State Profiles

Current Requirement

• Sex education is not required in Wyoming.
  • Wyoming has no standard regarding instruction on abstinence.
  • Curriculum is not required to include instruction on sexual orientation, gender identity, or consent. 
• Wyoming has no standard regarding the ability of parents and guardians to remove their children from sex education instruction.
  • Parental permission is required for both optional sexual abuse prevention education and any instruction on gender and sexual orientation. 
• Wyoming has no regulation on medically accurate sex education instruction, however, sexual abuse prevention curriculum must be age-appropriate and evidence-based.

RECENT LEGISLATION SHAPING THE STATE LANDSCAPE

Wyoming’s legislature has passed several bills that have dramatically reshaped school climate and educational access for students throughout the last several years. This includes restrictions on the rights of LGBTQIA+ students, as well as stricter policies for parental notification and oversight of public education policies. 

For LGBTQIA+ students, recent legislation has impacted the ability of students to learn and play in affirming spaces. In 2023, Senate File 133 passed, enacting a trans sports ban specifically targeting trans girls and requiring sports teams to be designated as male, female or coed. A ban on gender affirming care trans and gender non-conforming minors, Senate File 0099 was passed by lawmakers in 2024. Most recently in 2025, House Bill 32 passed, and will define terms such as “male” and “female” terms to only use cisgender and biologically exclusive language, and requires school districts collecting data for anti-discrimination laws or public health to maintain these distinctions. Senate File 62 has also become law this year, and requires schools to designate restrooms, locker rooms, and overnight accommodations based on biological sex. The fight for comprehensive sex education is intersected with the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights, and public education must be representative of and meet the needs of all students, including transgender and non-binary youth.

A strict definition of parental rights has also been enshrined via recent Wyoming legislation. In 2023, Senate File 117, was vetoed by Governor Gordon, and sought to prohibit instruction on sexuality and gender in grades K-3, and limit implementation of the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey. In 2024, lawmakers passed Senate File 0009, creating the Parental Rights Bill. As a result, school districts may not develop any policies to limit the parental right to education decisions, and schools must notify parents of any changes in their child’s educational, physical, mental or emotional health or well-being. While parental involvement is vital to a student’s wellbeing, this strict policy not only adds more bureaucratic oversight to preexisting school policies, it can also forcibly “out” LGBTQIA+ students who may feel safe disclosing their identity at school but not at home. That same year, the lawmakers also passed House Bill 0092 which explicitly protects a parent’s fundamental right to the care, custody, and control of their child.

The lack of a statewide statute on sex education means that local control guides sex education implementation inWyoming. This presents unique challenges that have resulted in glaring disparities regarding the quality of sex education that students receive. While some districts provide abstinence-based instruction, little is known about sex education requirements in other districts across the state. Lack of oversight allows for the implementation of policies and curriculua that stigmatize marginalized youth, such as students of color and LGBTQIA+ youth, and presents further challenges in ensuring that low-income districts have access to the resources needed to implement sex education. 

Right now, advocates can take action in their communities to address the lack of comprehensive sex education for students across Wyoming. They can contact their local board of education to vocalize the importance of mandating sex education, including a trauma-informed, culturally responsive curriculum that addresses the needs of youth of color and LGBTQIA+ youth, or medically accurate, evidence-based, and age-appropriate instruction on contraceptives, healthy relationships, and consent. Advocates are encouraged to take action on pending legislation that seeks to advance or restrict the principles of sex education.  Wyoming’s 2025 legislative session convened January 14th, 2025, and adjourned on March 6th, 2025.

Further, advocates can contact their representatives to discuss the critical need for a statewide sex education mandate. Advocates are encouraged to use the Community Action Toolkit to guide local efforts to advance sex education. For more information on getting involved in local and state advocacy for sex education, reach out to our State Policy Action Manager, Miranda Estes (mestes@siecus.org)

More on sex ed in Wyoming…

State Law: A Closer Look

Wyoming statute § 21-9-101 requires each school district within the state to provide education in accordance with uniform standards and rules and regulations promulgated by the state board. On November 14, 2016, through authority granted in Wyoming Statute §21-2-304, the Wyoming Content and Performance Standards became an effective rule, which includes the health standards required for graduation. However, no specific sex education curriculum or instruction is required. 

Wyoming statute § 21‑3‑135 requires written or electronic parental permission prior to any student “participating or receiving instruction in any trainings, courses or classes that address sexual orientation or gender identity.” Additionally, WS  § 21‑3‑135 also prohibits a school from withholding changes in a student’s educational, physical, mental or emotional health or well-being, which could result in the forced outing of LGBTQIA+ students.

Wyoming statute   § 21-9-104 also requires parents to provide permission for their child to receive sexual abuse prevention education, should a district chose to implement it. If provided, curriculum must be be evidence-based and age appropriate, and may include instruction on recognizing sexual abuse and assault, personal boundary violations, ways in which a “sexual offender may groom or desensitize a victim,” and strategies relating to disclosure of abuse, reducing self blame, and mobilizing bystanders.

State Standards

In the Wyoming Health Education Content and Performance Standards, “sexuality” is defined as “the sum of the physical, functional, and psychological attributes that are expressed by one’s gender identity and sexual behavior; [and] includes accurate, factual, and developmentally appropriate information on sexuality, pregnancy prevention, and sexually transmitted infections [STIs] such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).” References to sex education exist throughout benchmark standards, but there is no specific curricula indicated. 

The 2023 Health and Safety Wyoming Content & Performance Standards will replace the above standards by the beginning of the 2026 – 2027 school year, and similarly list Human Sexuality (HSX) as a suggested health topic, but do not mandate instruction. The state does not recommend a specific curriculum. School districts are encouraged to “organize a health advisory council” composed of educators, administrators, parents, students, medical professionals, representatives from minority groups, and other community members to “develop policies and approve curriculum and other materials for school health education, including K–12 HIV prevention education.” Educators are encouraged to have their students participate in extracurricular HIV/AIDS awareness activities and are cautioned that “[a] single film, lecture, or school assembly is not sufficient to assure that students develop the complex understanding and skills needed to avoid HIV infection.” In addition, schools should provide counseling and information about HIV-related community services.

Youth Sexual Health Data

Young people are more than their health behaviors and outcomes. While data can be a powerful tool to demonstrate the sex education and sexual health care needs of young people, it is important to be mindful that these behaviors and outcomes are impacted by systemic inequities present in our society that affect an individual’s sexual health and well-being. In recent years, there has been an increase in legislative attacks on the implementation of CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) which tracks six categories of health risk behaviors including sexual health behaviors. To learn more about Wyoming’s 2015 YRBS results, click here.  As of 2016, Wyoming no longer participates in data collection for YRBS.

Wyoming School Health Profiles Data 

In 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the 2022 School Health Profiles, which measure school health policies and practices and highlight which health topics were taught in schools across the country. Since the data were collected from self-administered questionnaires completed by schools’ principals and lead health education teachers, the CDC notes that one limitation of the School Health Profiles is bias toward the reporting of more positive policies and practices. In the School Health Profiles, the CDC identifies 22 sexual health education topics as critical for ensuring a young person’s sexual health. However, Wyoming has not participated since 2018 and therefore, was excluded from the 2022 School Health Profiles Report. To learn more about Wyoming’s 2016 School Health Profile Data, click here. 

Visit the CDC’s School Health Profiles for additional information on school health policies and practices.

The quality of sex education taught often reflects funding available for sex education programs. To learn more about federal funding streams, click here.