{"id":522216,"date":"2010-04-09T10:50:34","date_gmt":"2010-04-09T14:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogs.rj.org,2010:\/rac\/\/2.2650"},"modified":"2010-04-09T11:25:53","modified_gmt":"2010-04-09T15:25:53","slug":"sex-ed-training-pays-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/522216","title":{"rendered":"Sex Ed Training Pays Off!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rob Keithan is the Director of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations’ Washington Office for Advocacy.<\/em>
\nThis post first appeared at Inspired Faith, Effective Action <\/a>and is republished with permission.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"group-on-RAC-steps.jpg\"<\/span>As far as we know, the Sexuality Education Advocacy Training<\/a> (SEAT) is the only national, multigenerational interfaith advocacy training focused on supporting comprehensive sexuality education. It started in 2006 as a partnership between the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations and Advocates for Youth. Currently the United Church of Christ, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice are also cosponsors. The great news is that SEAT is paying off! Here are some highlights:<\/p>\n

First, many of the Congressional Offices visited by 2010 participants remembered SEAT visits from previous years — and had positive things to say about them. This recognition is incredibly important, because even if they don’t agree with our position, they know who we are, and that we’re strong advocates for what we believe. Thanks to our SEAT lobby visits -and there were over 60 this year alone – not a single one of those offices can say that they “never hear from religious people who support comprehensive sexuality education.”<\/p>\n

<\/font>
\n Second, one office reported that their boss – a member of the House –
\ndecided to become a REAL Act cosponsor as a direct result of last
\nyear’s SEAT lobby visit. Even better, I just heard – literally as I
\nwas writing this blog – that another Representative decided to
\ncosponsor as a result of this year’s visit!<\/p>\n

Third, more than one lobby team reported that, as they were sitting an
\noffice lobby waiting for their visit, calls were coming from folks back
\nhome participating in the Sex Ed Call-in Day! This combination of
\nin-person and grassroots action is exactly what we hope for, so many,
\nmany thanks to everyone who made a call!<\/p>\n

We usually stop at three in stories like this, but one more point is
\nnecessary. For SEAT to be properly called a success, it must also help
\nparticipants spread the word outside of Washington, DC. Hence this
\nfinal highlight:<\/p>\n

Fourth, during an expected (and quite long) layover in Denver, a SEAT
\nteam from the Seattle area shared their stories and passion with other
\npassengers in the waiting area! Amy talked to a young mother of three
\nwho had never heard of comprehensive sexuality education but liked it
\nso much that she immediately started tweeting about it. Sierra,
\nCarolyn, and Sam struck up conversations with nearby passengers and
\ninformed them of the whole experience, including – get this – giving
\nout the handouts from their packets! Nice work y’all!<\/p>\n

At this point, we’re hoping to have a 7th annual SEAT next year. Look for an announcement in the fall!<\/p>\n

Photo: A small group on the steps of the Religious Action of Reform Judaism during an exercise on storytelling\/messaging <\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rob Keithan is the Director of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations’ Washington Office for Advocacy. This post first appeared at Inspired Faith, Effective Action and is republished with permission. As far as we know, the Sexuality Education Advocacy Training (SEAT) is the only national, multigenerational interfaith advocacy training focused on supporting comprehensive sexuality education. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4316,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-522216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4316"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522216\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}