NEGATIVE HEALTH EFFECTS OF HOMOSEXUALITY

NEGATIVE HEALTH EFFECTS OF HOMOSEXUALITY

FROM A PAPER BY TIMOTHY J. DAILEY, Ph.D

THE FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL

ISSUE NO. 232, JUNE 27, 2005

The Victorian Law Reform Commission relentlessly pursues its agenda of making Adoption and Assisted Reproductive Technology rights available to homosexuals on the same basis as these are available to married couples, regardless of whether the majority of submissions from Victorian citizens oppose such an agenda. The VLRC objective is based on the myth that there is no difference between homosexual relationships and marriage. However, as this paper shows, there are many negative health risks associated with homosexual practices. This is a long research paper and we have extracted the sections dealing with lesbians as this is the main focus of VLRC “reforms”. There are not as many homosexual men wanting to use ART or to adopt. An email copy of the full paper and references is available on request - Babette Francis

Hollywood and the media relentlessly propagate the image of the fit, healthy, and well-adjusted homosexual, and activists attempt to portray their lifestyle as equivalent in every way to their heterosexual counterparts. The reality is at polar opposites to this caricature as was recently conceded by the homosexual newspaper, New York Blade News. Homosexual and lesbian relationships are typically characterized by instability, promiscuity, and unhealthy and risky sex practices, factors that greatly increase the incidence of serious and incurable sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including hepatitis, HPV, syphilis, gonorrhea, and AIDS.

Scientists believe the increased number of STDs is because of an increase in risky sexual practices by a growing number of homosexual men who believe HIV is no longer a life-threatening illness.

Many Lesbians also have sex with men. The homosexual newspaper The Washington Blade, citing a 1998 study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, reported that "the study's data confirmed previous scientific observations that most women who have sex with women also have had sex with men." The study added that "sex with men in the prior year was common, as were sexual practices between female partners that possibly could transmit HPV.

"Behavioral research also demonstrates that a woman's sexual identity is not an accurate predictor of behavior, with a large proportion of 'lesbian' women reporting sex with (often high risk) men......the median number of lifetime male sexual partners was significantly greater for WSW (women who have sex with women) than controls (twelve partners versus six). WSW were significantly more likely to report more than fifty lifetime male sexual partners."

Citing a 1999 report released by the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, the homosexual newspaper The Washington Blade notes that "various studies on Lesbian health suggest that certain cancer risk factors occur with greater frequency in this population. These factors include higher rates of smoking, alcohol use, poor diet, and being overweight." The Blade also reports: "Some experts believe Lesbians might be more likely than women in general to develop breast or cervical cancer because a disproportionate number of them fall into high-risk categories."

A study in the American Journal of Public Health concurs that bisexual women are at increased risk for contracting sexually transmitted diseases, suggesting that the willingness to engage in risky sexual practices "could be tied to a pattern of sensation-seeking behavior."

The assumption that lesbians involved in exclusive sexual relationships are at reduced risk for sexual disease is false. The journal Sexually Transmitted Infections concludes: "The risk behavior profile of exclusive WSW was similar to all WSW."

In a study of the medical records of 1,408 lesbians, the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections found that women who have sexual relations with women are at significantly higher risk for certain sexually transmitted diseases: "We demonstrated a higher prevalence of BV (bacterial vaginosis), hepatitis C, and HIV risk behaviors in WSW as compared with controls."

A study published in Nursing Research found that lesbians are three times more likely to abuse alcohol and to suffer from other compulsive behaviors: "Like most problem drinkers, 32 (91%) of the participants had abused other drugs as well as alcohol, and many reported compulsive difficulties with food (34%), codependency (29%), sex (11%), and money (6% )." In addition, "46% had been heavy drinkers with frequent drunkenness."

The Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychologists reports that lesbian women consume alcohol more frequently, and in larger amounts, than heterosexual women. Lesbians were at significantly greater risk than heterosexual women for both binge drinking (19.4% compared to 11.7%) and for heavy drinking (7% compared to 2.7%).

A study in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence examined conflict and violence in lesbian relationships. The researchers found that 90% of the lesbians surveyed had been recipients of one or more acts of verbal aggression from their partners during the year prior to this study, with 31% reporting one or more incidents of physical abuse.

In a survey of 1,099 lesbians, the Journal of Social Service Research corroborates this finding.

Homosexual and lesbian relationships are far more violent than are traditional married households: The Bureau of Justice Statistics (U.S. Department of Justice) reports that married women in traditional families experience the lowest rate of violence compared with women in other types of relationships.

A national survey of lesbians published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology found 75% of the nearly 2,000 respondents had pursued psychological counselling of some kind, many for treatment of long-term depression or sadness. There was a distressingly high prevalence of life events and behaviors related to mental health problems. 37% had been physically abused and 32% had been raped or sexually attacked. 19% had been involved in incestuous relationships while growing up. Almost one-third used tobacco on a daily basis and about 30% drank alcohol more than once a week; 6% drank daily. One in five smoked marijuana more than once a month. 21% of the sample had thoughts about suicide sometimes or often and 18% had actually tried to kill themselves. . . . More than half had felt too nervous to accomplish ordinary activities at some time during the past year and over one-third had been depressed.

A study of twins that examined the relationship between homosexuality and suicide, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, found that homosexuals were at greater risk for overall mental health problems, and were 6.5 times more likely than their twins to have attempted suicide. The higher rate was not attributable to mental health or substance abuse disorders.

Another study published simultaneously in Archives of General Psychiatry followed 1,007 individuals from birth. Those classified as "gay," lesbian, or bisexual were significantly more likely to have had mental health problems. Significantly, in his comments on the studies in the same issue of the journal, D. Bailey cautioned against various speculative explanations of the results, such as the view that "widespread prejudice against homosexual people causes them to be unhappy or worse, mentally ill."

A study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology on the mortality rates of homosexuals concluded that they have a significantly reduced life expectancy. In a major Canadian center, life expectancy at age twenty for gay and bisexual men is eight to twenty years less than for all men... Under even the most liberal assumptions, gay and bisexual men in this urban center are now experiencing a life expectancy similar to that experienced by all men in Canada in the year 1871.

In 1995, long after the deadly effects of AIDS and other STDs became widely known, homosexual author Urvashi Vaid expressed one of the goals of her fellow activists: "We have an agenda to create a society in which homosexuality is regarded as healthy, natural, and normal. To me that is the most important agenda item." Debilitating illness, chronic disease, psychological problems, and early death suffered by homosexuals is the legacy of this tragically misguided activism, which puts the furthering of an "agenda" above saving the lives of those whose interests they purport to represent.

Those who advocate full acceptance of homosexual behavior choose to downplay the growing and incontrovertible evidence regarding the serious, life-threatening health effects associated with the homosexual lifestyle. Homosexual advocacy groups have a moral duty to disseminate medical information that might dissuade individuals from entering or continuing in an inherently unhealthy and dangerous lifestyle. Education officials in particular have a duty to provide information regarding the negative health effects of homosexuality to students in their charge, whose very lives are put at risk by engaging in such behavior. Above all, civil society itself has an obligation to institute policies that promote the health and well-being of its citizens.

“Marriage, the committed union between a man and a woman with its inherent capacity for bringing children in to the world, remains what it is. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms explicitly links belief in the rule of law to belief in the sovereignty of God. Without grounding in either natural law or revealed law, our government has voted to alter the definition given to marriage for the purposes of Canadian civil law.....

“Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares: "The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the state." Despite the opinion of the justices of the Supreme Court and some members of Parliament and the Senate, the state has no authority to alter the fundamental meaning of marriage or to make the family a creature of the state.

No extension of terminology for legal purposes will change the reality only the committed union of a man and a woman carries, not only the bond of interdependency between the two adults, but the inherent capacity to bring forth children.

“The recognition and benefits associated with marriage around the world over the millennia have been rooted in the awareness that the dependency of children carries with it responsibilities and life-structuring commitments for the adults who are their parents. Other bonds of love and interdependency of commitment and mutual responsibility exist. They are not, however, the same as marriage. Crucial is the recognition at all levels in society, of the human rights and freedoms of all persons, organizations and groups who view marriage as the union of a man and a woman with the inherent capacity to bring forth children.

“In the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary, marriage will be celebrated only as the union of a man and a woman. I appeal to everyone to uphold the true meaning of marriage. Provide support for those who are married and those who soon will be. Pray for the success of marriages, and celebrate the contribution marriage makes to our society by way of the family. We must persuade our government and the courts the course of action they have undertaken is misguided.....”

Bishop Henry has been named in two complaints to Alberta’s Human Rights Commission in an attempt to silence him.