Affirming Young People and Families 
Sex education instruction must additionally ensure that young people’s identities, and the identities of their friends and family, are being actively affirmed. To promote positive identity development young people must feel valued and respected. FLASH strives to affirm LGBTQ young people by portraying them in caring, satisfying, healthy relationships. While it is important to depict LGBTQ individuals in a variety of situations, including difficult situations, it is of the utmost importance to provide positive representations of LGBTQ young people and for students to see LGBTQ characters in healthy romantic relationships. In addition to affirming representations in the curriculum, teachers are instructed to use a specially designed protocol to affirm identities in class discussions and when answering questions, along all domains of identity (e.g., sexual orientation, gender, ability, religion, race, ethnicity).