

More Than Sex-Ed is proud to deliver classes for kindergarten through twelfth grade, and we’re used to getting surprised reactions when we tell people about the age range we serve, too. But everybody has a body, and feelings, and relationships with others, from the day we’re born until the day we die, and there are age-appropriate ways to talk about all those experiences with people of every age.

So how do we determine what info is “age appropriate”, and what may be “too much, too soon”? 


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Enthusiastic Consent in Pop Culture--We reveal our picks

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Enthusiastic Consent in Pop Culture--We reveal our picks

Last month we asked for your help in identifying unmistakable examples of consent from your favorite movies, TV shows, and music videos.

It took a huge amount of digging to come up with 7 examples that were both enthusiastic and explicit and not merely inferred/implied. Sometimes the actual enthusiasm doesn’t show up until the kiss. And often the moments of consent are surrounded by sketchy behavior or circumstances that call into question whether consent can legitimately be given. Our hope is that consent conversations become common in both real life and fiction.

Here’s our picks:

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Enthusiastic Consent…why is it so hard to find in contemporary media?

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Enthusiastic Consent…why is it so hard to find in contemporary media?

Consent, or permission/agreement for something to happen, is one of our favorite topics to cover in More Than Sex-Ed programs. We use consent in our daily lives; it’s More Than just interactions in sex (see what we did there?)

You can get involved! We are looking for examples of ENTHUSIASTIC, informed, freely given consent in modern media. These can come from your favorite movies, TV shows, music videos (preferably something we can cite in a clip) and more. We will post some of our favorites on our social media during mid-late March, so keep an eye out!

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 Beginning A Unique Journey Toward Parenthood

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 Beginning A Unique Journey Toward Parenthood

At More Than Sex-Ed, we recognize that there are many ways in which people become parents, including adoption, pregnancy, fertility treatments, sperm donation, and surrogacy. We support each person’s right to choose to have children or not. And we are grateful that MTSE Advisory Board Member Cara Quant, MD, is sharing her story with us here:

I’m a Black female physician in a same sex relationship, and I often find myself checking off many diversity boxes. My wife and I have come to the point where we desire children and know that the journey we are about to embark on is one not encountered by many. This blog post is about the beginning of our unique journey to conceive a child and our goal in sharing our story is to empower other same sex couples who want to have children.

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Aro? An identity for Valentine’s day and every day, because love is…a whole lot more than romance.

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Aro? An identity for Valentine’s day and every day, because love is…a whole lot more than romance.

It’s that time of year when visions of hearts and flowers dance in our heads, and pop up in ads, and store windows. Certainly love is a spectrum of strong, positive emotional and mental states; from the most sublime virtue, to the deepest interpersonal connection, to a good natured everyday pleasure. But romantic love dominates in our culture when we talk about love. Social pressure prioritizes romantic love above all others, as it’s considered a rite of passage from puberty into adulthood to feel intense attraction for another person. For so many of us the passion and intimacy of a “first love” is significant in our personal development, but tingly feelings and obsessive crushes are clearly not the only way to experience love.

And for that reason, we want to point out that Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week is February 19th - 25th, 2023. We’ve got lots to share about this, so please

read on.


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Flash back to our start at The Country School

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Flash back to our start at The Country School

Unsurprisingly the new year tends to inspire a bit of reminiscing and reflection upon the past. I recently checked in with Holly Novick, Head of School at The Country School in Valley Village. Holly was the first school administrator who opened the door and gave me a chance to pitch the idea for a comprehensive, inclusive, fact-based, affirming sex ed program facilitated by professionals.

At that time More Than Sex-Ed was still just an idea


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Guest Blogger Sebastian Maldonado, B.S., Public Health--Internship Highlights

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Guest Blogger Sebastian Maldonado, B.S., Public Health--Internship Highlights

My name is Sebastian Maldonado and I am a departing intern at More Than Sex-Ed (MTSE). Thus far, I have loved my time here and have learned many invaluable lessons that will go beyond my time here. The ideology and culture at MTSE that I have picked up on is that every child deserves the opportunity to learn comprehensive sex ed that goes beyond the traditional meaning. MTSE's curriculum and facilitators make children feel that it is ok to have questions about themselves and others, while giving them an open discourse to voice these questions. These curricula also look to set up an open environment beyond the classrooms, such as at home. Talking to parents and caregivers and giving them access to expert facilitators is a great way to set up this kind of environment.

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Kids and Crushes: Some Guidelines for Navigating Big Feelings in Little Ones

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Kids and Crushes: Some Guidelines for Navigating Big Feelings in Little Ones

We debuted a brand new workshop this month for a school whose elementary teachers wanted to get on the same page about young children with crushes, and healthy ways to respond. Lots of parents, caregivers, and educators have seen this social development, somewhere between preschool and 5th or 6th grade: having a crush, liking someone, maybe wanting to marry them, and then frequently a change of feelings and a new interest. It’s perfectly normal, at any age, and yes we agree that it’s often unbelievably cute. But the feelings are real and can be potent, so it’s important for trusted adults to not dismiss or minimize them—take advantage of the opportunity to affirm, normalize, build trust, and teach consent.

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Supporting Students. No. Matter. What.

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Supporting Students. No. Matter. What.

Being a human is hard; the world is a difficult place; you cannot fix or heal everyone. Supporting children with empathy, patience, stability, predictability, and agency will give their brains the tools to start healing on their own, and so will normalizing the idea of trauma as something that happens to many people. When all of the adults who care for children recognize that intense reactions, unpredictable emotions, defensive behaviors, and shutting down are potential trauma responses, and respond accordingly, naming and normalizing the need to feel safe, children can see and empathize with it in themselves and each other.


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Book Review: Eliot Schrefer’s Queer Ducks (And Other Animals)

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by Sebastian Madonado, CSUN School of Public Health Intern

Eliot Schrefer’s Queer Ducks (And Other Animals) is a well written, fun and eye opening book that looks to explore sexuality and gender outside of the two sex binary in the natural and animal world. The majority of this book is conducted in a sort of an interview style, where the author interviews animals such as penguins, bottlenose dolphins and ducks, asking them questions pertaining to sexual expression and gender roles. Although the interviews often bring on a funny tone to them, they serve as smooth segues for the author to further explore the everyday lives of these creatures such as how they breed, who they chose to sexually engage with and behaviors they often exhibit. Finally, the author explains how the animals compare and differ from other creatures, including ourselves, while using anthropology, zoology, and sociology to lay out credible evidence to sustain these claims. Schrefer also takes it beyond this and uses history to look at key biological discoveries, different points in human time, how gender and sexual norms have changed with the times and the acceptance and or condemnation these changes have brought with them. Overall, what this book attempts to do is no easy task; it looks to identify gender and sexual expression in the diverse animal world while attempting to then explain these to the reader using current human definitions and ideas. But all in all, Schrefer’s message resonates loud and clear; queerness is in fact not something unnatural, as some may claim, rather queerness itself is woven into the very fabric of nature itself and the rich and diverse animal kingdom shows us this. 

“How do we support our LGBTQIA+ students?”

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“How do we support our LGBTQIA+ students?”

We have been back to school and working with educators for a month now, and it’s so gratifying to serve our returning clients as well as students and staff on campuses that are brand new to us. But regardless of where our client schools are or how long we have been working with them, the biggest area of concern for staff and administrators is most often, “How do we support our LGBTQIA+ students?” A hugely important question, to be sure, when we have ample evidence that LGBTQIA+ youth are more likely to have suicidal thoughts or attempts, personal safety issues and lower academic achievement than their cisgender and heterosexual peers. We are delighted that Chris Angel Murphy (they/them) breaks it down for us.

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Sex Education is Relevant Year-Round--by Beth Rendeiro, Director of Outreach & Engagement

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Sex Education is Relevant Year-Round--by Beth Rendeiro, Director of Outreach & Engagement

Many schools and educators understand the need for and benefits of comprehensive sex education for their students. In some states, including California, sex education is mandatory for students of certain ages. But for some reason many schools wait until the last three months of the school year to schedule their programming. Is it something about spring? We don’t know each school’s reasons but here are some reasons to schedule the sex education program during the fall or winter.

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Iceland’s Outstanding Progressive Values About Sexuality--by Dr. Allie Melendez

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Iceland’s Outstanding Progressive Values About Sexuality--by Dr. Allie Melendez

Sprakkar - an ancient Icelandic word meaning “outstanding women”

Eliza Reid, The First Lady of Iceland, has lots to say about Iceland’s historic and present attitude toward women to give us non-Icelanders proof that closing the gender gap is possible. Upon hearing that Eliza was promoting her book, Secrets of the Sprakkar, at a local temple in Los Angeles, I proceeded to order a ticket, purchase her book, and binge it. Like the lifelong learner I am, I did my homework.

Six years ago, Eliza was given a role with little to no job description when her husband, Gudni Johannesson, was elected President of Iceland.

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MTSE supports abortion as a valid option for those who do not wish to carry a pregnancy to term

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MTSE supports abortion as a valid option for those who do not wish to carry a pregnancy to term

As an educational non-profit organization, it is not MTSE's role to lobby the government. However, as an organization committed to the values of consent and justice, as well as an organization located in one of the states which has signaled its dedication to retaining and even expanding abortion rights, education is absolutely our role.

Read on for some important facts:

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Picture Book Picks for Families With Early Learners! Guest Blogger: Stephanie Guerrero

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Picture Book Picks for Families With Early Learners! Guest Blogger: Stephanie Guerrero

We asked Stephanie, our More Than Sex-Ed Spring 2022 Intern from California State University Northridge, to get comfy in the picture book section of the children’s library and make some recommendations. Here are some joyful stories we think you will want to read aloud with some youngsters in your life!

“Red, A Crayon’s Story” by Michael Hall—

Who is Red? Well that's the point, Red starts to raise questions about Identity. Red is a blue crayon but with a red label and he just hasn't been feeling himself.

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Join us in Celebrating 28 Years of The Wall Las Memorias: Providing Sex-Ed for Social Change

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Join us in Celebrating 28 Years of The Wall Las Memorias: Providing Sex-Ed for Social Change

The Wall Las Memorias (TWLM) is a community health and wellness organization dedicated to serving Latino, LGBTQ+ and other under-served populations through advocacy and education while building the next generation of leadership. More Than Sex-Ed (MTSE) is so happy to be developing new connections with the TWLM team. The important work they have been doing for nearly three decades aligns with our MTSE mission so well, and we are delighted to be participating in the Rooted and Rising Community Youth Fair on May, 14th, 2022, at 2 PM hosted by TWLM At Plaza de La Raza in Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles. This event will focus on providing adolescents with FREE health services and workshops, as well as raising awareness and community support for young advocates, substance use prevention, and LGBTQ+ youth and their families. We hope to see you there!

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