Plenary Sessions

Sex ed is not yet universally accepted as a human right. Locally and globally, our rights to life-saving sexuality information are regularly challenged. Despite this climate, sexuality educators are forging innovative approaches and creating spaces where sex ed can not only survive, but thrive. In Widen Your Aperture we will consider the ways in which sexuality education is a revolutionary act, and explore the role of educators as facilitators of expansiveness. Francisco will share his most memorable lessons learned while trying to shake up sex ed, with a focus on: empathy, joy, and trying something new.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to describe 3 practices for authentically expanding their approach to sexuality education.

Francisco Ramirez, MPH, is a consultant, tech founder, and TV producer/host, working in sexual health and innovation. He has worked at the UN since 2005, talking about sex in more than 15 countries and in multiple languages, and he currently consults for Google. He previously served as Vice President of Education at Planned Parenthood, and co-founded OkaySo, a smartphone app providing young people free access to sexperts, 24/7. He lectures internationally on: sexual health, diversity, and innovation, and serves as a producer and on-air host for MTV, New York Magazine, and NPR. Since 2008, Francisco has offered free sex and dating advice to strangers on New York City park benches. Learn more at FranciscoRamirez.com.

LGBTQ+ adolescents face extremely high levels of bullying in schools. These forms of bullying increase risk for mental, behavioral, and physical health concerns including substance abuse, depression, and suicide. His plenary will review nascent research on bullying, the impact of state policies on bullying, potential innovations to reduce bullying, and the roles of sexuality professionals in these endeavors.

Describe the impact of bullying, policy, and interventions on LGBTQ+ mental, behavioral, and physical health.

Dr. Mike Parent is an associate professor at UT-Austin where he is area chair of the Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology graduate programs. His research focuses on LGBTQ+ health and health disparities, including deployment of innovative strategies to provide accessible mental health treatment to LGBTQ+ people. He has published more than 70 peer-reviewed papers as well as textbooks on human sexuality and sport psychology, and his research has been funded by the NIH, CDC, American Psychological Association, The Kinsey Institute, and other foundations and agencies.

“The body,” as Susan Bordo suggests, “is a powerful symbolic form, a surface on which the central rules, hierarchies, and even metaphysical commitments of a culture are inscribed” and continually reinforced. Nowhere is this assertion more observable than in how the cultures in which we move seek to delimit and define our erotic lives and how we embody gender. Most insidiously, these dominant narratives seek to recruit us to do the work of our own erasure. But resistance is possible! When these cultural scripts are refused spaces are created for dreaming liberation and for embodied eroticism to flourish. This plenary address will focus on tapping into the wisdom of our bodies and the erotic stories they would seek to tell.

By the end of this plenary address, participants will be able to name and deploy at least three (3) strategies for nurturing erotic embodiment and tapping into the wisdom of the body and its “wordless stories.”

Lucie Fielding, PhD, MA, LMHCA, Resident in Counseling (she/they) is a queer, non-binary femme, and a therapist practicing in Virginia and Washington. She holds an MA in Counseling Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute (2018) as well as a PhD in French from Northwestern University (2008), where she specialized in erotic literature. Their background in literature attunes them to the many ways that cultural scripts inscribe themselves on our bodies and can inform our embodied erotic lives. In addition to their work as a therapist, Lucie teaches in the Sex Therapy Certificate Program at Antioch University-Seattle. They are the author of Trans Sex: Clinical Approaches to Trans Sexualities and Erotic Embodiments (2021), which was named a finalist for a 2022 Lambda Literary Award (Lammy) in the Transgender-Nonfiction category. You can find out more about Lucie at https://luciefielding.com or follow them on Twitter (@Lucie_Fielding) and Instagram (@sexbeyondbinaries).

Exploring the accreditation and regulation of sexuality education as an industry and its practitioners. Identifying the many roads that lead to being an educator and the bottleneck that is licensing and certification. Talking about my personal path to professionalism and where I stand on the necessity for regulation.

Goody Howard, MSW, MPH is an award-winning sexologist, educator, and consultant. She provides pleasure development and professional development workshops worldwide. Her authentic and enthusiastic presentation style allows her audiences to connect quickly to the concepts and enjoy learning about sexual health, pleasure, and human variance equity. She makes pleasure-inclusive, comprehensive sex education accessible, intentional, and fun! While Goody’s pleasure-focused offerings are her most popular classes, she also teaches relevant career development workshops for educators, social workers, and healthcare providers. Join the “Goody Gang” email list and connect with her online at @askgoody on most social media platforms or on her website askgoody.com.