The teenage sex education program gets another shot at the county budget but with opposition looming.
By BILL VARIAN, Times Staff Writer
Published September 9, 2005
TAMPA - Invoking his kid brother who died of AIDS, Hillsborough commissioner Tom Scott managed to get his fellow board members to consider restoring spending for a teen theater group that promotes sex education.
"I'm very sensitive to this issue," said Scott, whose brother Larry died of AIDS about nine years ago at age 34. "It is an issue that has been dear to my heart."
Though she didn't need much coaxing, commissioner Kathy Castor agreed to second Scott's proposal to restore $19,500 in annual funding for the Source Teen Theater program run by the group Planned Parenthood.
But Castor's second only brings the issue back for reconsideration when commissioners meet Sept. 22 for the final public hearing on their $3-billion budget. Both commissioners were on the losing end in July when the board voted 5-2 to spike the program's funding.
The vote came during a public hearing Thursday where several speakers from the public expressed support for the program and none opposed it. They included representatives of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, educators, parents of teens who have participated in the program and a sex therapist.
Judith Curts told board members she has a thriving sex therapy business on Davis Islands, thanks in large part to peoples' unwillingness to talk about the issue from a young age.
"I'm baffled ... that you would deny education about sexuality, which is real, to our children," Curts said. "The "Just Say No' attitude doesn't work. I know that."
Curts encouraged the board to recall the days they were 14, 15 or 16, and struggling to understand their sexualities and feelings they were having.
Programs such as Source Teen Theater help young people understand what is going on with their bodies and how to deal with it in a healthy and safe fashion, she said. The program works with teenagers, who write their own scripts and perform educational skits about such matters as sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, abuse and bullying.
Typically, the shows are followed by discussions between the actors and the audience.
Speaker Andrea Garcia, chair of the Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, told board members that Hillsborough has the fifth highest AIDS rate of Florida's 67 counties, and that its rate of teen pregnancies is 14 percent higher than the state average.
Parent Cynthia Tickell told commissioners the positive lessons her 16-year-old daughter has learned are invaluable when it comes to dealing with the decisions teenagers inevitably face.
"I cannot understand why such an important program would have its funding cut," Tickell said said.
Commissioner Ronda Storms, who initiated the funding cut to Source Teen Theater, said she has no problem with sex education. She advocated for it as a former teacher, she said, bringing in speakers to talk about AIDS.
Her problem is with Planned Parenthood, a group often associated with its advocacy for abortion rights. She said the issue belongs before the school board, which can find plenty of people to address the topics Source Teen Theater explores. Further, she said Planned Parenthood is a multimillion-dollar fundraising organization that could pay for the program itself.
"I'm a strong supporter of sex education," Storms said. "I'm not a supporter of this organization."
