A Declaration of Sexual Rights

Below is the statement adopted by those attending the Sex Panic! Summit in San Diego, November 13, 1997.

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The LGBT movement, feminism, and AIDS activism all include long histories of advocating the principles of sexual self-determination. These principles are under attack. In the name of 'mainstream' acceptance, many are increasingly willing to embrace regulation and stigma for more marginal groups. And in the name of fighting AIDS, many deny that effective HIV prevention must emphasize pleasure and the complexity of sex. Increasingly forgotten are the diverse pleasures, intimacies, meanings and relations that sex enables. Those with fewer recourses and least access to power -- including those marginalized by race, class and gender -- suffer disproportionately from denial of sexual rights.

In this context we reaffirm the following principles implied in the right to be sexual:

1) the right to sexual and reproductive self-determination;
2) the right to publicly accessible sexual culture;
3) the right to a sexual life free from shame and stigma; and
4) freedom from government intervention.

In light of these principles, we demand:

1) Respect for sexual diversity.
2) Decriminalization of consensual sex practices.
3) An end to censorship and to restrictions on sexual information and public discussion of sex.
4) Recognition for the right of youth to sexual freedoms and self-determination.
5) A recognition that sexual empowerment requires healthcare and education for all.
6) An end to the scapegoating of HIV-positive people and PWAs, including those who are sexually active.
7) HIV-prevention efforts built upon the right to be sexual and the need to sustain shared sexual cultures.
8) And end to state preference for traditional households and relationships.
9) An end to harassment of sex workers and legal sanctions against paid sex.
10) An end to the prohibition and stigmatization of public sex.
11) Advocacy for the above principles and demands by all progressive and civil rights organizations.

 This statement created and endorsed by the National Sex Panic Summit held November 13, 1997 in San Diego, California.