Contemporary Sexuality - July 2008 - (Page 5)

ders — Jim Huggins, PhD, turned his talents to AASECT in 1972. In his early years with the organization, Huggins encountered homophobia among some members, making it uncomfortable for him and others to attend conferences. He complained to AASECT’s president at the time, who suggested he organize a series of workshops on GLBT issues for the next conference. So he did. “I became a loudmouth about sexual minorities,” Huggins says. He did more than that, actually. Huggins served on the board of directors from 1995-2002, chaired the Certification Steering Committee, was a member of the Strategic Planning Committee (during Dennis Sugrue’s term as president) and helped organize two annual conferences, both on short notice. The 1996 conference may not have happened without significant assistance from Huggins. In nominating Huggins, Barratt wrote: “His leadership was always tireless and conscientious. He performed every duty with a great sense of grace and humor. His wisdom has been an incredible asset to the smooth running and the future of our organization.” John Sughrue, Jr., MD, and Joan Sughrue, MEd, BSN, RN, met at St. Francis Hospital in Charleston, S.C. He was a doctor; she was a nurse. They were both married to other people. Years later, after they’d fallen in love, divorced their spouses and married, John told Joan that he fell in love with her the first time he saw her. The pair joined AASECT in 1979 and became certified as sex therapists in 1983. A few years later, Joan began volunteering for AASECT, first as South Carolina state chairperson. She and John were both members of the Professional Education Steering Committee (PESC), SAR Revision Committee, and chair of the Continuing Education Approval Committee. John and Joan had a couples-focused private practice in Charleston, before moving to suburban Atlanta a few years ago. In February, John died of complications related to a serious osteoporosis disease. In his memory, Joan created the John M. Sughrue, Jr., MD, Scholarship for students studying to become nurses or doctors to attend AASECT conferences. The first recipient is Andrew Branagan, a third-year medical student at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. Joan plans to continue working as a certified sex therapist from her home in Woodstock, Georgia — patients often travel from Tennessee, South Carolina and Mississippi for sessions. However, she also hopes to teach more, leading SARs and perhaps becoming an AASECTapproved provided of continuing education credits. “I’m passionate about the work,” Joan says. “My next chapter will focus on education and training even more.” AASECT Book Award Americans continue to be polarized over what to teach kids about sex. Kristin Luker, a sociologist at the University of California Berkeley, wanted to find out why. So she interviewed hundreds of parents in four school districts where battles have occurred. The resulting work, When Sex Goes to School: Warring Views on Sex — and Sex Education — Since the Sixties, captured the AASECT Book Award. “I’ve called people sexual conservatives and sexual liberals … because of their relationship to significant social changes in sex, family, and gender over the past thirty years,” Luker writes. “The conservatives want the status quo ante, and the liberals accept the present and hope to make possible a better future.” Luker has tackled other hot topics in the past, penning Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood (1984) and Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy (1996). In nominating Luker for the award, Barratt writes that Luker “provides us with invaluable insight into the thinking, the perspectives, the hopes and values, that underpin the grassroots voice of opposition to enlightened sexuality education.” continued on page 6 “I’ve called people sexual conservatives and sexual liberals … because of their relationship to significant social changes in sex, family, and gender over the past thirty years. The conservatives want the status quo ante, and the liberals accept the present and hope to make possible a better future.” — Kristin Luker Joan Sughrue and John Sughrue, Jr. July 2008 Vol. 42, No. 7 | www.aasect.org Contemporary Sexuality 5 http://www.aasect.org

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Contemporary Sexuality - July 2008

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