My name is Justin Michael Dittmar Boese. I graduated from San Francisco State University in May of 2014 with a B.S. in Health Education (concentration in Community-Based Public Health) and a minor in Sexuality Studies. I am now a first year MA candidate in Sexuality Studies. My academic and professional career has been focused on adolescent health, with a particular emphasis on LGBTQ youth health. I have worked for the HIV/STD Education Consultant at the California Department of Education, the STD Control Branch of the California Department of Public Health, and Gay-Straight Alliance Network where I assisted the Safe and Healthy LGBT Youth Project. I have also had training and experience as a peer sexual health educator at SF State. I recently finished a semester as the Assistant Director of the Queer and Trans Resource Center, an Associated Students funded organization at SF State. I am now working as a graduate teaching assistant.

I adamantly believe in comprehensive, age-appropriate and inclusive sexual-health education for both youth and adults. My time at SF State has provided me with a strong foundation in public health theory and a deep awareness of the social determinants of health. I also believe that true health and wellness can only exist in an equitable society where everyone shares the same rights and privileges, regardless of race, ethnicity, class, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation. As such, social justice and cultural humility are core aspects of my personal and professional ethics, and inform my outlook on sexual health issues.