“Being queer,” Dejesus said, “I didn’t know anything about myself.” Even in elementary school, Dejesus felt like “the odd one out all of the time.” By middle school, Dejesus said, “it was so difficult and so lonely.”ĭejesus’s sentiments echoed those of their hosts that evening, the YWCA Central Massachusetts, the Worcester Youth Deserve Coalition, and the nonprofit group Advocates for Youth, which also developed Worcester’s new sex ed program, called the 3Rs: Rights, Respect, and Responsibility. Ziray Dejesus, a 2020 graduate of Worcester North High-who’d never taken such a class at school-was there to address the group. On a frigid January night, a group gathered on Zoom for a teacher-training seminar on Worcester Public Schools’ brand-new K–12 comprehensive sex education curriculum. Illustration by Benjamen Purvis / Photo via Getty Images
