Anna Vassallo’s only previous experience with sex education consisted of her high school gym teacher teaching abstinence and showing a few pictures.
Her lackluster experience in high school led her to do her own research and motivated her to help others have a more comprehensive sex education. To achieve this goal, the Elon University sophomore joined SexEU as a peer educator.
“My hope is that through educating people here, they won’t have the same experience I did, and they won’t have to research or not know about sex before having it,” Vassallo said.
SexEU is a new organization at Elon with the goal of creating comprehensive sex education with a focus on marginalized identities, specifically including Black, Latinx, and LGBTQIA+ individuals.
The organization is made up of six peer educators who create workshops focusing on topics like consent, contraception and protection, maintaining healthy relationships and pleasure, according to peer educator sophomore Lindsey Mathew.
Mathew was inspired to be a part of this organization after her own negative experience she had at her high school, similar to Vassallo.
“I was taught pretty terrible things about my body. A lot of us were taught shame and guilt,” Mathew said.
Vassallo also discussed overarching goals of the organization which mainly are to reduce STI rates in both Elon and the greater Alamance county community through educating people about different forms of birth control. With the goal of reducing STI rates by at least 2%, SexEU’s main priority is to educate students about a topic they feel in high school many students were inadequately prepared for, yet is one the peer educators within this organization feel is crucial.
Mathew said one aspect she also felt was missing from the sexual education conversation was any mention of the LGBTQIA+ community.
“We hope to kind of bridge the gap by teaching about things like trans bodies, and also sex that isn’t just heteronormative sex,” Mathew said.
The organization’s social media also works to educate students about topics such as why people experience menstrual cramps, the history of dildos and first uses of vibrators.
SexEU’s first event this Thursday is a trivia night about sexual health in Mckinnon Hall at 10 p.m. This event is hosted by drag king Marco Andro Carter and will include presentations about sexual health, ending with trivia.