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Having sex with another person, regardless of their gender or yours, can always pose health risks, especially if you do not use proper precautions to protect yourselves from those risks. In the case of sex with another person with a penis (or with anyone, for that matter), the risk of acquiring an…

Molluscum contagiosum – a bumpy skin infection – isn’t technically an STI, but can be transmitted through sexual contact. The CDC states that molluscum cases in the United States have been on the rise since 1996.

Although I think of myself as South Asian, I was born overseas and have always lived in a Western country. Our family still carries many of our traditional values from back home and we have a large community here. I came out to my parents around 3 years after having my own realizations. The impetus for this was that they had started to look for marriage partners for me.

When you’re reading, interacting at/with or addressing Scarleteen, especially when interacting with staff, volunteers and other readers or users, we ask that everyone please try not to make assumptions about each other. When in doubt, or when you’re curious about someone’s life, body, identity…

It’s up to you to decide if this was sex and if this had anything to do with virginity. What I can do to help you with that is give you some definitions, backgrounds and perspective on those terms, some advice on making sexual choices in alignment with what you really want and feel ready for and…

Meyli’s question continued: Last night, he went out with a couple guy friends, and they went to a fastfood place for dinner. One of the workers, a middle-aged man, touched him (can I say he grabbed his ass?) innapropriately. He was really freaked out by that, obviously anyone would be. It was a…

It’s fine to start on day two. Really, it’s okay to start at any time in your cycle. It’s just that the pill will become fully effective more quickly if you start at certain times rather than others. If you start within the first six days of a period, your withdrawal bleed (the “period” that happens…

I don’t know what “just being a guy” means. I’m not messing with you, it’s just that boys and men, like girls, women and everyone else, vary so much. There’s just no one way guys are or behave. For sure, if he identifies as a guy, he’s going to be a guy no matter what, but who that guy is and what…

What do or might you want to do, not want to do or aren’t sure about when it comes to sex with a partner? Take stock with this awesomely in-depth list.

My family is supportive of my life, as long as they get to ignore the queer part. I know they can’t handle it so I don’t talk about it with them. As for my community of colour, the only one I’ve ever really been a part of is my mom’s church family, and I know they wouldn’t be able to handle it either.

I was one of several guests on a radio show in Baltimore on Friday. The topic of the show was apparently going to be about sex education and social justice, but turned out to be more like fear-mongering and a whole lot of projections around teen sexuality mixed with focus on parents and teen sexuality. One of the most troubling things was a statement that rape survivors “compulsively have sex.” This is a very common stereotype. It’s one that can be incredibly damaging in several ways. It’s also one which has long since been dismantled by rape survivors, people who work in the field as advocates for survivors and educators about rape.

Long story short? You asked her. She says she doesn’t. So, you either believe her or you don’t, ultimately. She also seems to be expressing great frustration and distress that you’re not extending trust to her and believing what she tells you. We can trust someone whether they’re right next to us or…

Why was I staying in a house that was falling apart all around me more and more? Why did I keep trying to convince myself I could fix everything when I knew I couldn’t, or that my landlord would suddenly do all kinds of things he’d never done? Why did I keep focusing on the small things that I loved about the house when the big things were so awful? Why was I staying so focused on what this house could be, rather than focusing on the way it actually was and was most likely to remain? One of the big things that got me to these realizations about my house were conversations with some of you about your unhealthy, abusive or otherwise crummy relationships.

Being queer and South Asian isn’t easy; being queer and mixed is harder, because any community can put it down to the OTHER identity group. That said, my Indian grandmother has been incredibly supportive, and no one has written me hate mail or disowned me. I’m very grateful for the internet, and for the time I’ve spent in larger cities. Both give me a sense that there’s someplace I might sort of fit in.

You listen to your own feelings and sense of self. You’re the expert when it comes to your own identity. While a sex is assigned to us at birth, and people may have the idea that also determines our gender, that stands in conflict with the fact that sex and gender are different words that mean…

What someone likes or doesn’t like, both in general and more specifically as it relates to pleasure, is an intensely personal thing. As much as we sometimes like to pretend this isn’t true, there just aren’t universals about certain activities that Every Single Person Ever absolutely loves, or…

I’ve known that I am attracted to men for as long as I can remember. I identify as a MSM or as “downe” rather than as bisexual. Being attracted to men didn’t bother me as much as how that attraction would play out. There aren’t many black MSMs in the media so it was hard for me to reconcile my race and my masculinity with my attraction to men. I felt as though I would be seen as weak or effeminate by others.

Being inclusive of disabled people in sex education and sexuality as a whole benefits those of us who are disabled, but it also can benefit everybody.

Well, the only person who knows for sure if your partner is being honest with you would be your partner. I think that is just one reason why it sounds pretty important that you revisit this discussion with him, particularly if he doesn’t know you’re still feeling unsettled or uncomfortable even…

I was watching a debate about sex education today, one rife with a lot of ludicrous statements, but the statement that quality sex education could not possibly help prevent sexual abuse stuck with me. It was all the more infuriating as someone who knows too well that a lack of knowledge about bodies and sex, and a lack of information about sexual consent and autonomy are some of the hugest reasons why sexual abuse is so prevalent.

Considering counseling or think you or a friend might benefit from some therapy? Here’s a basic introduction and a shared conversation with adolescent therapist and author Dr. Lynn Ponton to clue you in on what to expect from the couch.

At age 17 during my senior year of highschool, I was at a crossroads. “Should I turn against my religious beliefs and how I was raised or should I listen to my heart and live the life that I want?” I chose to be a righteous Christian and a good daughter. Yet, I felt more disconnected with my Faith each time I prayed about my “ungodly” feelings.

I was thinking about all of you a lot last night, and was feeling something about you I realize I’ve never had the chance to share. When I’m working with you, while I always leave wishing for much better things for all of you, I also leave always feeling very inspired by you, and reminded of good things about myself when I was your age I often do forget and really shouldn’t, and which I also really didn’t know back then.

You should experiment and communicate with your partner and should do the things together and alone that feel uniquely good for both of you – not just one of you – at any given time. In all truth, the answer to situations like this really are that simple, and there’s not a whole lot more to it…

Are you at a point in your life and relationship where you’re considering moving in with a partner? We’ve got the scoop on some things to consider, talk through and get going in advance to be sure that if you make the move to shack up, it’s a good one.