There is a common fact that unites all humans — regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, politics, height, and hair color — we are only here because our parents had sex. (The sticklers will ask, what about IVF? But nobody likes a pedant). It gets worse. In America and the rest of the developed world, the odds are your parents also had sex with other people before the glorious moment of your conception.
It is hard to know the exact average number of sexual partners people have had, as some inflate their prowess, and others shave the number. In addition, various surveys use different definitions of sex — some include heavy petting and the like, while others require penetration. However, according to the World Population Review, Americans average 10.7 sexual partners. And by any standard, the average number is far more than one.
A more relevant statistic is that 97% of American adults have had sex. This fact means more adult Americans have had intimate relations than live in a household with a car (91.7%). In addition, the average age at which Americans first have sex is 17 — with a third of teens starting at 16 or earlier.
Yet, despite the amount of activity among sexually capable citizens, many conservatives in America think they can wish the 'sin' away by pretending it does not exist. Even in the Internet Age, they believe they can shield children (hard-wired to be inquisitive) from its existence. Good luck with that. I found my father’s Playboys (because that was then) when I was pubescent.
The Ottawa County (MI) Board of Commissioners does not care. Its plan to reduce STI rates and unwanted pregnancies is to put its head in the sand because keeping children safe will “normalize or encourage the sexualization of children.”
In the June meeting of the county board, the vice chair, Sylvia Rhodea, introduced a resolution that sought to “protect childhood innocence.” She knew the board would greet it favorably because, after the last election in November 2022, eight of the 11 members were self-described conservative Christians. A fundamentalist push by Christian nutters at Ottawa Impact enabled this religious hijack of the local government.
Rhodea started with a screed against LGBTQ+ — a typical Puritan warm-up act to inflame the audience. It was the usual blend of overwrought hysteria and strange beliefs about imaginary practices. Where many consider the Rainbow Flag as a symbol of acceptance of the sexual diversity of Americans, Sylvia sees something far darker. As the Washington Post reported:
It was, she announced, “time to define the plus” in the LGBTQ+ movement. “Over 50 different flags are flown under the LGBTQ+ flag,” Rhodea said. Their ranks, she continued, included pedophiles, polygamists and furries, which she described as “those who dress as furry animals and may use litter boxes.”
It is hard for a sane person to understand what she is going on about. I will work backward. “Furries” refer to a belief among conservatives that people who like putting on cat costumes, and demand litter boxes as toilet facilities, have infested America. I have never seen one. Perhaps I would if I traveled in conservative circles.
Only Mormons, some of the most conservative Americans, have historically recognized polygamy. And pedophilia is a crime that exists among people of all sexual orientations. If the Rainbow Flag represents pedophiles, so does Old Glory.
Heather Alberda, a sex educator for the County’s Health Department, has become the lightning rod for this continued conservative descent into madness. Alberda is a passionate advocate for mental and physical health whose life’s work is helping disadvantaged people and the young navigate the minefield of sex.
Her job required her to talk about birth control, sexually transmitted infections, abstinence and consent. She met with high school students, migrant farmworkers, teens in juvenile detention and people struggling with addiction.
WaPo reported the results:
”In her 21 years at the health department, the county’s teen pregnancy rate had decreased by 76 percent and is the fourth-lowest among Michigan’s 83 counties. The abortion rate for Ottawa County during the same period fell by 18 percent, according to state data.”
Crack some champagne and give the woman a raise. It will not happen. The Board passed the resolution that bans county employees from participating or using resources on programs or events that "support, normalize, or encourage the sexualization of children." The religious conservatives in charge would not only return the County to Victorian morality, but they would also usher in Medieval health outcomes. It is criminally irresponsible — as irresponsible as promoting promiscuous gun ownership. Which I suspect many of them also do.
All of us probably entertain some vision of an Edenic utopia occasionally. But rational people deal with the world as it is. And they realize that keeping children and others healthy requires that they know things. If some people want to fantasize about cosplay with furry animals — who am I to judge? But when your private predilections promote policies that injure people, you have gone too far.
It is time for Ottawa County residents to elect some genuinely pro-life representatives.