By: Colby Agostinelli, AASECT Communications Chair & AASECT News Editor

Hello AASECT Community,

Over the past many weeks, there have been requests for AASECT to speak out about the crisis in Israel and Gaza. We appreciate your patience with us as we navigate our many roles and responsibilities within this crisis. It is important for us as a Board to collaborate on such important issues so we dedicated some time during our recent board meeting to discuss our next steps.

During our most recent board meeting in November, we reached a decision to pause issuing any position statements while we evaluate our internal processes and procedures surrounding matters of international crisis. AASECT’s mission on conception has been to advance the highest standards of professional practice in the field of sexuality. Over the years the organization has recognized the necessity of political consciousness in that endeavor and has been more vocal in the face of injustice. AASECT holds firm that violence, trauma, genocide, and war inherently impact our access to sexual freedom. We are actively considering what our organization’s role is in dire times such as these.

We understand that the lack of a formal position statement on the current issue in Israel and Gaza may feel frustrating and incomplete. We want you, our members, to know that we do hear you. We see you. In an effort to help you understand how we have arrived at this place – we would like to add some additional context and transparency about our process and operations for those interested. We are a working board of volunteers and our committees are struggling and burnt out as many are. We do not have a team of public relations professionals to assist us in creating advocacy statements (as many of the organizations you are seeing issuing statements do) and this immense labor is not suited to an individual volunteer role. In an effort to ease this burden and also allow for increased responsiveness, we have initiated efforts to look into potential outsourcing of our Public Relations efforts through a dedicated service or company. We too are impacted by the weight of warfare, harmful legislation, isolation, and inequity. When we have issued position statements, it is only after they have been worked on by the team of Advocacy Committee volunteers, reviewed by every member on the Board, and also reviewed by the AASECT attorneys. While we do have clear positions on many areas of interest within the field of sexuality, we cannot continue a practice of only speaking to crises reactively. We are considering what a more sustainable practice is within the organization (including restructuring divisions of labor, seeking additional support, voicing our professional values, and creating a procedure for calling emergency meetings, town halls, etc to discuss what support we can offer our members).

We are proud to announce a long overdue update to the AASECT Vision of Sexual Health which includes the addition of a 9th principle, as follows:

Humanitarian Crises Impact on Sexual Health. AASECT firmly upholds the principle that people come before governments, property, geography, and borders. We condemn antisemitism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, racism, and fascism in all forms. We stand united against violence and unconditionally affirm the right of all people to safety, freedom from harm, bodily autonomy, access to aid, justice, and restoration. AASECT remains steadfast in our commitment to fostering an environment where the dignity and human rights of all individuals are upheld, regardless of background and identity as we recognize the systemic effects of violence and trauma on sexual health.

AASECT membership has doubled in the last several years – which is incredible – but also means that we have outgrown many of our historical practices and procedures and are doing our best to attune to the needs of members. AASECT is our professional home and we know it is many of yours as well, so we believe that we all want to see AASECT thrive and improve. If you are feeling called to aid in this process, there are many committees seeking new members with energy and passion. The Advocacy Committee in particular is seeking energized members to help revise our existing position statements. Other committees seeking new members are Finance, Communications, Mentorship, and Ethics. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or concerns.

With care, on behalf of the AASECT Board of Directors,

Colby Agostinelli (they/them)
AASECT Communications Chair
communications@aasect.org