LOS ANGELES—Pro-sex ed organization Everyone Deserves Sex Ed (EDSE) has tapped renowned disability educator, advocate and consultant Andrew Gurza to train attendees at EDSE’s upcoming 25-hour sex educator certification program, scheduled for the weekends of April 6-7 and 13-14 in Los Angeles. Gurza will facilitate a frank, honest and enlightening discussion of the experiences of the disabled with regard to sexual health and education, and how to help budding educators to recognize and reduce ableism in their everyday lives.
Gurza will use his lived experience of disability along with years of work in the field to offer refreshing and candid conversations about sexuality and disability, especially the challenges disabled people face while accessing intimate health services. Gurza will guide EDSE attendees through an intersectional discussion that will help prepare and empower them with the language and understanding necessary to provide services that are truly accessible.
“I am beyond excited to bring my lived experiences as a queer person, disabled man, sex educator, and ‘the sexiest queer cripple’ to Everyone Deserves Sex Ed,” Gurza said. “I want to educate attendees by helping them recognize and confront their own ableism regarding sex and disability while still being able to laugh along with me. As a disabled sex educator, my goal is to show attendees that sex and disability is an often overlooked but vitally important part of comprehensive sex education. I will show EDSE participants that sex and disability education is essential—and also really hot!”
EDSE founder and lead educator Anne Hodder-Shipp, ACS, tapped Gurza to handle the Sex & Disability portion of the certification because of his friendly approach to discussing sensitive subjects. Best known for his popular Disability After Dark podcast and lead role in The National Film Board of Canada’s “Picture This” documentary, Gurza has become a thought leader for disability and accessibility, and his work shines a candid light on the realities of the disabled experience.
“Andrew has a unique talent for disarming his audience and quickly connecting with people at an authentically human level, which is so important when discussing topics that can be difficult to talk about,” Hodder-Shipp said. “One of the most memorable parts of my own sex education training was learning from disabled educators and advocates and understanding how my own unconscious ableism was affecting the ways I worked with clients. I want to give EDSE attendees a similar opportunity, and Andrew was an obvious choice. He’s a wonderfully entertaining and enlightening speaker, and I am so excited to have Andrew as part of the EDSE educator team.”
Everyone Deserves Sex Ed (EDSE) is an educational services organization that believes access to accurate, unbiased, and LGBTQIA+ affirmative sex education is a human right. Its goal is to make this important information available and accessible to as many communities as possible, from professionals seeking continued education to parents eager to build the skills and confidence to talk to their kids about sex.
Ideal for budding sex educators, health and social service workers, and anyone looking to bolster their sex ed knowledge, the EDSE certification program prepares attendees to have informed, inclusive and confident conversations about sex. Over the course of two weekends, EDSE attendees will learn key information about human sexuality, intimate health, consent, and communication skills and be trained to respond to sex-related questions in a concise, intersectional, and non-judgmental manner. Attendees also will leave with new insight into their own sexuality—a fun side effect of sex education training.
The next EDSE certification will take place April 6-7 and 13-14 in Los Angeles. Individual certification is $995. To apply, fill out this form. An EDSE representative will review and be in contact within 48 hours of submission.
“During my time as a sex educator, and a sex blogger before that, there was one thing I noticed most people had in common: a lack of confidence in, and even a little fear about, talking about sex,” Hodder-Shipp said. “This insecurity has a dramatic trickle-down effect. It leaves professionals feeling unprepared for workplace dynamics, parents terrified of having ‘the talk,’ and service providers caught off-guard during sensitive conversations with their clients. My goal with EDSE is give people access to the kind of professional and educational support so many of us have lacked throughout our personal and professional lives.”
More information about Hodder-Shipp can be found here, or email her directly at [email protected].
