About Right To Bloom
Right To Bloom is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to eliminating sexual shame as a pathway to advancing human rights globally. We believe that shame-based oppression surrounding sexuality, bodies, and intimate expression undermines human dignity and restricts fundamental freedoms. Through education, advocacy, community building, and storytelling, we work to create a world where individuals can explore and express their authentic selves without fear of judgment or persecution. Our work bridges personal empowerment with systemic change, recognizing that sexual liberation is intrinsically connected to broader human rights movements.
Why Sexual Shame Matters for Human Rights
Sexual shame isn't just a personal issue. It's a human rights crisis.
Around the world, shame-based control over sexuality manifests in laws that criminalize consensual same-sex relationships, policies that restrict access to comprehensive sex education and reproductive healthcare, and cultural practices that perpetuate gender-based violence and discrimination. It shows up in the stigmatization of sex workers, the pathologization of diverse gender identities and expressions, and the silencing of sexual assault survivors who are blamed rather than believed.
​
This shame doesn't happen by accident. It's systematically cultivated and enforced through institutions, laws, religious doctrines, and social norms that benefit from keeping people disconnected from their bodies, their desires, and their power.
​
When people are taught that their sexuality is shameful, they're more vulnerable to:
​
-
Sexual violence and exploitation (because they lack language, education, and agency)
-
Discrimination and persecution (when their identities or desires fall outside narrow norms)
-
Health disparities (when stigma prevents access to healthcare, information, and prevention)
-
Political oppression (when shame keeps them silent, isolated, and disempowered)
Sexual liberation is foundational to human dignity, bodily autonomy, and democratic participation.
​
Our Approach​
​
Right To Bloom operates at the intersection of personal transformation and systemic advocacy. We believe both are necessary.
​
Education & Resources: We create and share evidence-based, pleasure-positive educational content that challenges shame-based narratives and provides people with the information they need to make empowered choices about their bodies, relationships, and sexual expression.
​
Storytelling & Community: We center the voices and experiences of those most impacted by sexual shame and oppression—particularly marginalized communities including LGBTQ+ individuals, women, survivors of sexual violence, sex workers, and others whose sexuality has been policed, pathologized, or criminalized. Through storytelling projects and community building, we create connection and collective power.
​
Advocacy & Legal Reform: We engage in advocacy at local, national, and international levels to challenge shame-based laws and policies. This includes working with UN treaty bodies, supporting legal reform efforts, and building coalitions with human rights organizations worldwide to advance sexual rights as human rights.
​
Intersectional Framework: We recognize that sexual shame intersects with racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, classism, and other systems of oppression. Our work is grounded in intersectional feminism and committed to centering those with the least access to power and resources.
​​
Join us.
Sexual shame thrives in silence and isolation. It dissolves in community and truth-telling.
​
Whether you're just beginning to question the shame you've internalized, already doing this work in your own communities, or leading movements for sexual rights and justice—there's a place for you here.
​
Right To Bloom is an invitation: to examine the ways shame has shaped your life, to reclaim what's been taken from you, and to join a growing movement of people committed to building a world where everyone has the freedom to bloom.
​
Together, we can create the change we need—one conversation, one story, one policy, one liberated life at a time.