By Rebecca Vontroba from the Buckeye Flame
Not many 19-year-olds can say that they are a sex educator.
Lotus Lloyd can.
“I have more formal training, but I think a lot of people do sex education work and they don’t realize it.” explained Lloyd, a first-year student at Oberlin College, where he’s studying gender, sexuality, and feminist studies and education.
Lotus Lloyd (Photo Credit: Abe Frato)
Lloyd was recently named to GLAAD’s prestigious “20 Under 20” list of changemakers: a group of outstanding young people who are accelerating acceptance through their work in entertainment and media.
As a Black queer transmasculine person, Lloyd serves on the Advocates for Youth’s Racial Justice in Sex-Education Youth Advisory Council and Planned Parenthood of Michigan’s Gender Affirming Care Community Advisory Board.
The Buckeye Flame spoke with this inspiring student about the relevance of being a young sex educator and how he uses his voice to make a difference.
***What does it mean to be a sex educator at 19?***I feel like for a lot of people, the way they got sex education – especially when their school system did not help them – was by talking to their peers. This could be lunchroom conversations or anywhere you would learn through conversations.
I have more formal training, but I think a lot of people do sex education work and they don’t realize it. From my experience of working with Planned Parenthood of Michigan, I learned how to give medically accurate information. I have been able to take an active role in the community-based learning practice that is already in existence. I enjoy what I do and I think it’s cool that I have the opportunity to be a part of education. But for me it’s not a particularly unique or special thing.
Within the school systems, there’s a lot of variabilities based on what each district deems is correct. Some schools play a video from the 1980s and decide that is the education that the students receive. What I do in terms of talking to people is address their needs in a way that is helpful to the individual.
Read more here: https://thebuckeyeflame.com/2022/12/12/19-year-old-sex-educator-ohio-college-student-named-to-prestigious-national-list-of-changemakers/