A brand new analysis of more than 100 studies and academic journals, combined with feedback from thousands of homosexuals across the country, is presenting a clearer picture than ever before of the U.S. LGBT community.One telling statistic shows only 18% of the LGBT community describe themselves as “very happy” compared to 30% of the general public. Doug Hattaway, President of Hattaway Communications and survey organizer, and himself an out and proud member of the gay community, told The Advocate: “We were surprised to see this happiness gap.” “Given all the positive conversation over victories with marriage, it was sobering to see people don’t see their lives positively.”
In Australia, findings contained in the annual Household, Income and Labor Dynamics survey reveal a stark divide in people’s experiences based on their sexual identity even though homosexuals are more highly educated and “equivalised incomes were highest for gay people.” “The difference in average life satisfaction between gay, lesbian and bisexual people compared with heterosexual people is comparable in magnitude to the difference you see between people with a moderate disability and people who are not disabled,” said Professor Roger Wilkins, of Melbourne's Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research. Straight people scored higher on general health and significantly higher on mental health. “It's really striking that (the health and wellbeing of gay people) is markedly lower than heterosexual people,” Professor Wilkins added. “You wouldn't have expected that in the sense that there's nothing inherent about sexual identity that should have direct implications for health and wellbeing.” The report observed gay people were less likely to live with a partner and when they did were not as happy as straight people. They reported noticeably lower levels of satisfaction, and were slightly more likely to wish they had never entered the relationship and admit their unions failed to live up to expectations.
Author’s note: In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) removed homosexuality as a mental disorder from the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders (DSM-II). This change in was not based on any new scientific studies or data.
A recent study found that 32.3% to 51.5% of the HIV-negative or unknown status homosexual men engaged in unprotected anal intercourse.* This all points to a mental illness, no longer regarded as a mental illness, that is still acting like a mental illness. In fact: “The majority of the literature in this area suggests that in comparison with individuals without BPD [Borderline Personality Disorder], those with BPD evidence greater sexual impulsivity as indicated by higher levels of sexual preoccupation, earlier sexual exposure, more casual sexual relationships, a greater number of different sexual partners, promiscuity, and homosexual experiences.”
Related findings:
Comparison of MSM [men who have sex with men] with those of men who reported only female partners (non-MSM). MSM were more likely than non-MSM to have had first sex at age <15 years (31.9% vs. 17.3%). MSM were also more likely to have had 10 or more lifetime sex partners (73.6% vs. 40.8%), and to have 2 or more sex partners in the past 12 months (41.0% vs. 18.4%). The median number of lifetime sex partners was 19.1 for MSM and 6.3 for Non-MSM.
-Taken from: “Men Who Have Sex With Men in the United States: Demographic and Behavioral Characteristics and Prevalence of HIV and HSV-2 Infection: Results from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001–2006”
Xu, Fujie MD, PHD; Sternberg, Maya R. PHD; Markowitz, Lauri E. MD
Sexually Transmitted Diseases: June 2010 - Volume 37 - Issue 6 - pp 399-405
*“Unprotected Anal Intercourse With Casual Male Partners in Urban Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men”
David W. Pantalone, PhD, Julia C. Tomassilli, PhD, Tyrel J. Starks, PhD, Sarit A. Golub, PhD, MPH, and Jeffrey T. Parsons, PhD
American Journal of Public Health: January 2015, Vol. 105, No. 1, pp. 103-110.