In late 2022, about ten local organizations and individuals with expertise and experience in reproductive and sexual health came together as an informal task force. Citizens for Choice and Women’s Health Specialists are part of the group, which is evolving into a collaborative to share information and resources, and to work toward shared goals. The common purpose is to assess and promote equitable access to quality healthcare and comprehensive and LGBTQ+ inclusive sex education in western Nevada County.
We are also part of a subgroup, a team focused on sex education in our schools. It is our hope that the synergy of the collaborative, the pooling of our collective knowledge and energies, will do more than any of us could do independently to address long-standing deficiencies in sexual health education in our schools.
The need has never been greater, nor the timing more urgent, given the decline in resources devoted to comprehensive sexual health education during COVID. A particular concern of ours is that students be informed—as they should be—about the availability of our Grass Valley clinic as a preeminent provider of confidential, affordable sexual health care, serving youth of all genders and abilities.
By Elaine Sierra
