Liberty,Justice,and Sex Education for All: Culturally Relevant,Comprehensive Sex Education as a Structural Intervention in Adolescent Development

Sexual Minority Identities

Sexual minority youth reflect a larger population now than ever before. In a meta-analysis of 30 studies conducted between 1987 and 2015 with 26,706 participants, sexual minoritized youth, on average, questioned their sexual orientations at age 13 and, on average, “came out” at age 20 (Hall et al., 2021). Relative to then, more sexual minority youth today are disclosing their sexual identities at earlier ages. In 2021, a nationally representative survey of 17,232 teenagers ages 14 to 18 revealed that 26% of youth identified as sexual minorities, which is an increase from an 11% observed in 2015 (Mpofu, 2023). With roughly one-in-four youth self-identifying as sexual minorities, this diversity within the youth population suggests a need for adolescents to receive information to understand their sexual identities and preferences.

Making information about sex-related preferences publicly accessible can dismantle social barriers to youth interested in exploring their sexual identities. Exploring and identifying with a sexual minority identity can be conceptualized as a privilege, as research illustrates associations between minoritized sexual orientations and indicators of high socioeconomic status (e.g., high educational attainment). In one 2020 study conducted by the Pew Research Center, countries with higher gross domestic products per capita (GDPs) were associated with greater country-level aggregates of individuals’ self-reported acceptance of homosexuality (Poushter & Kent, 2020). Even at the individual level within the United States, a similar phenomenon emerged: in a study of 11,868 early adolescents, sexual minority adolescents were more likely than their same-aged heterosexual peers to live in households where parents had more advanced levels of education (Del Toro et al., 2026a). Thus, conceptualizing sexual identity exploration as a privilege and an outcome of economic equity corroborates the central thesis that everyone has a right to explore and learn about their sexual preferences.

In addition to intersecting with socioeconomic status, sexual orientation intersects with race/ethnicity, illustrating that sexual identity exploration is shaped not only by individual predispositions but also by broader sociocultural contexts. Puberty may serve as one developmental precursor to sexual identity exploration, as adolescents become increasingly aware of sex-related preferences and are more likely to be perceived by others as romantically or sexually eligible (Del Toro et al., 2026a; Dorn & Susman, 2019). Consistent with this perspective, earlier pubertal timing has been associated with earlier self-identification as a sexual minority (Papke et al., 2025). Yet, despite evidence that Black youth tend to experience puberty earlier than White youth (Carter & Seaton, 2025; Osinubi et al., 2022), Black youth are less likely than White youth to self-identify as a sexual minority during early adolescence (Del Toro et al., 2026a). Altogether, these patterns suggest that sexual identity development is shaped not only by biological maturation, but also by racialized sociocultural contexts that influence whether adolescents feel able, safe, or supported in exploring and disclosing sexual minority identities.

These racial/ethnic group differences in puberty and sexual orientation may reflect group differences in access to comprehensive sex education. Due to socioeconomic status, racial/ethnic groups differ in their access to comprehensive sex education. According to a report by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), young people who received no sex education, on average, tended to be Black and from low-income families, whereas young people who received comprehensive sex education, on average, tended to be White and from higher-income families (SIECUS, 2008). These group differences in the quality of education between predominantly Black schools (that are relatively under-resourced) and predominantly White schools (that are more socioeconomically affluent) has been attributed to racial-economic segregation (Martz et al., 2024). Low-income schools, where Black youth are disproportionately over-represented, receive less state and local funding, directly hindering the implementation of comprehensive sex education. Thus, conceptualizing comprehensive sex education as a structural resource that is inequitably distributed should further corroborate the need to have it more equitably distributed.

Attitudes Toward Sexual Minorities

While increased rates of sexual minorities in today's adolescent population relative to prior generations of adolescents can be attributable to progress in societal acceptance toward sexual minorities, this may be faltering. Drawing on data from 7.1 million Americans collected from 2007 to 2020, one study found that anti-gay biases decreased throughout this period, on average, by roughly 65% to 75% (Charlesworth & Banaji, 2022). However, using similar sources of data collected from 2.5 million Americans from 2021 to 2024, anti-gay biases reversed and rose by around 10% (Charlesworth & Finkel, 2026). To the researchers’ surprise, these increases in anti-gay biases were observed in Americans ages 25 years and under, whose anti-gay biases rose more sharply than those of older Americans. Thus, a comprehensive sex education that reviews sexual identities may be needed now more than ever, as exposure to and familiarity with sexual diversity is linked to lower biases (Kesler et al., 2023; Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006).

The absence of comprehensive sex education can perpetuate stereotypes of and biases against sexual minorities. In a qualitative study of 191 sexual minoritized adults, one-in-four adults recalled the school-based sexuality education experiences that they received during their adolescent years (Bishop et al., 2021). In their recollections, participants described receiving misinformation about HIV/AIDS, including information that perpetuated stereotypes linking a high prevalence of acquiring HIV/AIDS with sexual minoritized populations and people of color (Bishop et al., 2021). In addition, participants recollected that sex education in their schools used scare-tactics that invoked shame and prejudice toward youth's curiosity regarding sexual minority identities (Bishop et al., 2021). Another qualitative study of 12 sexual minoritized adults recollected similar shame-based scare tactics during their adolescent years that left them afraid of sex-related experiences (Hobaica & Kwon, 2017).

Misinformation and shame-based curricula regarding sexual minorities perpetuates stigma affecting both sexual minority and heterosexual youth alike, uniquely for cis-gender heterosexual boys. Extensive qualitative work with secondary-school aged heterosexual boys reveals that participants in middle adolescence learn to dismiss their close friendships with other boys to avoid being mislabeled as a sexual minority, even though participants continued to want close friendships with other boys (Way, 1997, 2011). These qualitative results with adolescents were recently replicated in a study with 3,215 adults (Xue et al., 2025). Here, men, more than women, avoided shared experiences (e.g., going to the movies and sharing food) with others of the same gender, and this pattern was driven by men feeling more apprehensive about signaling same-gender romance in platonic relationships, compared to women (Xue et al., 2025). Even after controlling for how hedonic, enjoyable, and feminine the activities were, these results persisted (Xue et al., 2025). Such robustness suggests that men's reluctance to share experiences with other men reflects broader masculine norms rather than merely individual preferences (Xue et al., 2025). This distance from same-gendered peers is thought to contribute to men's experienced loneliness, as one nationally representative survey conducted by the Survey Center on American Life found: almost one-in-five (17%) men have zero close friends (Graham-Felsen et al., 2025). Thus, destigmatizing sexual minority identities via comprehensive sex education can expand such education's beneficiaries from not only sexual minority youth but also their heterosexual peers. Moreover, from a developmental perspective, comprehensive sex education can be an early-life intervention to destigmatize sexual minority identities and dismantle societal narratives around masculinity, ultimately allowing boys (who will eventually age into adulthood) to pursue and maintain close same-sex relationships.

Romantic Relationships

With fewer youth making friendships, then it comes as no surprise that fewer youth today are developing romantic partnerships. According to a nationally representative sample of 5,055 adults ages 18 and up in the United States, 46% of Gen Z adults reported having had a boyfriend or girlfriend as a teenager, and this rate for having had a partner as a teenager was true for 69% of millennials, 76% for Generation Xers, and 78% of baby boomers (Cox et al., 2023). These generational differences can be explained by many factors, such as the role of technology that detracts youth from formulating meaningful in-person contact with others (Cox et al., 2023). Implications are discussed regarding the lack of romantic partnerships in adolescence and how these partnerships are inequitably distributed across intersecting racial/ethnic and gender groups.

Experiences in adolescence can have downstream implications for outcomes in adulthood (Giordano et al., 2015; Manning et al., 2014). For example, in the aforenoted nationally representative sample of 5,055 adults in the United States, 62% of Americans who had a steady partner during adolescence were married as adults, but this rate held for only 46% of Americans who did not have a steady partner during adolescence (Cox et al., 2023). Additionally, in one longitudinal study surveying a random sample of 324 adolescents from Ohio at ages 18–19 and again five years later, the number of dating partners with whom the individual was sexually active with was associated with an increased odds of intimate partner violence and relationship churning (i.e., breaking up and getting back together with the same partner) in adulthood (Manning et al., 2014). Among these same 324 adolescents, sexual non-exclusivity in adolescence was associated with lower relationship quality in adulthood (Manning et al., 2014). Collectively, these findings underscore that adolescent romantic experiences may carry long-term implications for adult relational well-being, positioning comprehensive sex education as a developmental context for promoting healthier relationship trajectories.

Furthermore, the rates of adolescents entering romantic partnerships are not equitably distributed across groups at the intersection of race/ethnicity and gender. Specifically, in adolescent-aged samples, particularly nationally representative data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent to Adult Health (i.e., Add Health), Black American girls were less likely to be in a romantic relationship than White American girls, but the inverse was true for boys, among whom Black American boys were more likely to be in a romantic relationship than White American boys (Raley & Sullivan, 2010). This intersectional finding is the opposite among Asian American adolescents, who were the least likely to be currently dating and having ever dated than all other racial/ethnic groups (Cutri et al., 2025), and this was uniquely the case for Asian American boys (Balistreri et al., 2015; Dryburgh et al., 2026).

These intersectional patterns persist into adulthood. In a study of adults, Black women and Asian men were the least pursued in romantic partnership formation (Rudder, 2014). Specifically, in an analysis of online dating profiles, users were less likely to positively evaluate as possible eligible partners and directly engage with Black women and Asian men relative to Black men and Asian women, respectively (Rudder, 2014).

The psychology driving the intersecting racial/ethnic and gender group differences is tied to how different racial/ethnic groups are sexualized. Specifically, Black Americans are viewed by society as more hypermasculine than other racial/ethnic groups, whereas Asian Americans are viewed by society as more effeminate relative to other racial/ethnic groups (Hughes et al., 2017; Way, 2011). This societal lens of hypermasculinity toward Black Americans disadvantages Black American girls, and how Asian Americans are effeminized by society disadvantages Asian American boys. These stereotypes shape how others approach these intersectional groups, as 12% of Black American women have a spouse of a different racial/ethnic group relative to 24% of Black American men, whereas 36% of Asian American women have a spouse of a different racial/ethnic group relative to 21% of Asian American men, according to a nationally representative survey of 1,778 adults (Livingston & Brown, 2017). These inter-racial relationships are more likely to be with White partners (Belot & Fidrmuc, 2010; Livingston & Brown, 2017). These findings underscore how racialized standards of attractiveness may differentially position adolescents within the romantic landscape, suggesting that comprehensive sex education may promote more inclusive and egalitarian comprehensions of beauty, desirability, and relationships.

Discussing the observed romantic-partnership involvement across racial/ethnic and gender groups is not intended to discourage inter-racial dating but rather to call attention to inequities experienced in romantic-relationship involvement. Specifically, the American adolescent population is a majority-minority demographic, in which White American adolescents are now the numerical minority (Witherspoon & Stein, 2023). For this reason, by sheer numbers alone, adolescents of color regardless of race/ethnicity and gender should be in similar rates of, if not more, romantic relationships than their White American counterparts, especially considering the possible role of racial/ethnic homophily. Because racial/ethnic homophily does not appear to sufficiently explain observed patterns of romantic-relationship involvement across intersections of race/ethnicity and gender, structural and sociocultural influences—particularly media messages that reinforce White standards of beauty—may better account for these disparities (Roberts & Rizzo, 2021). Thus, explicit messaging within comprehensive sex education that promotes inclusive and egalitarian representations of beauty (Nagoski, 2015) may help reduce racialized disparities in perceptions of attractiveness and romantic desirability.

Recommendation #1: Implement Nationwide Comprehensive Sex Education Standards

Comprehensive sex education should be conceptualized and implemented as a structural intervention. Much of the existing literature frames sex education as an individual- or school-level program; however, the inequities described throughout this manuscript suggest that access to high-quality sex education is itself structured by broader policy and socioeconomic conditions. States vary widely in whether sex education is mandated, medically accurate, or inclusive of sexual and gender diversity (Guttmacher Institute, 2025b), thereby reproducing inequities in adolescents’ access to critical developmental resources. As such, policy efforts should focus on establishing nationwide standards that require comprehensive, medically accurate, and culturally relevant sex education across all schools.

Notably, the present call for standardized comprehensive sex education should not be interpreted as advocating for a rigid, one-size-fits-all curriculum implemented uniformly across the country. Rather, this call refers to ensuring that core topics (e.g., healthy romantic relationships) are consistently addressed, while allowing the language, framing, and delivery of content to remain relevant to the cultural and contextual needs of specific communities. The present call for comprehensive sex education to be standardized as a culturally relevant pedagogical practice leads us to our next recommendation for policymakers.

Recommendation #2: Curtail Anti-Critical Race Theory Legislation

Comprehensive sex education should be culturally relevant. However, thirty states have imposed policies banning discussions about race/ethnicity in K-12 education (e.g., Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees, WOKE, Act in Florida). The basis for these bans stem from beliefs, like those reflected in Executive Order 13950, that school-based lessons about race/ethnicity may foster stereotypes among youth and create divisions among them based on group differences (Watkins, 2021). These bans target Critical Race Theory (CRT; i.e., the ideology that race is a social construct and racism is the product of individual, institutional, and political prejudices) and were driven by families’ and policymakers’ concerns that CRT in schools may ostracize White students following the period of racial unrest in 2020. In 2025, United States President Donald J. Trump released Executive Order #14190, Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schools, threatening to cancel federal funds in the event that a K-12 school promotes equity-focused ideology. These policies have sparked fear among educators who now avoid discussions of any issues even closely related to CRT (PEN America, 2024), including culturally relevant education (Najarro, 2022), which universally benefits adolescents (Bardach et al., 2024; Del Toro et al., 2026b; Gay, 2018; Ladson-Billings, 1995).

Absence of culturally relevant education may perpetuate existing racial/ethnic inequities in youth's relational and sexual development. Recall that youth's sexual identity development, attitudes toward sexual minorities, and romantic relationship experiences are unevenly distributed across social groups and reflect structural inequities. To address these inequities, curricula should explicitly acknowledge how youth's experiences with sexuality are shaped by intersecting systems of racism, sexism, and heterosexism. Comprehensive sex education should incorporate materials that reflect diverse racial/ethnic, gender, and sexual identities; challenge narratives that privilege whiteness, heteronormativity, and traditional gender roles; and provide opportunities for youth to critically engage with how societal structures shape their experiences.