The Future

This blog has been an interesting endeavor. I mean, who knew how much information you could find about sex on the Internet? hahaha.

But, at the end of this all, especially after the election, I can only wonder what the future holds for sexuality in America. So, of course, I did a little research on Barack Obama's views on sexuality and sex issues.

Abortion is certainly an issue pertaining to sexuality, so it stands to say that Obama's decisions in this area will affect many young women in the next four years. When asked about his stance on abortion at a campaign rally back in October, Obama side stepped saying whether or not abortion was morally just, stated that it is a hard decision for women to have to make and we shouldn't condemn them for it, and advocated better sex education for young people. His basic stance, as I could understand, was that he wasn't going to attack abortion's legality, but instead try to reduce abortion by increasing sex education and reproductive services (i.e. birth control); a fairly moderate stance. He stated during the speech, "I’m all for education for our young people, encouraging abstinence until marriage, but I also believe that young people do things regardless of what their parents tell them to do and I don’t want my daughters ending up in really difficult situations because I didn't communicate to them, how to protect themselves if they make a mistake." I think that this is powerful advice no matter what side of the abortion fence you stand on.

On the issue of gay rights, during an MTV interview, Obama stated that while he personally believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman, he does not believe that we should be making constitutional amendments to prohibit, "somebody who cares about another person." He professed that he doesn't advocate gay marriage but that he does oppose California's proposition 8 (which bans gay marriage) on the grounds that constitutional amendments should be for expanding civil liberties, not for taking them away. He did advocate strong civil unions though. Another moderate stance.

On http://www.barackobama.com/, Obama talked about his views on birth control and stated that he plans on making affordable birth control available to low-income and college age women. As a senator, "when Congress failed to require insurance plans to cover FDA-approved contraceptives, [he] made sure those contraceptives were covered for women in Illinois." So, obviously he is a supporter of contraception and and reproductive health.

I personally am not sure what the future will hold for American sexuality. I feel that Obama is a moderate liberal, which means he will probably be proactive for most issues that have to do with sexuality in the United States, regardless of his personal views on the subject. At the very least, I don't think that he is going to make any changes to the way things are (i.e. make abortion or gay marriage illegal). I'm not going to come out and say anything about my own political views, although it may already be obvious from the content of my blog posts, but I think that the future may be bright for young adults who are exploring or struggling with their sexuality in the years to come.