miniross, much of what I have posted to you here has been posted earlier in the debate.
I apologize to those who have been following along for having to repeat this information. However, when the same old mythical gay arguments are brought to light they must be shot down by cold hard statistics.
There is one new Dutch study regarding homosexual emotional health being no better since the advent of marriage in that country.
The “they are emotionally upset because they cannot get married” myth is dubunked.
[quote]miniross wrote:
What is the biggest killer of women in the world aged 18 - 40. Domestic Violence. Not specifically gay relationships. It is not seperate by class, country, gender.[/quote]
Some studies indicate that just as many lesbians suffer from domestic violence as heterosexual women. However, others show that there is a much higher rate of abuse among lesbians:
“In a survey of 1,099 lesbians, the Journal of Social Service Research found that “slightly more than half of the [lesbians] reported that they had been abused by a female lover/partner. The most frequently indicated forms of abuse were verbal/emotional/psychological abuse and combined physical-psychological abuse.”[70]”
An even larger problem in lesbian relationships is verbal abuse as one partner attempts to dominate the other:
“A study in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence examined conflict and violence in lesbian relationships. The researchers found that 90 percent of the lesbians surveyed had been recipients of one or more acts of verbal aggression from their intimate partners during the year prior to this study, with 31 percent reporting one or more incidents of physical abuse.[69]”
Any way you slice it the myth lesbian relationships having less abuse than the norm is quite misleading.
In addition to lesbians suffering more abuse they also have many more health problems to deal with:
"Bradford, J. (2002, July 10). Lesbian and bisexual health: an overview for healthcare providers. Journal Watch Women?s Health [On-line], Available: womens-health.jwatch.org.
Lesbian and bisexual women have higher reported rates of risk for cancer and cardiovascular disease as well as obesity and High rates of human papilloma virus infection."
And this:
Cochran, S.D. et al. (2001 April). Cancer-related risk indicators and preventive screening behaviors among lesbians and bisexual women. American Journal of Public Health. 91 (4); 178-81.
Increased prevalence rates were found in lesbian/bisexual women for obesity, alcohol use, and tobacco use."
And this:
"Fethers, K. et al. (2000, July). Sexually Transmitted Infections and Risk Behaviors in Women Who Have Sex with Women. Sexually Transmitted Infections. p. 345.
Women who have sexual relations with women are at significantly higher risk for certain sexually transmitted diseases: ?BV (bacterial vaginosis), hepatitis C, and HIV risk behaviors in WSW as compared with controls."
And this:
" Frieberg, P. (2001, January 12). Study: Alcohol Use More Prevalent for Lesbians. The Washington Blade. p. 21.
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 percent compared to 11.7 percent), and for heavy drinking (7 percent compared to 2.7 percent)."
And this:
"Aaron, D.J., Markovic, N., Danielson, M.E., et al. (2001). Behavioral risk factors for disease and preventive health practices among lesbians. American Journal of Public Health. 91 (6): 972-975.
Lesbians were more likely to report cigarette use, alcohol use, and heavy alcohol use."
And this:
Bradford, J. et al. (1994). National Lesbian Health Care Survey: Implications for Mental Health Care. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 62: 239, cited in Health Implications Associated with Homosexuality, p. 81.
More than half of lesbians had felt too nervous to accomplish ordinary activities at some time during the past year and over one-third had been depressed."
And this:
"Diamant, A.L., Wold, C., Sritzer, K., Gelberg, L. (2000, November-December). Health Behaviors, Health Status, and Access to and Use of Health Care. Archives of Family Medicine. 9: 1043-1051.
Lesbians and bisexual women were more likely than heterosexual women to use tobacco products and to report any alcohol consumption, but only lesbians were significantly more likely than heterosexual women to drink heavily."
It’s okay to be liberal and believe whatever you like. However, simply because you may follow politically correct rules the following rule will never change:
“When we practice a bad behavior we get a bad result!”
There is actually a very big difference and it’s not attributable to homosexuals not having the right to marry as some suggest:
"Psychiatric Illness
Multiple studies have identified high rates of psychiatric illness, including depression, drug abuse and suicide attempts, among selfprofessed gays and lesbians.74 Some proponents of GLB rights have used these findings to conclude that mental illness is induced by other people’s unwillingness to accept same-sex attraction and behavior as normal. They point to homophobia, effectively defined as any opposition to or critique of gay sex, as the cause for the higher rates of psychiatric illness, especially among gay youth.75 Although homophobia must be considered as a potential cause for the increase in mental health problems, the medical literature suggests other conclusions.
An extensive study in the Netherlands undermines the assumption that homophobia is the cause of increased psychiatric illness among gays and lesbians. The Dutch have been considerably more accepting of same-sex relationships than other Western countries ? in fact, same-sex couples now have the legal right to marry in the Netherlands.76 So a high rate of psychiatric disease associated with homosexual behavior in the Netherlands means that the psychiatric disease cannot so easily be attributed to social rejection and homophobia.
The Dutch study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, did indeed find a high rate of psychiatric disease associated with same-sex sex.77 Compared to controls who had no homosexual experience in the 12 months prior to the interview, males who had any homosexual contact within that time period were much more likely to experience major depression, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia and obsessive compulsive disorder. Females with any homosexual contact within the previous 12 months were more often diagnosed with major depression, social phobia or alcohol dependence.
In fact, those with a history of homosexual contact had higher rates of nearly all psychiatric pathologies measured in the study.78 The researchers found "that homosexuality is not only associated with mental health problems during adolescence and early adulthood, as has been suggested, but also in later life."79 Researchers actually fear that methodological features of "the study might underestimate the differences between homosexual and heterosexual people."80
The Dutch researchers concluded, "this study offers evidence that homosexuality is associated with a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders. The outcomes are in line with findings from earlier studies in which less rigorous designs have been employed.“81 The researchers offered no opinion as to whether homosexual behavior causes psychiatric disorders, or whether it is the result of psychiatric disorders.”
GAY MAGAZINES AND GAY GROUPS VERY OWN STATISTICS:
"Gay men are six times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight counterparts and the numbers increase exponentially during the holidays. This story appears in the Dec/Jan 99 issue of Genre (A GAY MAGAZINE) and examines the issues behind why they are taking their own lives, and offers some solutions to the holiday blues.
(Also see our own # 7 Happy Holidaze A report from P-FLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) states that in a study of 5,000 gay men and women, 35 percent of gay men and 38 percent of lesbians have considered or attempted suicide.
The statistics are even higher among gay teens: The Department of Health study indicates that gay youth are up to six times more likely to attempt suicide than straight teens, and gay teenagers account for up to 30 percent of all teenage suicides in the nation."
As we can see by the above it matters not whether homosexuality is accepted as it is in the Netherlands (in the form of marriage) or is not accepted, the suicide rate is still higher among homosexuals than heterosexuals!
Yes, AIDS can effect everyone. However 63% of all AIDS cases are actually homosexual men! And they comprise only about 2% of the entire population! Obviously the incidence is staggering among this group.
Read about this yourself from the Center For Disease Control’s very own web site:
“An estimated 19,846 MSM (Men Who Have Sex With Men) received a diagnosis of AIDS, accounting for 63% of all men and 46% of all people who received a diagnosis of AIDS [1]”
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/facts/msm.htm
One could even make a case that homosexuals are virtually responsible for the AIDS crisis. Certainly far more than any other group.
Rule number one never changes regardless of political correctness:
When we practice a bad behavior we get a bad result!
[quote]As far as “equality in law”, it is not baseless. Long term couples (if not married) regardless if gay or straight, had no legal rights over property in case of death etc) and next of kin Etc. This is what i mean by that.
[/quote]
In your country it appears that they do have “legal status.”
“The new law gives homosexual couples the same property and inheritance rights as married heterosexual couples and entitles them to the same pension, immigration and tax benefits.”
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/12/05/british_gays_sign_up_for_civil_partnership/
Legal status of “live in” heterosexual couples varies by state in the USA.
