gay – Page 2 – On the River 2009+

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people have better self esteem and less depression as young adults if they were open about their sexual orientations as adolescents, a new study suggests.

Attempts to hide sexual orientation are generally unsuccessful, and the result is more abuse and more depression, the authors say in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.

What’s needed, said Stephen Russell, the study’s lead author, are “supporting environments so that all kids can figure out and be as true to themselves as they can be.”

Research shows that adults fare better after disclosing their sexual orientations, but there was little evidence on how being “out” in middle or high school affects mental health later on.

That question occurred to Russell, an expert on adolescent mental health at the University of Arizona in Tucson, when a high school in Okeechobee, Florida attempted to block students from forming an LGBT-straight alliance group – also known as a gay-straight alliance.

The case was settled in the students’ favor, but an unanswered question was whether students end up better off later in life if they’re open about their sexual orientations, compared to those who are not.

“There was no real data to suggest otherwise, Russell said.

The new findings are from a study of 245 LGBT young adults in California, ages 21 to 25, who reported their openness with their sexual orientations during middle and high school. They also took surveys to measure depression, self-esteem and life satisfaction.

Not surprisingly, the researchers found, LGBT-related abuse at school was tied to negative adjustment during young adulthood. The abuse occurred whether the students tried to hide their sexual orientations or not.

“I think one of the sobering things we learned is that saying you’re out to others is linked to victimization and saying you need to hide was linked to victimization,” Russell said.

But after accounting for abuse, people who were “out” at school were better adjusted in young adulthood, compared to people who weren’t out.

The study can’t prove that being out as an adolescent guarantees better adjustment later on. And the researchers caution that the results can’t be applied to all LGBT youths. Russell hopes to confirm the findings in an ongoing study with nearly 900 participants.

Co-author Caitlin Ryan said the results point to the need for schools to have trained staff and policies that protect all students.

“We still have school settings where there aren’t policies in place,” said Ryan, director of the Family Acceptance Project at San Francisco State University.

Sean Cahill, who was not involved with the new study but co-authored the 2012 book “LGBT Youth in America’s Schools,” agreed that it’s important to help youth to be out at school.

Ways to do that include statewide LGBT youth initiatives to help schools create safe environments, said Cahill, who directs health policy research at The Fenway Institute of Fenway Health, which provides healthcare to the LGBT community in Boston.

Gay-straight alliances are known to create better school environments for students whether they’re out or not, he said. Also, having openly LGBT role models in schools is beneficial.

Teaching about LGBT historical figures, such as Walt Whitman and Gertrude Stein, also helps create an accepting environment, said Cahill.

For adolescents, Russell said, it’s beneficial to think through a plan of the coming out process, possibly with the help of adults. Plans should consider sources of support, and vulnerabilities, he said.

“I think what’s promising about this study is even though coming out comes with risks, being out is going to come with benefits in the long run,” he said.

The study was published online in November and appears in print this month.

Canadian Blood Services sets up ‘rainbow clinic’ to take donations from gay men

2015/02/04 by On the River, posted in Canadian. eh, gay, medicine

Gay men can donate blood for research, but still can’t contribute blood for transfusion

Canadian Blood Services is appealing to gay men to donate blood tomorrow at a special clinic set up at the University of British Columbia.

The Rainbow Donor Clinic came about because of the agency’s restrictions on donations from men who have sex with men.

While the agency won’t accept blood from sexually active gay and bisexual men for transfusions, the blood collected at the Rainbow Donor Clinic can be used for research purposes.

“This came from the community from Chad Walters, who is a gentleman who was deferred from donating blood for transfusion and he was made aware of our clinic, the netCAD clinic, where all deferred donors can donate blood for research,” associate medical director for the West for Canadian Blood Services Dr. Tanya Petraszko told CBC Radio The Early Edition’s Rick Cluff.

“He took it upon himself to hold a rainbow clinic to raise awareness in the men who have sex with men community … I think Chad’s point was that not a lot of people recognize this.”

Petraszko said the blood could be used by any researcher whose proposal clears the agency’s ethics board.

“This could be used for cancer therapy, for cancer research, looking at the kinds of proteins we have on red blood cells, how the immune system works — all sorts of clinical and applied research.”

Canadian Blood Services recently relaxed its rules around donations from gay men. Until 2013, it had declined donations from any man who had sex with another man. The ban had been in place since 1977.

The restrictions were changed to limit any man who has had sex with another man in the last five years.

“This is what Canadian Blood Services thinks is a first step. It’s certainly still very restrictive,” said Petraszko.

“What Health Canada wants us to do is demonstrate that in the first two years we have not seen an increased risk of viruses in the blood supply, so Canadian Blood Services is working on that.”

The Rainbow Donor Clinic and open house will be held Wednesday from noon until 7 p.m. at the netCAD clinic at the University of British Columbia.

Homosexuality May Have Evolved In Humans Because It Helps Us Bond, Scientists Say

2014/11/27 by On the River, posted in gay, science

Scientists have long been puzzled by homosexuality, as it seems to be at odds with the basic human drive to reproduce.

Various theories have been offered–from the notion that homosexual men make more diligent uncles than their heterosexual counterparts (and thus are better at ensuring the survival of their relatives) to the notion that the same gene that codes for homosexuality in men makes women more fertile.

Now researchers from the University of Portsmouth in England have put forth a controversial new theory. They say homosexuality evolved in humans and other primates because it helps us form bonds with one another.

“From an evolutionary perspective, we tend to think of sexual behavior as a means to an end for reproduction,” Dr. Diana Fleischman, an evolutionary psychologist at the university and one of the researchers, said in a written statement. “However, because sexual behavior is intimate and pleasurable, it is also used in many species, including non-human primates, to help form and maintain social bonds. We can all see this in romantic couples who bond by engaging in sexual behavior even when reproduction is not possible.”

For the study, 92 women were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with various hypothetical statements about homosexual behavior, such as: “The idea of kissing a person of the same sex is sexually arousing to me” and “If someone of the same sex made a pass at me I would be disgusted.”

Then the researchers measured levels of the hormone progesterone in the women’s saliva. Progesterone is linked to social bonding.

What did the researchers find? Women with high progesterone levels were more open to engaging in homosexual activity. The researchers theorize that progesterone may make people want to bond with others–and since sexual activity is one form of bonding, homosexual as well as heterosexual behavior is encouraged.

In another experiment, 59 men did word completion puzzles, filling in the blanks of words from one of the following three categories: friendship (for instance, “fr…ds” becomes “friends”), sex (“br…ts” becomes “breasts”), or neutral (“sq.ar.” becomes “square”).

The researchers found that the men who completed the friendship puzzles were 26 percent more likely to be open to the idea of having sex with other men compared to the men in the other two groups. In other words, when men were led to think about forming bonds with others, they were more open to homosexual as well as heterosexual behavior, Fleischman told The Huffington Post in an email.

“It’s very complex, but it’s clear there’s a continuum between affection and sexuality, and… the ability to engage sexually with those of the same sex or the opposite sex is common,” Fleischman said in the statement. “In humans, much, if not most of same-sex sexual behavior occurs in those who don’t identify as homosexual.”

An intriguing theory, for sure. But not everyone is buying the new research.

“It is a plausible theory that there is a societal benefit from homosexual behavior, but the link to progesterone is probably spurious,” Dr. Gerard Conway, professor of reproductive endocrinology at University College, London, who was not involved in the study, told The Telegraph. “It’s a long way from proving cause and effect.”

The study was published Nov. 25 in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.

Large study of gay brothers suggests genetic link for homosexuality; raises some skepticism

2014/11/18 by On the River, posted in gay

CHICAGO – A large study of gay brothers adds to evidence that genes influence men’s chances of being homosexual, but the results aren’t strong enough to prove it.

Some scientists believe several genes might affect sexual orientation. Researchers who led the new study of nearly 800 gay brothers say their results bolster previous evidence pointing to genes on the X chromosome.

They also found evidence of influence from a gene or genes on a different chromosome. But the study doesn’t identify which of hundreds of genes located in either place might be involved.

Smaller studies seeking genetic links to homosexuality have had mixed results.

The new evidence “is not proof but it’s a pretty good indication” that genes on the two chromosomes have some influence over sexual orientation, said Dr. Alan Sanders, the lead author. He studies behavioural genetics at NorthShore University HealthSystem Research Institute in Evanston, Illinois.

Experts not involved in the study were more skeptical.

Neil Risch, a genetics expert at the University of California, San Francisco, said the data are statistically too weak to demonstrate any genetic link. Risch was involved in a smaller study that found no link between male homosexuality and chromosome X.

Dr. Robert Green, a medical geneticist at Harvard Medical School, called the new study “intriguing but not in any way conclusive.”

The work was published Monday by the journal Psychological Medicine. The National Institutes of Health paid for the research.

The researchers say they found potential links to male homosexuality in a portion of chromosome X and on chromosome 8, based on an analysis of genetic material in blood or saliva samples from participants.

Chromosome X is one of two human sex chromosomes; the other is chromosome Y, present only in men.

The study authors note that animal research suggests a gene located in one region of chromosome X may contribute to some sexual behaviour; it’s one of the same regions cited in the new study.

Specific causes of homosexuality are unknown. Some scientists think social, cultural, family and biological factors are involved, while some religious groups consider it an immoral choice.

Study participant Dr. Chad Zawitz, a Chicago physician, called the research “a giant step forward” toward answering scientific questions about homosexuality and helping reduce the stigma gays often face.

Being gay “is sort of like having certain eye colour or skin colour — it’s just who you are,” Zawitz said. “Most heterosexuals I know didn’t choose to be heterosexual. It’s puzzling to me why people don’t understand.”

Sanders’ research: http://www.gaybros.com

Anti-gay activists…on trial in Regina

2014/10/31 by On the River, posted in gay

Anti-gay activists Peter LaBarbera and Bill Whatcott were on trial for mischief in Regina today after an incident at the University of Regina in the spring.

LaBarbera, a U.S. citizen with a group called Americans for Truth about Homosexuality and Whatcott, a longtime anti-gay crusader in Saskatchewan, got into trouble while distributing literature on the campus.

A university official asked the two to leave.

They refused, police were called and they were taken away in handcuffs.

At their trial today, court heard they were asked to leave the campus because their activities violated the U of R’s policy on maintaining a respectful work environment.

In the morning, court was packed with their supporters while the Crown’s arguments were presented.

The defence presented evidence in the afternoon.

LaBarbara and his supporters also protested with signs outside the courthouse before proceedings began.

The judge will hand down a decision on Dec. 22.

5 Muslim Nations Where Gay is Legal

2014/10/282014/10/28 by On the River, posted in gay, RELIGION

These are five Muslim countries where being gay is not a crime. What do they have in common? None of them were colonized by the British Empire. Many countries in the Global South, whether Muslim or otherwise, are generally using colonial laws that pre-date their local penal codes to criminalize romantic love between consenting same-sex couples. Whether in West Africa, or Southeast Asia, in the heart of Europe or the Middle East, these countries remind us that the conversation on gay rights is not as clean cut as some might have imagined it to be.

1. MALI

Gays in this African nation might face local homophobia, but the law is on their side. In 2010, a Malian volunteer for the Peace Corps wrote that she looked up the laws dealing with sexuality, and saw that Article 179 of the Malian penal code did not specify heterosexual or homosexual sexual activities, but instead decried public indecency. She said that she was relieved because most “countries in Africa, 38 to be exact, have laws against homosexuality and some with the death penalty.”

2. JORDAN

Jordan was under the Ottoman Empire, where homosexuality was decriminalized 75 years earlier, but between 1922 and 1945 the country was a subject mandated by the League of Nations. However, in 1951 the new nation made homosexuality legal. “Jordan is considered an open minded country, and when coming to cities, the tolerance is even higher,” said the editor ofMy.Kali, a gay magazine that is based in the capital, talking to the Italian-based e-Zine Il Grande Colibri. “And considering the fact that it’s an Islamic country, the morality of the culture could be a huge pressure to many people to remain discreet, but it never stopped many of my friends and other LGBTQ people to come out and show who they are,” he added.

3. INDONESIA

In Indonesia being gay has been legal since, well, forever. No, really, the country never had any legal prohibitions against homosexuality, at least since its founding as a nation. Further, the country has the longest running LGBT organizations in Asia. Despite having the largest Muslim population, Indonesia has remained a great example of the importance of the separation of religion and state. On the other hand, Singapore (non-Muslim) and Malaysia (Muslim), who are neighbors to Indonesia, have laws that make it illegal to be gay. The later two have both been colonized by the British Empire.

4. TURKEY

In 1858, the Ottoman Caliph decriminalized homosexuality. This affected many countries in three continents. When Turkey became a solo nation in 1920, it didn’t see a need to change this law. Omer Akpinar, who is with KAOS LG, which is one of the largest LGBT organizations in Turkey, told Mashable that their organization was never censored. Jack Scott, a British writer who moved to Turkey with his partner and who is the author of Perking the Pansies: Jack and Liam Move to Turkey, said his “obvious union with Liam has never attracted bad publicity from any Turk,” talking to the real estate company Quest Turkey.

5. ALBANIA

Being gay has been legal in Albania since 1995. This pre-dominantly Muslim nation has been in the forefront of gay rights in the Balkans. In 2013, ILGA Europe said that the country was the friendliest nation to the gays in the area, as it has a welcoming government and an anti-discrimination law. Kristi Pinderi, who is with the LGBT organization Pink Embassy, says that the anti-discrimination law is “important because in theory a teacher, for example, who is transgender, and decides to go and teach wearing a dress, I can’t imagine what the reaction would be, but the law protects that need, if there is a need like that,” talking to the organizationInternational Day Against Homophobia.

Other countries with a large Muslim population and where homosexuality is legal include Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Niger, Northern Cyprus, Palestine, and Tajikistan.

All of the above mentioned countries, like the entire world, have varies challenges for LGBT people. However, because the law is on their side, living in these countries create an atmosphere where one can imagine a fight, a possibility of freedom, and the dream that one day being gay is not any different from being straight.

Thanks to JD

Catholic Church scraps welcome to gays in family document

2014/10/19 by On the River, posted in gay, marriage, RELIGION

Divorced, civilly remarried Catholics still can’t receive communion

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/catholic-church-scraps-welcome-to-gays-in-family-document-1.2804578