Government-funded app targeting Black teens teaches young gay men to 'enhance' sex in HIV prevention study
A government-funded effort to study prevention of HIV in Black youth aimed to "enhance" homosexual experiences for teens as young as 14 while potentially keeping parents and guardians in the dark.
App developer Dfusion Inc. and health researchers at ETR were awarded more than $1.6 million over three years from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study innovative methods of reducing sexually transmitted diseases in gay, bisexual and queer teens in the Black community between 14 and 17 years old.
The culturally charged topics of sexuality and gender identity in education, combined with the possibility of concealing the study's training from parents, make the project controversial to many on the political right.
Promotional materials for the project declare that the government-funded 3T app (which stands for "Tune In! Turn On! Turn Up!") is "not your typical sex ed."
"The 3T intervention approaches HIV prevention through healthy relationships and inclusion of sex-positive content designed to enhance the participants’ sexual experiences," said the project description on ETR's website.
The training through the app "emphasizes partner reduction, avoidance of concurrent partners, condom use and HIV/STI test" and also "helps participants to become clearer about what they do/don't want to do sexually, to communicate their choices, and to learn ways to enhance sexual experience without increasing HIV/STI risk," according to the contract description.
Marketing videos for the project show elements of the 3T app, including a "pick your pleasure" survey describing sex acts like "group sex" and "mutual masturbation." Other elements show demonstrations of erogenous zones, sex-ed anatomy, a guide to using condoms and a survey showing gender identity on a spectrum.
The app was created by Dfusion Inc., which received an initial contract for $224,000 in 2015 for the first phase and an additional $1.4 million in 2018 for the second phase of the project. Dfusion has won several contracts for using education technology, including nearly $1.9 million in two grants to create the Transwomen Connected mobile app in 2017, which similarly aimed to help prevent HIV.
The app and participation in the study are guaranteed to be kept secret from parents, according to the creators — unless participants choose to share it. "The icon for the app is discrete so that it is not easily identifiable as a sexual health app," a FAQ for the project says.
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Researchers have not released the final study data, but they were aiming for around 300 participants. A number of participants were given a control app that advocated healthy behaviors like drinking water.
ETR did not share information on whether the youth in the study shared the app or their participation in the study with their parents because the research is still being reviewed by the NIH.
ETR told Fox News Digital that the study was important because it could provide data on an under-researched demographic that would help the government, educators and parents provide evidence-based sex education to students.
"We think that this is important because we recognize that in 2023 there isn't a lot of evidence-based data that supports sexual education and understand what needs to be communicated to the youth in younger age groups," ETR spokesperson Gabrielle Chew said in an interview. "We are trying to get that information so we can provide it to the government and also to provide it to parents and communities, so they can have comfort that the information provided to their students and their children is based in fact and has been reviewed and is being done by credited institutions."
"The end goal here is to make sure that we have data rooted in facts, evidence-based, being able to provide quality education and quality experience for our youth, Chew said.
NIH policies allow researchers to waive parental notification requirements for minors if the research involves minimal risk. Minimal risk means that the "probability and magnitude of harm or discomfort anticipated in the research are not greater, in and of themselves, than those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of routine physical or psychological examinations or tests," according to the NIH.
The abstract for the study on the NIH website states that "Men who have sex with men, and particularly Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) have been disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic, but in recent years the impact of HIV among young Black men who have sex with men (YBMSM) has escalated rapidly."
Homosexually active young Black men are more likely to contract HIV than other ethnic groups, "Yet there is a lack of school-based sexual education for this group of young people and few HIV interventions designed specifically to meet the needs of young BMSM," according to the abstract.
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Parental rights in education have exploded as a flash point at the local and national level — particularly regarding what is taught about sexuality and gender. Conservative groups have decried schools that teach young children sexual topics and castigated educators who conceal curricula or a student's gender identity from parents.
"Is it really any surprise that the same federal government that labels angry parents at school board meetings 'domestic terrorists' also is spending money to undermine parental rights?" said Terry Schilling, president of the conservative American Principles Project.
Schiling said "it is wholly inappropriate" for the government to use "our own tax dollars to feed our kids sexual content without our knowledge or consent."
"We wouldn't tolerate this kind of behavior from a complete stranger, so why should the state get a pass for doing it? It's an egregious violation of trust, to the extent there is even any trust left," Schilling added.
Responding to criticisms, Chew said that the study was important, given that governments are elected by voters who place some trust in their representatives.
"All organizations are entitled to their own opinions, but I also think it should be noted that we're not working with complete strangers," Chew said.
"If they have issues with how the government is running its policies and implementing its funding, they should show up in elections and vote accordingly," Chew added.
The NIH did not immediately provide comment for this story.