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==History== [[Image:Mary Steichen Calderone.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Dr. [[Mary Calderone]], founder of SIECUS.]] The organization was founded in 1964 by [[Mary Calderone|Dr. Mary Calderone]], then medical director at [[Planned Parenthood]]. With the conviction that sex education was sorely lacking in American society and simply "handing out contraceptives was not enough," Dr. Calderone quit her position at Planned Parenthood and established the '''Sex Information and Education Council of the United States''' (later renamed as "Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States"), the first and only single-issue, national advocacy group dedicated to promoting sex education.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Irvine |first1=Janice M. |title=Talk About Sex |date=2002 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |pages=17β34 |url=https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520355002-004 |chapter=1|doi=10.1525/9780520355002-004 }}</ref> Driven by Dr. Calderone's dynamic talks across the nation and its mission statement, "to establish man's sexuality as a health entity," the organization became an essential umbrella group for school administrators, sex educators, physicians, social activists, and parents seeking to access information about teaching sexuality education.<ref>{{cite book |last1=More |first1=Ellen S. |title=Transformation of American Sex Education: Mary Calderone and the Fight for Sexual Health |date=2022 |publisher=NYU Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-1479812042}}</ref> During her tenure at SIECUS, Dr. Calderone lectured extensively across the [[United States]], addressing high school and college students, parents, educators, religious leaders, and professional groups on sex education. Known as the "'''mother of sex education'''"<ref>{{cite book |last1=More |first1=Ellen S. |title=Transformation of American Sex Education: Mary Calderone and the Fight for Sexual Health |date=2022 |publisher=NYU Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-1479812042}}</ref> as well as the "'''grande dame of sex education'''",<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lief |first1=Howard |title=In Memoriam Mary Calderone, MD, MPH |journal=Journal of Sex Education and Therapy |date=1998 |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=112β114 |doi=10.1080/01614576.1998.11074216 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01614576.1998.11074216 |access-date=19 December 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Dr. Calderone was an instrumental figure in the advancement of [[sex education]] in the [[United States]], and credited with transforming sex education from "a series of vague moral lessons focused on disease and reproduction" to a scientifically informed, [[comprehensive sex education|comprehensive framework]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Moran |first1=Jeffrey |title=The Grandmother of Sex Education |url=https://www.vassar.edu/vq/issues/2001/01/features/grandmother-of-sex-ed.html |website=Vassar University |access-date=22 December 2022}}</ref> Her popularity eventually made her a target for right-wing politicians, and conservative religious groups like the [[Christian Crusade]], the [[John Birch Society]], and the [[Moral Majority]], who spent an estimated $40 million on a vicious smear campaign to discredit her.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Oyler |first1=Lauren |title='Not Just a Series of Genital Acts': The Woman Who Revolutionized Sex Education |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/mary-calderone-woman-who-revolutionized-sex-education/ |website=Vice |date=17 February 2017 |access-date=22 December 2022}}</ref> In 1968, [[Billy James Hargis]] and Gordon V. Drake targeted SIECUS, and in particular, Dr. Calderone, in the famous ''[[Is the School House the Proper Place to Teach Raw Sex?]]'' pamphlet, as well as other similar publications, claiming that the organization sought to undermine Christian morality, promote [[promiscuity]], and corrupt children. The pamphlet also argued that sex education is part of a "giant [[Communist]] conspiracy."<ref>{{Cite book |page=20 |title=Sexuality: a search for perspective |year=1971 |publisher=Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. |first1=Donald L. |last1=Grummon |first2=Andrew M. |last2=Barclay |first3=Nancy K. |last3=Hammond |url=https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22were+explicit+in+regarding%22+%22search+for+perspective%22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The American school board journal, Volume 157 |page=12 |first=William |last=Bruce |url=https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=%22part+of+a+giant+communist+conspiracy%22+%22school+board+journal%22&btnG=Search+Books |publisher=National School Boards Association}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.newsweek.com/2009/10/27/the-sin-of-yielding-to-impure-desire.html |title=The Sin of Yielding to Impure Desire: a brief history of sex ed in America. |publisher=Newsweek |date=2009-10-28 |last=Cornblatt |first=Johannah}}</ref> After years of vitriolic attacks and death threats from extremist groups, Dr. Calderone retired from SIECUS in 1982, at the age of 78.<ref>{{cite book |last1=More |first1=Ellen S. |title=Transformation of American Sex Education: Mary Calderone and the Fight for Sexual Health |date=2022 |publisher=NYU Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-1479812042}}</ref>
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