ABSTRACT
In December 1994, US Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders was fired by President Bill Clinton after she answered a question at a forum on AIDS by replying that masturbation "is something that's a part of human sexuality that perhaps should be taught. The first calls for formalized public sexual education came in the early twentieth century when a diverse group of moral reformers bent on eliminating venereal diseases proposed educational measures. These social progressives, although not always agreeing on what to say, knew that the '"conspiracy of silence'" on topics pertaining to human sexuality inherited from the Victorians such as Anthony Comstock was a dangerous legacy. Comstock's Federal Anti-obscenity Act of 1873 was partially based on a fear of a "corruption of children by libidinous and pervasive popular culture". Talk about sex, although perhaps holding the most validity when discussed in the formal environment of the school was certainly being discussed in an educational manner in other environments.
