Is Abstinence Universal?

Posted on March 1, 2010

Recently we were asked if the abstinence message is truly universal, regardless of sexual orientation, and we feel that it is. Here is how we replied:

Dear Student,

On behalf of the Macomb County Abstinence Partnership (MCAP), we would like to thank you for taking the time to contact us about your concerns. Nothing excites us more than when students take responsibility for their own sexual health. We so deeply appreciate your honesty and initiative.

Our grant is primarily founded on the message of abstinence until marriage however; we would be remiss to not acknowledge that there are those in our classes who are not currently able to be legally married and may not traditionally fall under this category. The staff at MCAP seeks to make it very clear that abstinence is not a choice that only pertains to heterosexual students. Abstinence is a choice available for all students, including those in the LGBT community. We sincerely apologize if that was not the viewpoint that you received.  We feel that regardless of a person’s sexual orientation the best and smartest choice in preserving your sexual health is to abstain from all types of sexual contact (oral, anal, skin to skin, and vaginal) until you are in a long term mutually monogamous relationship. Abstinence is the only 100% guarantee to not get pregnant or contract sexually transmitted diseases.

Again we apologize if you felt like our message did not pertain to you. We will continue to provide accurate information to all of our students so that they can make educated, well informed decisions regarding sexual activity.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention as we value you input. Our hope is that you will enjoy the rest of your MCAP classes. We will strive to ensure that our staff is sensitive to all program participants and will seek as a group to improve in this area of communication.

Please do not hesitate to contact us in the future.