Censorship and Authority in Sex Education: Three Court Cases from 1970's America

The cases analyzed in this essay exemplify both the influence of the sexual revolution and the conservative backlash against it. Topics that were once considered obscene were now seen as educational. Without this greater openness, none of these court cases would have been possible. In fact, people fighting against censorship and repression initiated all three cases: a teacher demanding academic freedom, a church asserting its right to instruct its youngest members without state interference, and students claiming the right of free expression in the school paper. That there were defendants in these cases also points to a stubborn opposition to new sexual freedoms. While the courts usually upheld free expression, they still granted state and local authorities wide latitude in setting the curriculum. School boards could ban sex education courses altogether if they liked. A sex column in the student paper and a sex course at the local church might represent sexual freedom, but they also existed because the public schools were not adequately addressing sexual matters.