Gay teens ‘failed’ by sex education
A survey of gay teenagers has revealed worrying statistics about underage and unprotected sex.
An annual questionnaire by teen website puffta.co.uk found that 58% of gay teens had sex before the legal age of 16, and 23% had had sex at 13-years-old or younger.
The site is now saying that the government is failing to educate teens about sex at the right age and in the right communities.
“”Last year, we simply didn’t know what this age group were up to as nobody had asked them,” said Simon Johnson, Editor and Founder of puffta.co.uk. “Now, year after year we’re finding that gay teens are having unprotected sex and not getting tested for STDs and HIV, yet they’re very sexually active at such a young age.”
Mr Johnson doesn’t believe the recent mainstream Government campaigns go far enough to educate gay teens. “The campaign is not inclusive,” he says. “Why spend so much money on a campaign that only targets young straight people and only focus on two STDs. You can cure chlamydia and gonorrhoea but you can’t cure HIV.”
Puffta is calling for the Department of Health to better allocate its spending power and not rely on gay charities such as Crusaid and the Terrence Higgins Trust to campaign to gay teenagers.
