Abstinence-Only Clowns?! Your Federal Tax Dollars at Work

Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress at 1:49 PM on January 16, 2009.

Amplify Your Voice has highlighted "the latest in the long, funny and sad line of abstinence-only sex education heroes." This new figure is Derek Dye, a "comedic juggler" who uses his skills to teach middle school children abstinence-only policies. Dye tells children lines such as, "Having sex before you are married is just like juggling machetes!" and "Sex before marriage will destroy all of your life's dreams!" As Amplify Your Voice explains:

Thanks to George W. Bush and a complicit Congress, we currently spend $1.5 billion a year to fund abstinence-only until marriage sex education in our public schools. And yes, that money goes to people like Derek Dye, as he is employed by the Elizabeth New Life Center that received a $800,000 CBAE grant in 2007 to promote abstinence until marriage. His qualifications? A "Bachelor of Fun Arts" from Barnum Bailey Clown College, and an abstinence educator certification that can be purchased for $50.

Watch Dye's act here:

(via TAPPED)

Tagged as: bush, abstinence only, tax dollars, derek dye

Amanda Terkel is Deputy Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Deputy Editor for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.