Every year since 2012 University of Tennessee students have organized and held “sex week.” It’s a week-long festival and series of events focused on educating students about sex, sexuality, and gender. Programs include “Queer History in Cinema,” “Gender Smackdown,” “Queer Theory,” “Trans Convo Starter Pack,” and “Trans Sex positivity.” And that’s just the schedule for Monday.
There’s “Masturbation Nation” on Tuesday, “Religion and Sexuality” on Wednesday, and the “Science of Abortion” on Thursday. There are many others on the calendar (above). There’s also a carnival and a cabaret.
“Appreciating the diversity and unity of the human experience entails understanding the range of sexual and gender identities we hold and express, and how these are shaped by culture, politics, religion, the environment, and even the economy,” the founders of Sex Week say. “College is about education and thoughtful discussion, and that includes important topics like sex and sexuality.”
Franklin Graham is going berserk.
In a Facebook post Friday the right wing religious extremist denounced the event. And he is urging parents to pull their students out of school if Sex Week is not canceled. (It’s not going to be canceled.)
“I’m saddened, disappointed—and yes, shocked—to see that University of Tennessee, Knoxville is promoting a ‘Sex Week’ for its students,” Graham writes. “This Fox News story refers to it as ‘Sodom & Gomorrah.’ It’s even worse than the name sounds when you read the events and classes on their own website http://sexweekut.org. They’re actually pushing this filthy trash on young people whose parents are paying good money to send them there for a quality education,” Graham writes.
“There’s nothing healthy or educational about all of this. It’s just simply promoting sin. I think parents should take steps to see this stopped—or pull their students out. Alumni and the residents of Tennessee who fund the university should make it clear that this does not have any place at their state university. I think pastors across this great state should speak out against it, and I hope Governor Bill Haslam will step in and make sure the group responsible is no longer allowed to do their damage at UT.”
There are nearly 9000 comments on Graham’s Facebook post. They range from a few reminding the religious right wing hypocrite he’s BFFs with Donald Trump, to the vast majority expressing religious outrage.
Image via Facebook