EBGTZ’s Guide for Trusted Adults

“Sexuality education equips children and young people with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that help them to protect their health, develop respectful social and sexual relationships, make responsible choices and understand and protect the rights of others.”—World Health Organization

Here are some of the current California policies focused on protecting youth’s access to comprehensive sex education and other forms of sexual health.  

• California Healthy Youth Act—Requires school districts to ensure that all pupils in grades 7 to 12 receive comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education. There are five primary goals: 
  1. To provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to protect their sexual and reproductive health from HIV and other STIs and from unintended pregnancy
  2. To provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to develop healthy attitudes about adolescent growth and development, body image, gender, sexual orientation, relationships, marriage, and family
  3. To promote understanding of sexuality as a normal part of human development
  4. To ensure students receive integrated, comprehensive, accurate, and unbiased sexual health and HIV prevention instruction, and to provide educators with clear tools and guidance to accomplish that end
  5. To provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to have healthy, positive, and safe relationships and behaviors
• California Family Code Section 6925—Provides youth confidentiality/protection while seeking sexual health–related care.  
  • A minor may consent to medical care related to the prevention or treatment of pregnancy.
  • A minor may obtain all forms of birth control without parental consent, including long-acting reversible contraception and emergency contraception. A minor may not consent to sterilization.
  • A minor may consent to an abortion without parental consent.
• In 2022 the policy was updated and states, “The state shall not deny or interfere with an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.”  
• To find out about other policies enacted in California or/and the U.S., click here. 

Below are sexual health education resources for people who work with youth in the East Bay 

• Sexual Health Educator training program—Available to school teachers, administrators, or anyone who works in a classroom environment. This program is “an educational and capacity-building opportunity for California educators working with youth in school, community, and clinical settings who desire to build their sexual health knowledge and education skills.” Many teachers are mandated to teach sex ed but have no formal training or expertise; this training course offers a chance to remedy that. The program itself was created jointly by CHHS, the Department of Education, the California Prevention Training Center, and many sexual health providers. 
• Stanford LGBTQ+ Health Program—A health program dedicated to providing services to the LGBTQ+ community. You can just be looking for a more inclusive provider or practice, seeking gender-affirming care, therapy, or mental health services, or finding help with fertility and reproductive care. The program’s doctors (some LGBTQ+ themselves) make sure compassion, kindness, and understanding are at the center of every patient visit. Their locations are based in San Francisco but they provide services to anyone in California.