Sure, pumpkin-colored fingernail polish is hip and retro bigger-than-big jeans are stylish.
But can sexual abstinence make a comeback?Tuesday, 300 teens from around the world gathered in Salt Lake City, proclaiming a new kind of sexual revolution - pure love.
"For 30 years free sex has run amok. It's this runaway train of immorality," said Hana Lyn Colvin, 14, Glen Burnie, Md. "We're bringing people hope and the idea of world peace through ideal families."
The Pure Love Alliance hits 21 cities during its 1997 summer tour. Participants, ages 13 to 30, proudly embrace chastity, pledging that sex is worth the waiting for marriage.
These young adults aren't embarrassed. In fact, they took their vows, chants and drums to Salt Lake City's streets. Main Street was the means to a party at the Salt Lake City-County building on 400 South. Abstinence was the message.
Pure Love '97 arrived in Salt Lake City on the deadline for states to apply to the federal government for a piece of a $250 million sex-education pot, which will be distributed later this year. Congress approved the funding with the directive that it be used to promote only abstinence.
Detractors say children could be harmed by a program that doesn't teach other ways to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
Nan Streeter, state program manager for reproductive health, is optimistic Utah will get a cut of the funding.
Utah grant writers suggested any money directed to the state be targeted for children ages 9 to 14 and focus on self-esteem.
"If we can get the kids early and build their self-esteem and self-confidence, then the hope is that down the road that will pay off in terms of abstinence from sexual activity and other at-risk behaviors," Streeter said.
Any money Utah gets will be distributed through a grant process into the community. But, Streeter said, Health Department officials suggest the program also target parental involvement and training.
However, one group, Utahns For Choice, believes abstinence-only education isn't the answer. Director Beverley Cooper fears other programs will be cut as the state tries to come up with funds to match those from the federal government.
"There is no evidence that abstinence-only programs reduce the pregnancy rates," Cooper said. "Utahns For Choice and Planned Parenthood consistently oppose abstinence-only (education) because it is only one piece of programs that work."
She said with more than half of high school teens already sexually active, an abstinence-only approach is naive. Cooper said there are many effective programs that better reach all teens. Still, she supports the message of abstinence, just not to a point of exclusion.
"It's what we all wish (that teens would remain abstinent), and I think that abstinence ought to be part of any program. Delaying intercourse is a message that should always by sent," Cooper said.
During Tuesday's rally, PLA President Robert Kittel told the young adults that by abstaining and spreading that message, they were a few role models in a world that badly needs them.
With participants from the United States, Japan, the Philippines, Switzerland and other countries, the message is getting out, even if it is slow, Kittel said.
"Courage can be contagious, and we're teaching people reasons for abstinence," said Kittel, a Salt Lake native and 1967 Cyprus High Schoolgraduate.
Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, also praised the group. He said PLA's call for chastity is reassuring in a world in crisis.
"It gives me hope to see you make these kinds of commitments (to remain sexually abstinent)," Stephenson told the cheering group.
Hours after the rally, the group was on its way to Boulder, Colo., the next stop on the sexual-purity crusade.
Jin Kim, 20, took the summer off from Yale University to spread the message. Last semester, when she realized all of the energy it took to make a relationship, build a relationship, break up and start over, she decided to make some changes.
"Anyone can have sex. It's not a hard thing," Kim said. "Abstinence is a value thing."