II. RECOMMENDATIONS

To the United States Government
· Repeal abstinence-only-until-marriage legislation and enact in its place legislation supporting comprehensive sex education that would include information and instruction about HIV/AIDS prevention, including the use of condoms for this purpose.

· The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) should amend its guidance on abstinence-only education programs to require programs to provide complete and accurate information about HIV/AIDS prevention, including instruction about the use of condoms for this purpose.

· Federal government agencies, including DHHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), should ensure that adequate resources are directed toward HIV/AIDS prevention programs for youth.

· Federal government agencies, including DHHS and CDC, should give priority in funding to adolescent HIV/AIDS prevention and sex education programs that do not discriminate against gay, lesbian and bisexual youth, and should provide technical assistance to states, school districts and local communities to implement such HIV/AIDS prevention and sex education programs.

· Federal government agencies, including DHHS and CDC, should take specific steps to improve coordination of HIV/AIDS prevention and sex education efforts among federal agencies and to expand training and technical assistance to support collaboration among state and local education agencies and other state and local organizations that work with youth.

To the Government of Texas
Texas should take action to protect children's right to information about HIV/AIDS, right to the highest attainable standard of health and right to be free from discrimination based on sexual orientation. To this end, Texas lawmakers should take the following legislative action:

· Amend Texas Education Code § 28.004 to require that courses on human sexuality, HIV/AIDS, and sexually transmitted diseases include scientifically accurate information on condoms as a means of HIV/AIDS prevention.

· Revise the state education code to ensure that teachers, administrators and other local officials are not permitted to restrict important information about HIV/AIDS prevention, including information about appropriate condom use.

· Repeal Texas Health & Safety Code § 163.002(8), which states that course materials and instruction in the state's model public health education curriculum relating to sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases should include "emphasis, provided in a factual manner and from a public health perspective, that homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense" under state law.

To Other State Governments
All states should take action to protect children's right to information about HIV/AIDS, right to the highest attainable standard of health and right to be free from discrimination based on sexual orientation. To this end, state governments should take the following action:

· Repeal state abstinence-only legislation and enact in its place legislation supporting comprehensive sexuality education that would include information about the proper use of condoms to prevent HIV/AIDS.

· Repeal laws and regulations that prevent teachers and service providers from including information relevant to lesbian, gay and bisexual youth in health education on sexuality and sexually transmitted diseases.

To State education and health authorities
· State health and education authorities should provide technical and curricular support to local school districts to assist them in providing complete and accurate information about HIV/AIDS prevention.

To local communities throughout the United States
· Implement education programs and curricula that include complete and accurate information for preventing HIV/AIDS.

· Repeal laws that prohibit using these curricula.

To local school districts throughout the United States
· Provide age-appropriate information to students that adequately addresses HIV/AIDS prevention measures, including complete and accurate information about condoms.

· Include information that is specific to the needs of lesbian, gay and bisexual youth in health education on sexuality and sexually transmitted diseases. Such information should be integrated into the regular curriculum and should not be presented with the implicit message that being gay, lesbian or bisexual is itself a health problem.

· Ensure that teachers, school nurses, guidance counselors, school social workers and school psychologists are trained to provide complete and accurate information about HIV/AIDS prevention and about issues related to sexual orientation.