The language of the right: sex education debates in South Australia

In 2003 a campaign took place against a new model of sex education in South Australia. This campaign, organized primarily by Christian Right1 1. In this paper the term ‘Christian Right’ will be used to refer to those groups who form coalitions around a traditional Christian vision and a defence of the traditional nuclear family formation (Buss & Herman, 2003 Buss, D. and Herman, D. 2003. Globalizing family values, the Christian Right in international politics, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Crossref , Google Scholar). groups, included community forums, a letter‐writing campaign, extensive media coverage and a parliamentary debate. This paper analyses the language, arguments and strategies used by those who opposed the programme and explores some of the challenges in responding to this in a way that destabilizes the ‘family values’ discourse rather than reinforcing it through entrenching predictable binary positions. While this debate did not result in the withdrawal of the programme, it provides an important insight into the emergence of a more active Christian Right in Australia and signals that the gains made to implement comprehensive sex education should not be taken for granted. It also reveals the influence of the US Christian Right where similar language and arguments have shaped their government's conservative abstinence approach to sex education.