I want to explore the topic of sexual rights. There are many lists online of what sexual rights are, but what I found most useful was this Sexual Rights Statement, developed by the Sex Education Implementation Oversight Committee in its efforts to support implementation of the new Illinois law, Public Act 101-0506.
The committee (including self-advocates) compiled what they believe are the rights. Then the self-advocates and the Illinois Self-Advocacy Alliance (https://selfadvocacyalliance.org/) created Easier-To-Understand Sexual Rights statements for each right. They have also been translated into Spanish, Simplified Chinese, and Polish (the most common languages other than English spoken in Illinois).
The self-advocates who worked on this project included John Paschedag, Adam Cooper, Carl Nave, Amy Foster, Richard Hollenbeck, Cathy Saunders, James Cansler, Heather Clark, Adam Wiser, Mollie O’Connell, Lindsay Tonyan, Mary Grace Cheveraud, Curtis Harris, Timotheus Gordon, Jr., Jaime Jay Cornejo, Dina Bergman, Derrick Morris, and Eddie Harriel.
I have included some quotes from Self-Advocates in the Sexual Rights Statement below, but you can read the full statement on the Sex Education webpage for Illinois here: https://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=122403.
When I read over these self-advocate statements, I think of these ten main points:
1. Autonomy
Autonomy means you get to be the boss of your own life and make choices about your body, mind, and relationships. Nobody should push you to do something you do not want to do.
“I have the right to say what happens to and with my body.
Privacy is a human right, yet people with I/DD often find their personal lives, relationships, and health discussed openly by teams or staff. This right affirms that your personal life is your story to tell.
“I have the right to privacy in showing and sharing my sexuality.”
Sexual pleasure is a natural part of a happy, fulfilled life, though it is frequently left out of conversations about disability. Everyone deserves to know what feels good and makes them happy.
“I have the right to be safe and feel good when having sex or sexual activities.”
People with disabilities do not just want to be protected by others; they want the skills to protect themselves. This right centers on learning about consent, boundaries, and healthy relationships to recognize and avoid abuse.
“I have the right to learn how to keep myself safe from someone hurting me sexually and to use what I learned to help keep me safe.”
You have the right to make your own choices about your sexuality. This includes deciding who to date, whether to have sex, if and when to marry, and whether to have children.
“I have the right to decide if I do or don’t want to have sex or sexual activity. I have a right to change my mind.”
Having the right to knowledge only works if that information is accessible. Education and support must be tailored to how you learn best.
“I have a right to get information and learn in a way that I can best understand through videos, large print, audio, pictures, easy-to-understand language, or a combination of all.”
When boundaries are crossed or rights are violated, people with I/DD must have the right to use their voices—and have those voices believed and respected by those in power.
“I have a right to speak up and speak out if someone has hurt my body or my mind. I have a right to tell someone if my rights have been violated.”
Ultimately, sexual rights come down to honoring each person’s individuality and agency.
“I have a right to choose how I define my sexuality and sexual expression and have those choices respected. I can choose what education, information, services, and resources I want.”
Reading these 10 rights is the easy part. The real work begins when we look honestly at our own homes, classrooms, and agencies. Despite progress, we know that the systems supporting people with I/DD often deny them these fundamental rights. Therefore, the question is not just whether we agree with this list in theory—it is whether our daily actions are actively fighting to make it a reality.
For Self-Advocates
You deserve every single right on this list. Do you feel these rights are honored in your life? If not, you have the right to speak up. Who are the trusted people in your life that you can talk to about making a change?
For Professionals, Parents, and Agencies
It is not enough to agree with sexual rights; we must actively facilitate them. What are you doing today to make sure the people you support have privacy, knowledge, and autonomy? Are your agency’s policies unintentionally restricting these rights? If you are not actively empowering self-advocates, what must you change to start empowering them?
Take the Next Step: Audit Your Support System
Bridging the gap between theory and practice takes work, but you do not have to do it alone. Start by downloading our free Sexual Rights Toolkit.
Inside, you will find our comprehensive checklist, “Are Your Sexual Rights Honored or Taken Away?” For self-advocates, it is a tool to measure your own independence. For professionals and teams, it serves as a crucial service audit—a way to objectively measure your practices, identify blind spots, and create an actionable plan for a more respectful, self-directed future.
Katherine McLaughlin, M.Ed., AASECT Certified Sexuality Educator, is the Founder, CEO, and Lead Trainer for Elevatus Training. She has been a sexuality educator and trainer for over 30 years. As a national expert on sexuality and intellectual and developmental disabilities, she trains professionals and parents, as well as people with I/DD, to become sexual self-advocates and peer sexuality educators.
