Sexual health centers all bodies and all the different ways to identify. Sexual health is the ability to be one’s full self, having resources, access, education, and community to express oneself. Sexual health starts from a place of pleasure and joy. We are all sacred beings; however, we do not have to have sacred sex.

Trailhead and the Youth Sexual Health Program Board value pleasure-based sexual health. This means that the historical way the SASH report was developed, with a focus on “negative” health outcomes like sexually transmitted infections, teen pregnancy, and so on, is no longer prioritized. The Board values nontraditional forms of data like storytelling, that are more inclusive, and centers the experiences of community. Identifying and centering nontraditional data that frames sexual health in a positive way is imperative for future iterations of the SASH report.

The Board believes that there can be no expectations of normality in sex education or with sexual health. Every body can treat sex in a different way, which centers individual choice and agency. This is always couched within a context of consent and respect. It is imperative to learn about your body, as a healthy human being. It is necessary for young people to know about their bodies, how they function, what is pleasurable or not, and so on.

It is necessary to acknowledge the reality that shame is foundational to the current sexual health structure. Shame is focused on fear and othering, and this is the system in which we are all taught about your bodies, sex, and one another. Shame culture is preventing us from centering pleasure and normalizing and supporting all bodies and the different ways bodies identify.