When I write for youth, I seek to educate. Along these lines, I include references to GLBTQIA literature and history …and sex. Yes, sex. I include safe sex in some of my books.
Let’s face it, sexuality education for GLBTQIA youth in schools is not comprehensive. I’ll be frank: it’s lame. It goes without saying that the inclusion of sex in young adult literature is polarizing not only because… well, it’s SEX! but because the elements surrounding the issue are not clear.
I separated this unwieldy, polarizing controversy into a four part series and hope you find it informative and interesting. I’ll preface it with this disclosure: I am not an attorney or teacher, this is not legal advice, and I don’t know everything. Over the course, I’ll discuss law and age, minors’ rights, popular opinion, publishers and authorship, and why GLBTQIA literature in schools is important. Today’s article is about law and age.
Define Young Adult:
I think the film industry did it best: Ages 8 through 12 are tweens and ages 13 through 17 are teens (hence the PG-13 rating). BOTH groups represent young adults, but are not necessarily the only groups to represent Young Adults. Some sources define young adults to include those a decade or more older than age 17.
Sexual content in young adult literature:
Sex is not new. Teens having sex is not new. Sexual content in YA works is not new. Authors have been writing it for years (Judy Blume, Nancy Garden, and Michael Cart. An excellent book is Michael Cart’s From Romance to Realism). What is new is the increasing number of GLBTQ+ YA works (including internet shows, television, and film) containing sexual inference and content. Sparking controversy, it begs the question: Which is at issue? The characters and nature of relationships or the sexual content?
The “age of consent” has naught to do with minors’ access to literature or material containing writings or depictions of “explicit/graphic sex,” though common sense might have us believing the two are related – or should be related. I researched “what constitutes pornography” and “what constitutes harmful to minors” before I began authoring gay young adult fiction and can only speak to U.S. law.
The “age of consent” (for sexual activity) is governed by state law and ranges from the age of 14 to 18 depending on the state. The age at which one can access literature or material containing writings or depictions of “explicit/graphic sex” is governed by federal law and is firmly embedded in stone at age 18. States have the option of increasing the age requirement via state statute and some states have increased the age requirement to 19, 20, or 21. To wit, you will sometimes see this language added to age affirmations when entering web sites:
That you are familiar with your local community standards and
that the sexually explicit text you choose to read is well within the
contemporary community standards of acceptance and tolerance
of your community for sexually explicit content of this nature.
The above information begs yet two additional salient questions:
a) What constitutes “explicit/graphic?” This is not clearly defined or decided by the Supreme Court, but left to interpretation via two rather dated cases and a Supreme Court Justice’s opinion: “I know it when I see it.”
b) Who constitutes a “minor?” There are an extraordinary number of inconsistencies with respect to U.S. law. You may go to war at 16 (federal law); you may marry as young as 14 (with parental consent – state law); you may vote at 18 (federal law); you may drink alcohol at 21 (state law – and some states used to permit drinking as young as 17 – I haven’t performed research of late); irrespective of age, federal and state taxes must be paid if one is gainfully employed; and, though a minor, one may be deemed a major for purposes of criminal prosecution.
There are also reverse inconsistencies:
Some states deem young people to be minors irrespective of age if they are still in high school. Though young people may marry at 14 with parental consent, some states nonetheless consider them minors and they may not access literature or material containing writings or depictions of “explicit/graphic sex.” However, some states do consider them majors at the point of marriage and they may then access said content in contravention of federal law. Go figure.
Some states deem young people to be minors irrespective of age if they are still in high school. Though young people may marry at 14 with parental consent, some states nonetheless consider them minors and they may not access literature or material containing writings or depictions of “explicit/graphic sex.” However, some states do consider them majors at the point of marriage and they may then access said content in contravention of federal law. Go figure.
Check out Part II of Youth Should Read About Life as it is Lived: Minors’ Rights. For now, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes.
“There are countless reasons for reading, but when you’re young and uncertain of your identity, of who you may be, one of the most compelling is the quest to discover yourself reflected in the pages of a book.” ~Michael Cart, How Beautiful the Ordinary
