Right now, you might be asking yourself, who is Donald Trump's running mate Mike Pence? Today, Buzzfeed gave us the ultimate #TBT by reminding us all what the Indiana Governor has to say about condoms, sex, and STDs. (Spoiler alert: he's not a doctor.)
It all started in 2002, when MTV held a forum with young people, and one woman asked former Secretary of State Colin Powell what he thought about condom use in light of the AIDS epidemic. Powell encouraged sexually active young people to practice safe sex.
“Condoms are a way to prevent infection, and therefore, I not only support their use, I encourage their use among people who are sexually active and need to protect themselves. I think it’s important for young people, especially, to protect themselves from the possibility of acquiring any sexually transmitted disease,” Powell said. "If you don't protect yourself, who is going to protect you?"
This ended up being a controversy among conservatives, with many politicians, including Mike Pence, criticizing Powell's answer. When CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked then-congressman Pence what his thoughts were on Powell's comments, he said a lot of things.
Let's pause here for a moment. Mike Pence, who is not a doctor, says condoms offer poor protection against STDs. Okay, now let's keep reading, because he still had more to say.
Actually, no. We found the condom report from 2001 that he was talking about. Here is a direct quote from the Guttmacher Institute: "The data presented in the report, as well as subsequent evidence available since the workshop, are clear. Male latex condoms are effective in preventing the most serious STI (HIV), the most easily transmitted STIs (gonorrhea and chlamydia) and another important sexually transmitted condition (unplanned pregnancy)."
And if that's not enough evidence for you, we also asked an actual doctor.
"Using condoms correctly and consistently provides the best protection against sexually transmitted diseases," Dr. McDonald-Mosley tells Teen Vogue. When used correctly, condoms have a 98% rate of protecting against unwanted pregnancies, and are 98-99% effective in protecting against HIV, and other STDs.
"Consistent condom use can save your life," says Dr. McDonald-Mosley. "When it comes to HIV, using a condom makes sex 10,000 times safer than not using one."
Unfortunately, Mike Pence still had more to say. He concluded his comments by explaining how uncomfortable he is with the idea of ending the taboos around condoms, and how, as a father, it's troubling to him that we would replace this taboo with condom use and condom distribution.
Actually, we can argue about the science here. Pence made his comments in 2002, over a decade ago. Since then, we have actually done exactly what Mike Pence wanted. Young people today get less sex ed in this country than they did 10 years ago. Instead of sex ed, many students get abstinence-only programs — meaning they are taught that they should not have sex before marriage, and they are given no information about how to practice safe sex. In 2007, a study for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that abstinence-only-until-marriage programs are ineffective. Another study found that the rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among students in abstinence-only-until-marriage programs were unaffected.
Lacking access to sex education has had a clear effect on young people in the US. Not only are chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis all on the rise, but young people, ages 15-24, account for about half of all new STD cases in the United States, with one in four sexually active adolescent females having an STD. While it's unclear if Mike Pence ever had access to sex ed when he was a young man, it is unfortunate that he is so uncomfortable with condom distribution, especially because the highest STD rates today are actually among young men. Ending the stigma around condoms would likely do a great deal of good for the fight against STDs, particularly because it would encourage young women to take control of their sexual health and carry their own condoms.
"I am extremely disappointed in Pence's beliefs regarding condoms as a form of protection against STIs and HIV," says Sustain Co-Founder Meika Hollender. "Condoms are the best and most affordable way we as young women can protect ourselves. At a time when only 21% of sexually active single women are using condoms, it's devastating that someone in such a public position believes in young people from using this or any method of birth control. When women don't protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies and STIs, their entire lives and futures are put at risk."
The real danger to young people is, in fact, holding on to taboos and outdated ideas about sex education and birth control use. Mike Pence has been the governor of Indiana since 2013. Last year, Indiana had "one of the worst" documented HIV outbreaks in the last two decades.
Related: Everything You Need to Know About Consent That You Never Learned in Sex Ed