Gateway Sexual Activities

Funny, sounds more like "second base" to me.

Engaging in increasingly intimate activities as you get closer to someone is hardly a new or dangerous thing. In fact, in many cases, it's probably preferable to jumping right into something like penetrative sex, which can be trickier and more risky (particularly for inexperienced people).

I can see some logic in teaching young people that things like making out can sometimes go further than intended in the heat of the moment, and that they shouldn't feel pressured to go further. But this just stigmatizes physical intimacy and equates sex to something like drugs.

That's it, just tell people not to do something, and they'll stop.

Well, except for prohibition, the War on Drugs, smoking, eating the wrong foods, and engaging in risky behaviors like skydiving and crossing the street against the light.

Tennessee leads the way again, just as it did with the Scopes trial.

I propose a euphemism contest. What can "gateway" be a euphemism for? Don't be obvious, now.


ETA: My memory is insisting there was a line in the movie "Rob Roy" where someone tells a joke against some puritan religious group along the lines of "Why do they disapprove of fucking standing up? Because it might lead to dancing." I might have just dreamed that.

God, I hate this state.

"The proposal also creates legal penalties for teachers who go beyond the curriculum to encourage students in ways aside from abstinence. Parents or legal guardians would "have a cause of action against the instructor or organization for actual damages.""

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Holy cow, I can see the teachers abandoning TN in droves. Do they block that show "Secret Life of an American Teenager" at the border of the state? Everyone on that show is having sex and half of them are pregnant. And that's a show targeted at teenagers!

I'm just looking forward to the teen pregnancy and STD numbers for Tennessee after this joke gets passed.

This needs to be mocked viciously.

RichardGarfinkle said:

If only that weren't real lives being harmed.
These people. I wish I could say that I can't believe they're doing this, but it's all too easy.

Gateway sexual activity: Not wearing a burka.

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Please. To that mindset, gateway sexual activity = having a vagina.

Hand holding is a gateway sexual activity? What?

First, they try to push that stupid "Don't Say Gay" Law, then the moronic anti-evolution "Teach the Controversy" bill, and now this.

I really wonder why anyone would want to be a public school teacher in this state with state Republicans in power.

I'd say that I can't wait until November when all of these idiots lose their jobs, but I know that there are enough uneducated, "God and guns" hicks in this state that they'll vote to keep them in office.

Sigh.

Gateway sexual activities is very dangerous. It can lead to marriage...

From the OP link:

Much like a bill that passed through the Utah state legislature last month, the Tennessee proposal notes that schools should "exclusively and emphatically promote sexual risk avoidance through abstinence, regardless of a student's current or prior sexual experience."

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Note that Utah's Republican Governor vetoed that bill. He appreciated the reasoning behind it, but thought it wasn't really a good idea in practice.

And more from Utah:

When Utah legislators moved to follow in Arizona's footsteps in 2010 by proposing laws requiring that state police enforce immigration laws, Shurtleff was vocal in his opposition. He helped draft the Utah Compact, a five-point statement of principles that stressed the importance of balancing law enforcement with keeping families together and acknowledging the economic role immigrants play.

The compact was key to the passage of a Utah law that enables illegal immigrants who pass a background check and pay a fine to obtain work permits.

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http://www.deseretnews.com/article/...Shurtleff-for-unusual-immigration-stance.html

Utah is one of the most conservative states in the country, and Shurtleff is a staunch conservative.

But it goes to show -- Tennessee notwithstanding, it's actually possible to be conservative without being nuts.

If they're going to go this far, they might as well go all the way, and outlaw teaching that the other gender exists.

clintl said:

If they're going to go this far, they might as well go all the way, and outlaw teaching that the other gender exists.

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That would be so gay.

From the title, I thought this thread was gonna be about kinky escapades at the Arch in St. Louis, but I guess not.

Magdalen said:

From the title, I thought this thread was gonna be about kinky escapades at the Arch in St. Louis, but I guess not.

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Disappointing to find out it's about kinky escapades in Nashville instead, isn't it?

I am the Keymaster.

RichardGarfinkle said:

Two guys holding hands or hugging or patting backsides in a non-football context would also count.

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True. It's hard to keep up with their imagination.

You know it's bad when I'm thinking, "Thank God I live in NJ."

I'll take corruption over brain-dead legislation any day of the week. (although, to be fair, we do have our fair share of moronic legislation. It just isn't quite this moronic)

You know what's maddening to me? That even though the stats show over half of their high school students are sexually active, it's somehow acceptable to teach them "abstinence only."

In what other circumstance would it be acceptable to teach a curriculum that does a disservice to 60% of your students? argh