The “Condom King,” Community, and Safe Sex: How the AIDS Epidemic Changed Sex Education
Location
Ponderosa Room D
Presentation Type
Presentation
Presentation Topic
HIV/AIDS, sex education, safe sex, community activism, C. Everett Koop, the Religious Right, condoms
Start Date
6-3-2026 11:15 AM
Event Sort Order
33
Abstract
As one of the paramount health crises of the century, the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States provoked a multitude of conflicting responses from government officials and activist citizens alike. This produced rapidly increasing tensions between sexual abstinence education pushed by the Religious Right and the urgent need for HIV prevention education. Dialogue surrounding sex education throughout the 1980s shows the extreme diversity in ideas about what should be taught, how, and by whom. This research examines how and the extent to which debates sparked between key groups and figures transformed sex education during the HIV/AIDS crisis. As standards of sex education are still under scrutiny today, this research is impactful because it gives the basis for understanding why comprehensive programs face opposition and stigma. Methods include mixed-media research conducted through the lens of historical analysis utilizing primary and secondary sources such as newspaper articles, advertisements, and peer-reviewed journals. The debates over safe sex led to community activist efforts and new conversations over condom usage, inextricably intertwining the pivotal ways in which key players and groups set the parameters of promoting sex education. I argue that through these means, the various discourses between scientists, activists, and the government created a paradox that often contradicted not only the “opposition,” but notions within their own groups.
The “Condom King,” Community, and Safe Sex: How the AIDS Epidemic Changed Sex Education
Ponderosa Room D
As one of the paramount health crises of the century, the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States provoked a multitude of conflicting responses from government officials and activist citizens alike. This produced rapidly increasing tensions between sexual abstinence education pushed by the Religious Right and the urgent need for HIV prevention education. Dialogue surrounding sex education throughout the 1980s shows the extreme diversity in ideas about what should be taught, how, and by whom. This research examines how and the extent to which debates sparked between key groups and figures transformed sex education during the HIV/AIDS crisis. As standards of sex education are still under scrutiny today, this research is impactful because it gives the basis for understanding why comprehensive programs face opposition and stigma. Methods include mixed-media research conducted through the lens of historical analysis utilizing primary and secondary sources such as newspaper articles, advertisements, and peer-reviewed journals. The debates over safe sex led to community activist efforts and new conversations over condom usage, inextricably intertwining the pivotal ways in which key players and groups set the parameters of promoting sex education. I argue that through these means, the various discourses between scientists, activists, and the government created a paradox that often contradicted not only the “opposition,” but notions within their own groups.
Presenter Bio
Olivia Castle is an undergraduate researcher pursuing a B.A. in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma. Her research explores the HIV epidemic throughout the 1980s, its effects on sex education, and the variety of responses that emerged. This research has allowed her the opportunity to present at the International Gender and Sexuality Studies Conference as well as be accepted into the National Conference for Undergraduate Research (NCUR).
As well as being a part of NOW, she is a Sexual Health Ambassador at the Women’s Research Center and BGLTQ+ Student Center. Through this, she has obtained a rapid HIV test certification and youth mental health training. As an advocate and researcher for the Women’s Research and BGLTQ+ Student Center, she has spent much time volunteering there. During her time at UCO, she has remained on the President’s Honor Roll.