Health / When inclusive sex education is hard to find, local shops and a new program fill the gap

When inclusive sex education is hard to find, local shops and a new program fill the gap

How three queer-affirming sex shops and TRANSforming Community, TRANSforming Care are making inclusive sex ed more accessible.

by SLM Staff June 22, 2022 at 9:00 AM January 21, 2025

Three queer-affirming sex shops within walking distance of one another—Cheap Trx, Simple Pleasures, and Patricia’s—form a South City trifecta. Besides offering lingerie, toys, and accessories, they’re welcoming spaces for adults to ask questions. At Simple Pleasures, employees say LGBTQ+ affirmation is essential to the shop. “Everyone is welcome here,” says one employee. Another adds, “The majority of our business comes from the [LGBTQ+] community.”

The shops can play an important role at a time when inclusive sex education is limited, says Willow Rosen, an education and care support specialist with Planned Parenthood who previously served as Planned Parenthood’s education coordinator at-large and co-operated an inclusive sex shop that and offered classes and workshops. “Sex shops end up filling the gap,” Rosen says. “They have products, and employees are trained on the products. So if you have someone who’s never had sex education who doesn’t have a safe health care provider to go to, but they know that they’re having sex… you get to learn a little more about how a toy can be used, how it was intended to be used, and how it can be safely used.” Rosen says the education compounds from there. Beyond safety and product functionality, Patricia’s has also hired trained sex educators to their retail staff since opening in 2009.

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In a survey by GLSEN, an education organization working to end discrimination based on gender and sexuality and support LGBTQ+ inclusion and awareness in K-12 schools, just 3 percent of Missouri respondents reported receiving LGBTQ–inclusive school sex ed. But some groups have stepped up to try to change that: Last year, Planned Parenthood and the Metro Trans Umbrella Group launched TRANSforming Community, TRANSforming Care, referred to as TC2, a program that includes a transgender-centered sex-ed curriculum that Rosen is helping develop. “People have sex all kinds of ways,” they say. “We know that when we don’t educate folks, they can’t be making truly consensual decisions. So we need to provide the information.”

A Cheap Trx employee, who identifies as queer and has been with the company for more than a decade, echoes Rosen’s point. “I’ll answer questions for anybody,” they say. “And if they’re not sure, we’ll get them to the right area. If we don’t have what they’re looking for, we’ll get them to the right store.”