Sexual health literacy and access to inclusive education: Investigating disparities between cisgender heterosexual and 2SLGBTQIA+ young adults

Previous studies have assessed students’ perceived quality of school-based sexual health education (SHE); however, there is a paucity of research on sexual health literacy, especially involving 2SLGBTQIA+ participants. Many school-based programs teach sexual health from a heteronormative lens, which means that 2SLGBTQIA+ youth may not have their educational needs fully met. This study examined SHE experiences, sexual health literacy, sources of sexual health information, and engagement in safer sex practices among young adults (aged 16–24 years) who received SHE in Canada in middle and/or high school. A total of 913 participants were divided into two groups, sexual and gender minority (SGM; n = 392) versus cisgender heterosexual (CH; n = 518). SGM participants reported that the SHE they received was significantly less affirming and inclusive of their identity than CH participants. SGM participants used the internet as a source of information about sexual health significantly more than CH participants; however, the groups did not differ on the other sources. SGM participants scored significantly higher on the sexual health literacy questionnaire. SGM participants reported engaging in safer sex practices significantly more than CH participants for penile–anal intercourse; otherwise, the groups did not differ in safer sex practices. This research contributes to our understanding of the role of identity and SHE in sexual health literacy, which may inform curriculum standards and policies.