This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Of sex education in Utah, Rep. Bill Wright, R-Holden, recently said: "Why don't we just be honest with them up front that sex outside marriage is devastating?"

Well, if we're going to be totally up front, Bill, we'll have to tell kids that sex outside marriage is also sometimes awesome. If I were a teacher, and had to "just be honest," I would have to tell kids that sex outside marriage — for me — has been fun, moving, steamy, spiritual and completely disease-free (also child-free!). I'd also have to tell kids that sometimes it's been boring, a blow to my ego and less good than masturbating.

I'm flummoxed by Wright's sense of "honest" and "up front." Clearly, his understanding of those words doesn't include the experiences of his constituents. Sex inside of marriage can also be devastating. It depends how you're doing it. A few married people I know are currently devastated by their sex lives, and a few are overwhelmed by the results of sex without a condom.

Sex with multiple partners can be dangerous, yes. Herpes? Never awesome. Or so I hear. I never got it, which I owe, in part, to my eighth-grade sex education class.

Matthew Ivan Bennett

Midvale