New Report links LGBT Bullying to long-term Health and Developmental problems

A new report from the Family Acceptance Project links LGBT bullying to deeper and damaging health issues later in life.

Here's more:

It found that LGBT-targeted bullying related to gender expression or sexual orientation during school years led to increased young adult depression, suicidal thoughts, social adjustment issues and risky sexual behavior. LGBT young adults that reported high levels of anti-LGBT victimization as teens were 5.6 times more likely to report suicide attempts than those victimized less frequently. They were more than twice as likely to report being clinically depressed, and they were more than twice as likely to report having been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease by young adulthood.

The report also found that young adult GBT males are targeted more frequently than their female counterparts, and that the amount of bullying a boy receives in school can help predict the health issues he will face later in life.

The report, titled “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adolescent School Victimization: Implications for Young Adult Health and Adjustment” and published in the Journal of School Health, comes as both popular culture and policy hone in on the topic. The plot of last week's episode of the ever-popular Fox hit show Glee, for example, revolved around quiet, biting homophobic bullying: an openly gay male was (spoiler alert!) crowned Prom Queen. 

This is interesting info. Explains a lot about our self-esteem, anxiety, doubt and our social issues. please check the source and the other links with it.

Study says Gay Men are more at risk for Cancer than Straight Men

I came across the interesting bit of news. A study in Cali-Cal says that we are in a greater risk of cancer than our straight male counterparts.

Check it out:

Few cancer studies investigate how sexual orientation might affect cancer risk and survivorship, often because study participants are not asked about their sexual orientation. In Monday's study, researchers used a large health survey conducted by the state of California - in which respondents were asked about their orientation - to examine the impact cancer may be having on gays and lesbians in the state.

The results show about 8% of gay men had experienced a cancer diagnosis, compared with only about 5% of straight men. Among straight women and lesbians, the cancer prevalence trends were more closely matched.

Researchers speculate the increased cancer prevalence among gay men is associated with HIV status.

"There's a higher prevalence of HIV positive men in the gay population, and we know that being HIV positive is related to cancers, so this might drive the differences we found," said study author Ulrike Boehmer, an associate professor at Boston University School of Public Health. Anal cancer, lung cancer, testicular cancer and Hodgkin's lymphoma are more prevalent among men who are HIV positive, Boehmer said.

The study found gay men were also more likely to get cancer at a younger age than straight men – almost 10 years sooner – at the age of 41, on average.

I hope there more research on this information. It's a hard pill to swallow.

source

A Secret a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

A question to the gay readers. When you go to the doctor's office and he/she ask you personal questions, are you answering them truthfully or to the best of your knowledge?

Well according to this article, a lot folks are not telling the Doc everything.

• A survey of 452 New York City men who had had sex with other men within the past year found that 39 percent had not disclosed their sexual orientation to their doctors.

• While 78 percent of the men who had sex with men and identified themselves as homosexual said they had discussed their sexuality with their doctors, none of the men who had sex with men but identified themselves as bisexual had told their doctors.

• 60 percent of black men who had sex with other men said they had not discussed their sex lives with their doctors, compared with 48 percent of Hispanic men, 47 percent of Asian men and 19 percent of white men.

• Men who were 28 or older were more like than younger men (69 percent vs. 52 percent) to be out to their providers. Those born in the United States were more likely than immigrant men to disclose their practices, and those who were better educated disclosed at higher rates than the less educated.

That's some interesting stuff.