Abstinence Convention
• Religious Meddlers, Do-gooders
Hank Stuever in the Washington Post writes about the Las Vegas Abstinence Convention
Dressed in a turquoise micro mini, corky platform sandals, a low-cut blouse and with a wild smattering of blond curls (her traveling mate and counselor, also an abstinence proponent, "said, 'Angela, are you sure that outfit is appropriate?' But I'm like, 'yeah, sure,' " ) ...
Emboldened by a friend in the White House and a record amount of federal funding to abstinence-only educational programs -- $135 million this year, nearly half of it available in Health and Human Services grants to a melange of faith-based and secular counseling programs that adhere to a strict, eight-point abstinence doctrine, the other half tied to Title V welfare reform -- the virgin advocates are now going for bigger money. Unruh's Abstinence Clearinghouse is networking in Africa, with a third of President Bush's $15 billion Global AIDS Bill earmarked for the abstinence message. ...
"Overweight, 45-year-old housewives," Deltano observes, looking around at his fellow cultural vanguards. "Never underestimate them. These people are tough, they're tenacious, and they're changing the world. We are lean and mean. This is true grassroots. There's no stopping us."
Elvis Does the Abstinence Convention, at Least From the Waist Up