Members of a Utah Valley University club met Wednesday night to encourage community members to rally for comprehensive sex education in Utah's public schools.

The group, bearing the name "Vox" -- Latin for "voice" -- is one of four student organizations across the state tied to the Planned Parenthood Action Council of Utah. They're asking people to sign a petition that will be presented to the state Legislature next spring advocating that Utah widen its sex-ed curriculum to include topics like contraceptive use and practical consideration of sexually-transmitted diseases. President Pam Michaely said the group is dedicated to sharing what it views as a "healthier attitude toward sexual health."

"No one really wants to talk about it," said the senior, 23. "From an education perspective, students don't need to know everything, but there are just some things they should be taught."

That includes education about the 2,880 cases of chlamydia statewide so far this year, according to a September estimate from the state Health Department.

Michaely said it's important to detach comprehensive sex ed from the stigma many people apply -- that it promotes promiscuity and offers little to those who are dedicated to abstinence before marriage.

"It's not like we're suggesting everyone have crazy, wild parties," she said. "We have handed out condoms, and I guess my philosophy behind that is, even married people use them."

Over the past decade, the number of states mandating abstinence-only education has waned. The federal government has doled out more than $1 billion to further such curricula, but 25 states are now rejecting the funding. Utah remains an abstinence-only state.

Attendance at Wednesday night's opening social in UVU's Student Center numbered in the single digits, but PPAC Public Affairs Coordinator Joseph Richards said the effort is faring unexpectedly well statewide. More than 4,500 signatures have already been compiled in similar petitions, he said.

"We have actually been pleasantly surprised with the number of people who have been supporting this so far," said Richards, also the liason for student groups at UVU, the University of Utah, Southern Utah University and Westminster College. "I think people are starting to realize that it's not as bad as they've heard. It's not this terrible thing that they've heard it made out to be."

Richards said the organization will continue to look to student groups at UVU and elsewhere to spread enthusiasm for comprehensive sex ed.

"They reach what is one of the vital demographics in the state for this issue," he said. "What I'm always amazed at is their sort of freshness of ways to get out the message. They can think of events that I never would have thought of."

That includes events in October promoting breast cancer awareness and a fun run in November, Michaely said.

• Ace Stryker can be reached at 344-2556 or astryker@heraldextra.com.