Access to sex education on the Internet is really important because according to the Guttmatcher Institute, only 23 states (and Washington DC) in the US mandate sex education — with 25 states requiring that abstinence be stressed. Of the states that teach sex ed, only 13 require sex education to be medically accurate and only two of those states prohibit promoting religion. This means that in 27 states, students are not required to learn about sex, sexuality, and gender, 37 states are providing medically inaccurate information (if they’re providing it at all), and in 48 states it’s okay to mix religion and sexuality in the classroom.
Despite separation of church and state, religion continues to infiltrate sexuality education. In fact, in Alabama, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah it is required that only negative information be taught about homosexuality. And so, in this day and age, it is crucial that sexuality education exist outside of the classroom (and outside of pornography). The following five YouTubers are fighting against this lack of education and bringing necessary information to those who need it.
1. Laci Green
Green was one of the first people to bring sexuality education to the Internet. Since, its inception, her channel has gained over a million subscribers and educated many. She covers everything sex/sexuality related from differently shaped labia to prostitution to proper condom use. She also has an MTV show called “Braless”, which just began its second season.
2. Hannah Witton
Witton is hilarious and smart and one time she tweeted at me so I like to think we’re friends. She makes videos about bodies and sex toys and she just started a feminist book club! She also has a hilarious series called drunk advice where she gets drunk and gives surprisingly good advice.
3. Lindsey Doe (of Sexplanations)
Doe is great because she is a real life, PhD holding, sexologist. Sexplanations is produced by Vlogbrother (and YouTube superstar) Hank Green and provides viewers with in-depth and medically accurate lessons on sexuality. She’s incredibly knowledgeable and curious and simply a joy to watch. I loved her two-part interview with Eden Atwood, an intersex woman working with the Interface Project.
4. Ashley Mardell
I know I talk about Ashley a lot, but I just can’t get enough of her. She’s a queer woman who focuses most of her videos on the LGBTQIA+ side of sex ed. Her videos explore gender, identity and sexism. She’s quite open about her own life, which makes her videos approachable as well as informative. She’s currently raising funds to make a book series called the ABCs of LGBT, an idea that spawned from her video with the same name.
5. Jackson Bird
Bird isn’t technically a sex educator (his channel is in large part about putting non-waffle food into a waffle iron, it sounds strange but it’s actually hilarious), but as a trans man who went through his transition on the Internet, I think he belongs on this list. He makes educational videos about being LGBTQIA+ and since coming out as trans seven months ago he’s become a spokesperson for trans people and his videos about being trans are excellent. He is patient and eloquent and answers viewers’ questions about what its like to be trans as well as how to appropriately interact with trans people (which for some reason a lot of people find difficult).
Enjoy these videos and enjoy educating yourself! If you remove the stigma, learning about sex and sexuality can actually be loads of fun.
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