The Rainbow Room, which bills itself as “Planned Parenthood’s [sic] Keystone’s LGBTQ+ & Allies youth center in Bucks County” Pennsylvania on its Facebook page, recently promoted May as “National Masturbation Month” in an Instagram post:
The group is targeted at kids and young adults aged 14-21, though it welcomes 12 and 13 year-olds every fourth Wednesday, according to its website. It meets at Salem United Church of Christ in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, every Wednesday evening. The group is taxpayer-funded, having received a $630,000 grant from the State of Pennsylvania in 2022.
The Instagram post touted the alleged benefits of masturbation, including stress relief, tension release, and improvement of period cramps. The post also stated that masturbation “is a safe and normal thing that most people do” which “helps you understand your body and your sexual preferences.”
According to an article on their website, National Masturbation Month was invented by a San Francisco-area chain of sex shops called Good Vibrations in 1995 following the firing of then-Surgeon General Dr. Jocelyn Elders. Elders was fired by then-President Bill Clinton after she suggested that masturbation “perhaps should be taught” in schools when addressing an AIDS forum. At that time, White House Chief of Staff Leon E. Panetta said the president believed the suggestion was “wrong, and feels that’s not what schools are for.”
Promoting masturbation to children is nothing new for Planned Parenthood, which partners with the graphic kids’ sex-ed cartoon video sites AMAZE and AMAZE Jr, the latter of which is targeted at children as young as four. AMAZE Jr promotes and normalizes masturbation … so long as it’s private. In one video, the adult assures the kids: “Yes, it’s okay to touch your clitoris. Keith, it’s okay to touch your penis. … But it’s best to only do it in private.” Another AMAZE Jr video sends the same message.
The AMAZE site, which is targeted at kids aged 10 years and older, continues to promote masturbation, stating in one video: “Masturbation can be a way to relieve stress, or learn about yourself, your body, and your feelings…. Masturbation, even a few times a day, does not present a problem.”
