Worth the Wait offers youth contemporary style

Rita Sinha, Miss DC International 2007, walks confidently, the heels of her red, leather pumps striking the runway accenting the downbeat of the hip-hop rhythm. At the end of the catwalk, she poses, flaunting a fashionable black T-shirt that reads in bold white writing, "I am worth the wait."Sinha is one of the many disciples of 31-year-old anesthesiologist Lindsay Marsh, a virgin and fierce advocate of sexual purity until marriage. A virgin at24, Sinha believes the abstinence education Marsh promotes can have a significant impact on bringing awareness to HIV/AIDS prevention, and has centered her platform on this issue.

Marsh is alarmed that one in every 20 adults living in the District of Columbia is infected with HIV. She is equally concerned that in D.C., 81 percent of all AIDS cases are among African Americans. And the situation seems to her to be getting worse.

HIV/AIDS is preventable through abstinence, she said. And in 2006, she started a program, Worth the Wait, to urge teenagers, college students, and young adults to abstain from sex until marriage for the sake of both health and spirit. The program has since evolved into a company based in Temple Hills, MD, that sponsors runway fashion shows, model calls, gala events, and a clothing line, called Worth the Wait, LLC.

Marsh's program is part of a larger national sexual purity movement, which began during the 1990s. The movement is gaining popularity even at such prestigious universities as Harvard where two students started True Love Revolution in 2007 to promote abstinence on the campus. Its advocates see the movement as an effective antidote against STD transmission and teen pregnancy and abortion.

Dr. Marsh has also written a book, The Best Sex of my Life: a Guide to Purity, available at various sites including: www.amazon.com. www.trafford.com and www.iamworththewait.com.

In the book, Dr. Marsh discusses the intimate details of her virginity and the "grey" areas of sexual abstinence. "I am very candid and transparent in recalling my past struggles, (temptations, tests and back-sliding and present triumphs in the area of my sexuality," she states on the program's Web site. "It is my goal that both males and females can learn from both the good and the not-so-good encounters I've had."

Dr. Marsh knows well all the excuses for engaging in sexual activity outside of marriage. "Sexploitation runs rampant in multimedia: from music videos, radio, and commercials, to everyday movies," she declares on the Web site."Who can stay pure in the midst of booty-shaking, Laffy Taffy, thong songs, and lap dances? The answer: You and I. Purity is possible.Abstinence is also possible. Renewed and restored virginity is possible."

Worth the Wait also spreads its messages through fashion shows and gala events featuring Worth the Wait Revolution teams of young adults who have chosen to maintain a sexually pure lifestyle.

Imani Fuller, freshman biology major at North Carolina Chapel Hill, is one of them and she travels to D.C. throughout the year to model for Worth the Wait. "Traveling from school to D.C. to model for Dr. Marsh and Worth the Wait has definitely been a highlight of my freshman year," said Fuller. "It's been a blessing to work with people who live sexually pure lives, who are young and who are in college like me."

Casilda Maxwell, a former Howard University graduate student, is a member of the Worth the Wait Revolution. Maxwell said that Worth the Wait has taught her that it is possible to be trendy, sexy, and maintain her personal style all while being modest and classy. "Being with Worth the Wait has taught me that it is okay to be all of those and still be 'Holy," said Maxwell.

Abisola Okanlawon, a psychology major at George Washington University, has had some "close calls," but she credits Dr. Marsh and Worth the Wait with helping her keep her virginity " . I am worth the wait, and I will wait."

Worth the Wait is having impact on young men, too. For example Joshua Gould, a 26-year-old Hampton University alumnus, said despite the pressure that comes along with a double standard, which dictates that men must be sexually active to prove their manhood, he has maintained a sexually pure lifestyle for the past seven years.

"It has only been possible through accountability, setting boundaries with my interaction with females, and through maintaining intimacy with the Lord," Gould said. "God has designed sex for the chambers of the marriage bed. Real men wait."

If you would like the Worth the Wait Revolution, or Dr. Marsh to make a stop at your school, church or non-profit event, please contact the business office at 301-505-5000, or send an email to president@iamworththewait.com.