The city of Vienna has published a “contraception brochure” for people of all ages that promotes abortion and advocates for LGBT causes.
The 90-page document, titled “Very Intimate: My Body, Our Contraception,” was funded by the Vienna Women’s Health Program and is targeted at women and girls.
Regarding the question “what sexuality means,” the brochure states: “Sex can mean many different things. When it comes to sexuality, many people think of love, comfort, and security.”
“For others, sex is an adventure. They want to explore every possibility. Some seek confirmation through sex that they are attractive. For still others, sex is a spiritual matter. For them, it’s about more than just the physical experience. Many people want to have a pleasant and pleasurable time during sex, free from stress. Good sex means something different to everyone. Over the course of a person’s life, what they want sexually and what they consider good sex usually changes,” the brochure states.
Continuing, it adds: “It helps to know your own body and understand which areas and types of touch feel good. That way, you know how to experience pleasure. Masturbation is a particularly good way to learn this.”
Journalist Anna-Sophie Prosquill noted in the Austrian news outlet Exxpress that the brochure targets “girls and women” but gives no age restrictions, implying it also targets very young girls.
The document, published by the city, also states that there is a variety of sexual orientations, including “asexual, bisexual, heterosexual, lesbian, pansexual, gay.”
“It’s not possible to categorize exactly what feelings one has or who one is attracted to,” the brochure suggests. “Feelings and sexual orientation can vary.”
The document also promotes and explains various forms of contraception, including the use of an intrauterine device (IUD) after having sexual intercourse, which can also act as an abortifacient by preventing the embryo from implanting in the uterus. It also informs women and girls of the possibility of getting an abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy in Austria.
The document furthermore promotes transgender ideology. “Sexual organs are not always clearly female or clearly male,” it states. “This is the case for about 1.7 percent of people. This is called intersex.”
The 1.7 percent figure for those considered intersex is disputed, as it is based on a 2000 paper that used an overly broad definition of intersex. Critics like psychologist and family physician Leonard Sax have argued that, with a more precise definition, the prevalence of intersex is only about 0.018 percent.
“It also happens that people do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth,” the brochure continues. “For example, a person with a penis might feel like a girl.”
The document links to a site that provides information on “transsexuality,” including explanations of how to “transition,” i.e., receive hormone therapy and mutilating surgeries if one suffers from gender dysphoria.
Peter Hacker, city councilor for health, praised the document as a “great” guide: “This digital compass provides an overview of the pros and cons of all current contraceptives, as well as their effectiveness and use. It’s a great way to prepare for a consultation with a gynecologist.” Hacker said they also wanted to reach out to men. Contraception is “not just a women’s issue,” he said.
Vienna-based physician Dr. Marcus Franz criticized the brochure. He told Exxpress that the stated goal of removing female genitalia “from the realm of shame and taboo” is problematic.
“On the one hand, sex education is good – no question about it. On the other hand, what’s being presented here is questionable when they say that shame should be eliminated. Cultural shame exists for a reason – shamelessness is, after all, a negative term; it’s something undesirable. Shame serves a purpose; it also protects the most intimate areas, not just for women, but for men as well.”
He characterized the statement, “It’s important to bring female genitalia out of the realm of shame and taboo” as absurd.
“What is that supposed to mean? That every woman should expose her intimate areas or treat them as casually as she does other body parts?”
He argued this creates a contradiction: “On the one hand, women are resisting sexualization and, quite rightly, sexualized violence; on the other hand, they’re now supposed to demonstratively expose their genitals. You can’t be outraged by the sexualization of women on the one hand and reject modesty on the other – that doesn’t hold up logically.”
The project of providing “education” on contraception and LGBT issues is not a novel idea for the city of Vienna. The brochure is very similar to a document released by the city in 2020.