September is Sexual Health Awareness month. According to Howard Brown Health, Sexual Health Awareness “goes beyond outdated views of simply avoiding disease or unplanned pregnancy. It should include experiencing pleasure and intimacy when desired, along with respecting the sexual rights we all share.” A part of being healthy is knowing what your body needs and what it doesn’t.
How can one make sure they are being safe and protecting all involved parties? Having intercourse with multiple people or even having one diseased partner while having unprotected sex can increase the chances of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. STDs are infections transmitted through sexual contact caused by bacteria, viruses, and parasites. One should get tested for sexually transmitted diseases regularly
A Sexual health event took place in the back of the campus a just few weeks ago at the Horace W. Moody Intramural Sports Complex. The event included a van of nurses who were offering free testing for all students.
Tara Snearl, a registered nurse at Open Health Care Clinic stated that the clinic, educated patients to get tested if they’re having unprotected sex, risk factors such as IV drug usage, or multiple partners. Open Health Care Clinic offers rapid testing such as HIV, hepatitis C, and syphilis. Patients also can be tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia which takes a few days for results.
The most common disease a person can catch is chlamydia. The main ways people contract this disease is from having vaginal and anal sex, but can also be spread through oral sex. The rarest virus a person can contract is AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. This virus can be transmitted through contact with infected blood, semen, or vaginal fluids. An example of a way this can happen is by unclean needles. What makes this disease extremely rare is that it is not curable.
Herpes is another familiar infection marked by genital pain and sores. Oral sex is mostly how herpes is passed around and it appears on the mouth. Sex is everywhere; movies, songs, literature, talks among family and friends, you can’t truly escape the discussion of sex.
Freddie Lewis, a sophomore from Monroe LA, majoring in sociology voices his opinion about sexual health awareness for the LGBTQ community. He was asked, Is there any extra precautionary measures that one should take when having a homosexual relationship?” Freddie replied, “it’s a pill called Prep that I make sure to take once a day that prevents me from getting HIV.” Prep reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99% and can be taken by man or woman.
Lacey Smith, a senior nursing major from Florida, is also a member of the LGBTQ and was asked the same question. She says, “ as a gay woman I ensure to date only gay women and not bisexual women because it reduces the chances of getting a disease. I cannot sleep with a female that sleeps with males because males sleep with everybody and that’s basically asking for a disease.” Sexual health is to be taken serious regardless if one is homosexual or heterosexual. Destiny Williams, a junior majoring in criminal justice, from Lafayette stated her views on sex as a woman in our society. “Sex is definitely being forced upon,” Williams stated. She continued, “Soon as you give a guy your number they expect you to have sexual intercourse that same day and it should not be like that. You should get to know each other first before being sexual, the sex is better that way anyways.”
Sexual health is important, and being healthy means educating oneself on their body and knowing what diseases are contractable.
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Let’s Talk About Sex
September 27, 2022
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