Gender & Sexuality

• New Atlantis Fall 2016 - This review of peer-reviewed published research takes a big-picture look at the current state of scientific research concerning human sexual preference and gender. The overall takeaways are as follows:
  1. There is no compelling evidence of a biological basis for sexual orientation or transgenderism.
  2. Sexual orientation can change over one's lifetime.
  3. Non-heterosexuals are more likely to have experienced abuse as children.
  4. Non-heterosexuals have poorer mental health outcomes, including inceased depression, substance abuse, suicide
  5. There is evidence for social stress/stigma leading to at least some of the negative mental health outcomes.
  6. The idea that gender is an innate, fixed characteristic that can diverge from one's biological sex is NOT supported by science.
  7. Most children who experience gender dysphoria will come to accept their biological sex after going through puberty.
  8. Adults who undergo sex reassignment continue to have high suicide rates.
  9. There is little evidence to support the therapeutic value of puberty blockers.
  10. Some children do experience psychological relief from being affirmed in their cross-gender identification
  • The New Altantis editors respond to criticism from the Human Rights Campaign.
  • McHugh responds to professional criticism of New Atlantis article.
• Psychotherapy for Unwanted Homosexual Attraction Among Youth
• Growing Pains: Problems with Puberty Suppression in Treating Gender Dysphoria
• CDC report on extreme risks of homosexual sex in minority communities
• CDC report on negative health behaviors in sexually-active LGBT youth

Abstinence-based sex education (Sexual Risk Avoidance)

• https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/382798
• Ascend white paper - Presents 24 peer-reviewed studies showing the effectiveness of sexual risk avoidance education
• CDC report affirms that youth who remain virgins fare best in terms of healthy behaviors

Comprehensive Sex Education (Sexual Risk Reduction)

• 2007 Report on Comprehensive Sex Education Programs - Report by US Health and Human Services. The comprehensive sex ed programs evaluated had some success increasing condom use (small effect in 7 out of 9) and less success delaying sex (2 out of 9). Neither effect lasted beyond 6 months.
• 2016 Evaluation of Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs - Peer reviewed evaluation of federally-funded sex ed programs, conducted by the Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) under Health and Human Services (HHS). Notably, 90% of funding went toward comprehensive sex ed, but only 15% of those programs showed positive results compared to a non-treatment group. Some programs led to worse outcomes than the non-treatment group.