Pharmacists could reduce barriers for people seeking sexual and reproductive health-care services, new research shows. Many pharmacists already offer some support for sexual and reproductive health, including administering contraceptives and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations. But further training and expansion of these services could help increase access and reduce inequities in this key area of health…
Has Disney caught the wave of the future? Or will going woke harm The Mouse?
To be ‘woke’ is to have the approved left-leaning opinions about race, the ecology and all manner of social justice issues. Since 2018, the maxim “go woke, go broke” has declared that corporations that go out of their way to be ‘progressive’ suffer financially when consumers resist the message. Examples of the truth of the…
Lise Gotell was living in Toronto in 1986 when a serial rapist, later dubbed the “Balcony Rapist” because he broke into homes by climbing onto balconies, started attacking women. Gotell, a graduate student, remembers following the case of one of his victims, who sued the police force for not warning women about the violent attacks…
Sex advice for pandemic prevention makes as much sense as implementing a security system while leaving the front door open
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control threw logic out the window with its “COVID-19 and Sex” advice. The document reveals contradiction, ignorance and hypocrisy. “If you’re feeling fine and have no symptoms of COVID-19, you can still have sex. If you’re feeling sick, skip sex,” it says. Thanks. “Not tonight, I have a headache,” is…
Why we need quality sex education for our students with developmental disabilities, too
When my sister, who has a developmental disability, and I were growing up in the 1970s and ’80s, neither of us received very much formalized education on sexual health. I eventually learned what I needed to, through friends, the media and books, but she had access to none of that. As a result, she and…
Early sexual activity puts children at risk of pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases – and it can damage them emotionally
The sexual behaviour of teenagers can strike fear in the hearts of most parents. Media reports and documentaries routinely tell us that today's teenagers are more sexually active, at younger ages, than ever. It's not uncommon for 13- and 14-year-old kids to experiment sexually. But what does this mean and what are the implications, if any,…
It took decades to fully expose the deep and systemic problems with the studies. By then it was too late
TV personality Phil Donahue once said, “Kinsey was to sexuality what Freud was to psychiatry, what Madame Curie was to radiation, what Einstein was to physics.” Alfred Kinsey was the person primarily responsible for turning western society from Christian sexual morals to amoral behaviour more in line with his tastes. Biographer James H. Jones believes…
LGBTQ youth face additional mental health pressures associated with stigma and discrimination
It’s now widely known that the Ontario Ministry of Education will be reverting to the 2010 sex education curriculum to teach youth – despite widespread criticism. Worse, youth in Grades 7 and 8 will actually be taught the 1998 sex ed curriculum. In 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton got in trouble over Monica Lewinsky and…
Marriage understands shared existence, including the economic, spiritual, social and sexual aspects of our lives
With the Ontario government’s public consultations on a new sex-ed curriculum well underway, we should recognize that both the old and new versions of the document suffer from the same fatal flaw. Neither makes any effort to educate about marriage – in fact, the word is never mentioned – as a significant social institution. The…
The best way to reduce the possibility of more alt-right-inspired violence is to confront its narratives head on
By John Grant Western University and Fiona MacDonald University of the Fraser Valley One year since the violent alt-right rally in Charlottesville, Va., and months since the Toronto van attack, Canadians can legitimately worry about increased political violence. The images of angry white men marching openly in Nazi regalia loom large alongside the revelation that…
Pharmacists could reduce barriers for people seeking sexual and reproductive health-care services, new research shows. Many pharmacists already offer some support for sexual and reproductive health, including administering contraceptives and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations. But further training and expansion of these services could help increase access and reduce inequities in this key area of health…
