Health and
Homosexuality
There are significant health issues involved in the
homosexual lifestyle... for both men and women. It is vital that the community, and those in the homosexual
lifestyle, know about these factors.
In Australia there has been a rise in both HIV/AIDS
and STDs in recent years.
Homosexual
websites
Some homosexual websites list the additional health
risks faced by homosexual men and lesbians.
The Gay
and Lesbian Medical Association has listed the 'Ten Things Homosexuals
Should Discuss with Their Healthcare Providers'.
Click here.
There
are separate documents for homosexual men, lesbians and transgender
persons.
10
Things Gay Men Should Discuss with Their Healthcare Providers
10
Things Lesbians Should Discuss with Their Healthcare Providers
10
Things Transgender Persons Should Discuss with Their Healthcare
Providers
Homosexual
health
The
most obvious risk for homosexual men is that of getting HIV/AIDS.
The rates of HIV and other STDs are increasing in the homosexual community
in Australia.
AIDS
In Australia the vast
majority of those who have acquired AIDS are homosexual men.
The
federal Health Department states "Transmission of HIV in Australia continues to
be mainly through sexual contact between men, which was reported in more than 85
per cent of new cases diagnosed from 1999 to 2003".
Source: Fact
Sheet - HIV/AIDS Australian government Dept of Health &
Ageing.
STDs
Syphilis: This STD is on the increase in
homosexual communities in Australia.
Syphilis Epidemic Among
Inner Sydney Gay Men
Australian Medical Association, August
2005.
"Syphilis has reached epidemic proportions among homosexual men in
inner Sydney, leading to calls for frequent screening to curb the transmission
of both syphilis and HIV, according to research published in the current issue
of the Medical Journal of Australia..." Click here for Report published in MJA, Aug
2005.
The Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men's Health
Centre (VAC/GMHC) says "Infectious syphilis rates are increasing
rapidly in Victoria with more than one person being diagnosed every day. This is
more than double the rate in 2006 and more than thirty times the rate in 2000.
Most of these diagnoses are in gay men and other men who have sex with men. If
you are having sex with men, we recommend that you have a syphilis test every
three months during the current outbreak." Click here
.
Range of
STDs
STDs on
increase among gay men
AAP, October 10, 2007
“THE old-fashioned sexually transmitted infections,
syphilis and gonorrhoea, are having a grand resurgence in
Australia
's
gay community, a new report shows. .
."
From Gay and Lesbian Health
Victoria:
Syphilis, Gonorrhea and Chlamydia in Gay
Men
Jeff Lin. "Syphilis is becoming re-established in the gay
male population in Australia 's cities. The prevalence of gonorrhoea and
Chlamydia, and incidence of syphilis, is high among HIV negative gay men in
Sydney...."
MRSA: Jan
2007 - A staph infection, MRSA. has been found to be more prevalent in the
homosexual community in the USA....
The reporter who reported the study has
been under attack. Click here to read Matt Barber's analysis in
Townhall.
Domestic violence
Various studies have reported on domestic violence or abuse
in homosexual relationships.
New Study Shows 32% of
Homosexuals Have Suffered Abuse by their "Partner"
Lifesite, 9
Nov 2007.
They say "A study published in the most recent edition of the
Journal of Urban Health, which is published by the New York Academy of Medicine,
has found that over 32% of active homosexuals report that they have suffered
"abuse" by one or more "partners" during the course of their
lives......."
The study was done in Chicago and published in July
2007.
The Report:
Intimate
Partner Abuse among Gay and Bisexual Men: Risk Correlates and Health
Outcomes (abstract
online)
Australia
Private Lives: A report on the
health and wellbeing
of GLBTI Australians
Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria
investigated the level of ‘intimate partner abuse’ in same sex
relationships. Over 5400 people were surveyed - the study
found that "32.7% of respondents had experienced violence or
abuse".
Fair's
Fair
"A Snapshot of violence and abuse in Sydney LGBT
relationships 2006".
This report says "It has been argued that domestic
violence is the third most severe health problem for gay men, following HIV/AIDS
and substance abuse".
The findings:
"Overall, including
responses from participants of all genders and for both previous and
current
relationships, the types of abuse indicated ranged from:
controlling-jealous
behaviour (47.7%); humiliation (45.1%); physical abuse
(34.4%); social isolation (30.8%); financial control (17.8%); sexual abuse
(16.8%) and outing (16.8%)."
Lesbian
Health
A recent study from WA highlights higher health risks
for lesbians:
WA
study rates lesbians less healthy than heterosexual
women
Article from: AAP - November 08,
2007.
STDs
A 2007 study done in a community
setting in the UK found that women who identified as lesbians have a
2.5-fold increased likelihood of the STD bacterial vaginosis (BV) compared with
heterosexual women. Of 189 heterosexuals and 171 lesbians, 25.7 per cent of
lesbians compared with 14.4 per cent of heterosexuals had BV.
Sexually
Transmitted Infections 2007;83
:470-475.
Domestic
Violence
A feature article on lesbian domestic
violence:
The
Second Closet: Domestic Violence in Lesbian and Gay Relationships: A Western
Australian Perspective,
Lee Vickers, E-LAW, Murdoch
University Electronic Journal of Law, Volume 3, Number 4, (December 1996)
Articles from Christian authors
The Negative Health
Effects of Homosexuality
Family Research Council,
Insight, Issue No.: 232
by Timothy J. Dailey Ph.D.
A 10 page article
documenting all the health risks including STDs and AIDS. Fully
referenced.
The
Health Risks of Gay Sex
JOHN R. DIGGS, JR.
M.D.
Dr Diggs says "As a physician, it
is my duty to assess behaviors for their impact on health and wellbeing. When
something is beneficial, such as exercise, good nutrition, or adequate sleep, it
is my duty to recommend it. Likewise, when something is harmful, such as
smoking, overeating, alcohol or drug abuse, and homosexual sex, it is my duty to
discourage it."
'Gay
marriage' and homosexuality: some medical comments
By John Shea,
MD, FRCP (C), John K. Wilson MD, FRCP (C), Paul Ranalli, MD, FRCP (C), Christina
Paulaitis MD, CCFP, Luigi Castagna MD, FRCP (C), Hans-Christian Raabe MD, MRCP
MRCGP, and W. André Lafrance MD, FRCP (C)
Issued: June 2005 - revised Dec.
2006.
Why Isn't
Homosexuality Considered A Disorder On The Basis Of Its Medical
Consequences?
By Kathleen Melonakos, M.A., R.N. Posted on
Leadership U.
Media
Reports
STDs on the rise inAustralia:
report
The Age, October 12,
2006
“Chlamydia rates have soared fourfold in the past decade and other
sexually-transmitted diseases are climbing at an alarming pace, a new national
report has revealed….
“A paper released by the National Centre in HIV
Epidemiology and Clinical Research (NCHECR) shows the number of new HIV
diagnoses increased 41 per cent between 2000 and 2005….
“The increases
in gonorrhoea, syphilis and HIV/AIDs occurred predominantly in the gay
community….”
STDs on
increase among gay men
AAP, October 10, 2007
“THE
old-fashioned sexually transmitted infections, syphilis and gonorrhoea, are
having a grand resurgence in
Australia
's gay
community, a new report shows. . ." Author: Jenny Stokes | Modified: 6 May 2008 |
