SUPPORT OUR QLD YOUTH WORKERS - THIS COULD HAPPEN HERE

http://www.yanq.org.au/4/post/2013/06/state-budget-cuts-another-5m-from-youth-services.html

The state budget, handed down today by the Queensland Government, sees another $5 million dollars of funding cut from front-line youth services. 

The Director of the Youth Affairs Network of Queensland has warned that this broken promise will have negative impacts on the whole community. 

Today's budget papers confirm that on top of efficiency cuts to youth services over the previous year, the Department of Communities has cut millions of dollars of funding to the Youth Support Co-ordinators Program, a program focused on supporting young people who are at risk of or have disengaged from learning to successfully transition into and through their Senior Phase of Learning. 

Youth Affairs Network of Queensland's (YANQ) Director, Siyavash Doostkhah, has today strongly criticised the LNP Government for their broken election promise. 

“These are front-line services we are talking about. The research and evidence on hand clearly demonstrate the link between disengaging from schools and ending up in the criminal justice system,” said Mr Doostkhah. 

Love is the drug - just for fun

Pedophilia - What does the latest psychology say?

Really really good podcast from ABC All In The Mind.

WARNING: THIS IS A TOPIC VERY DIFFICULT FOR MANY OF US TO TALK ABOUT. LOOK AFTER YOURSELF.

For many of us, sexual attraction to children is difficult to understand—let alone the disregard child sex offenders have for the physical and emotional harm they can cause. What is the psychology of paedophilia?  Are there differences in the brains of paedophiles, making them a biologically different class of person; or is attraction to children on a universal continuum, controlled only by 

Click here to listen

Transgender Conversations

It is very heartening to me to see and hear all the discussion and discourse about transgender. If you are a blogger or blog follower  just go into your favourite blog platform and search for transgender support. You should find lots.

Here is a great post from polymic : THE FIRST TRANSGENDER NAVY SEAL

"If you would have met Chris Beck back when he was a Navy SEAL you would have thought he was an ordinary guy. To everyone around him, he was a warrior, a fighter and also a hero. Albeit living up to all those titles, he also struggled with a secret that he tucked away deep inside himself. He wasn't actually Chris, he was Kristin.

In his tell-all book Warrior Princess Beck reveals that just like the the panty hose hidden in the back of his drawer, while he was serving in the military, he was concealing the fact that he was actually transgender.

In what has been called "one of the smartest and most important books of the year," the retired Navy SEAL explains that her journey hasn't been painless. Kristin Beck, formerly known as Chris Beck, served her country for than 20 years but she was never able to share her secret with anyone within the military.  She was deployed 13 times and fought in seven combat deployments being honored with the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for her outstanding work. "

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

Here is a booklist for Trans Youth in case you need to find some supportive reading

How do I tell my partner I have a body AND a past?

A great question and response about telling someone about your herpes (or anything). Thanks to Scarleteen for passing this on from Captain Awkward.com. Hopefully this is the sort of conversation you can have with the young people you work with.

Hello Captain and Company!

About a year and a half ago I had my primary outbreak of genital herpes. It was excruciating, both physically and emotionally, but I’m finally starting to pick up the pieces and feel like myself again. I’m starting to feel like I maybe want to date again, finally (yay), but I’d like to be prepared for the inevitable awkwardness of telling a hypothetical partner about the herpes. It’s an awkward enough conversation to have when you don’t have anything communicable. Herpes isn’t the biggest deal as far as STIs go, but it isn’t kittens and rainbows, either. Being honest has always been important to me, but it’s even more important to me now since the person I got it from wasn’t– between telling me he’d been tested, that he’d tested negative over six months after my outbreak, and that he’d show me his test results, there was certainly a lie. Herpes doesn’t happen spontaneously, and his test results never materialized. So I really, REALLY want to be open and honest about it.......

CLICK HERE to read the rest AND the response

remaining silent not an option

Complexity of Gender

THIS GUY IS PRETTY ENTERTAINING

The Gender Book

http://www.thegenderbook.com/#

Wow go to the link above and look at the booklet. This is a great infographic about the world of gender. really really Good.

Brilliant post by Melissa Fabello that I found on Adios Barbie  Adios Barbie is sort of the one stop body image shop

By Melissa A. Fabello 

As a sex educator with a specialization in body image, I receive a lot of anonymous messages in my Tumblr inbox from people wanting to know if their body is “good enough” for sex.

Will my boyfriend be disgusted if my breasts are uneven? How small is “too small” for a penis? How do I get over the fear of my body jiggling when I’m on top?

And overwhelmingly, increasingly:

Is my vagina dirty? How do I know if my vagina looks/smells/tastes right? Can I use soap “down there?” Or perfume or deodorant or douches? Should I shave? Should I get surgery?

It’s exhausting.

Believing strongly in comprehensive sex education – that is, that everyone deserves access toall information – I find these questions tremendously difficult to answer. On the one hand, I have to be honest with my followers and let them know the truth about how their body works and which “solutions” to their “problems” exist and are safe. But I also need to steer them in the right direction toward body-positivity. I give them their answers, but I also make sure to explain that the real problem is the one that’s inside of their head – that the voice nagging that their bodies just aren’t right is what’s really wrong.

That’s not the answer that they’re looking for. But it’s the truth.

Part of teaching people to accept, own, and respect their bodies and the bodies of others is helping them to unlearn the social myths that they’ve been sold and to provide accurate information about their bodies. So, for women with vaginas*, here’s a primer that outlines four myths that keep us from loving our vulvas – and from loving ourselves.

CLICK HERE to read more

Fantastic Infopak called Vagina and Vulva; Your guide to your Va-Jay-Jay

Fantastic Images and interesting as well.: Thanks to sincitysexblog for this and to all the tumblrs who have passed this on.


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