Friday, July 03, 2015



Being bisexual 'is bad for your health': People with male and female partners report poorer wellbeing than those of other sexualities

Bisexual people have worse health than those of other sexualities, new research suggests.

A new study examining the health of people of different sexual persuasions found those who were bisexual rated their health as worse than gays, lesbians and heterosexuals.

The researchers also found that people who identify themselves as bisexual are disproportionately disadvantaged when it comes to on important social and economic and factors associated with good health and wellbeing.

As part of the study, researchers asked 10,128 sexual minorities (gay, lesbian and bisexual adults) to rate their health. They also asked 405,145 heterosexual adults to give the same rating, to see how it differed across people of different sexual orientations.

'Existing health research on the sexual minority population is sparse and typically does not make distinctions between the different types of sexual minorities,' said the study's lead author Professor Bridget Gorman, of Rice University, Texas.

'We developed this study both to examine the health of these different sexual minority groups and to assess how risk factors for poor health contribute to their overall health.'

The researchers also quizzed people on factors that impact health, including socio-economic status, education level, employment status and household income.

They then asked about access to health insurance. Smoking and drinking habits, their BMI, their well-being as well as access to social support were also recorded as part of the data collection.

The results showed that 19.5 per cent of bisexual men and 18.5 per cent of bisexual women rated their health as 'poor or fair' - the highest proportion among all the groups surveyed.

In contrast, only 11.9 per cent of men identifying as gay and 10.6 per cent of women identifying as lesbian rated their health as 'poor or fair' - the lowest proportion of those surveyed.

Health was also rated poor by 14.5 per cent of heterosexual men and 15.6 per cent of heterosexual women.

The researchers also discovered that bisexual people were disadvantaged when it came to many other factors that affect health, when compared to people of other sexual orientations.

For example, bisexual men and women were the least likely of the three groups to be educated to university level. Only 26.5 per cent of bisexual men and 32.1 per cent of bisexual women graduated from university.

This was compared with 55.7 per cent of gay men and 57 per cent of lesbian women, and 37.9 per cent of heterosexual men and 37.5 per cent of heterosexual women.

Bisexual men and women were more likely to smoke (23.8 per cent and 21.9 per cent, respectively).

This was compared with 14.9 per cent of gay men, 16.6 per cent of lesbian women, 11.1 per cent of heterosexual men and 8.3 per cent of heterosexual women.

And of the three groups, they were the most likely to have an annual household income of less than $25,000 (£16,000), with 39.5 per cent of men and 42.1 per cent of women falling into this category

This was compared with 22.9 per cent of gay men, 25.4 per cent of lesbian women, 24.8 per cent of heterosexual men and 29.5 per cent of heterosexual women.

SOURCE






Worth trying, I guess

Good-looking man who was 'possessed by a homosexual demon' in Kenya is exorcised by a priest to 'cure' him.  There is a lot of superstition in Africa so this could work



A video has emerged of a Nigerian businessman being exorcised by a priest because he was allegedly possessed by a 'homosexual demon' after bathing in a hotel swimming pool in Kenya.

Filmed by a Nigerian Christian television network, the video claims that after Tegus caught the demon, he broke up with his girlfriend and started to download gay porn.

A man, thought to be a priest, is seen questioning Tegus before carrying out the exorcism. Throwing his arms at the possessed man, the priest yells at him: 'Turn'.

He proceeds to do this again before Tegus tries to escape. Grabbing him tightly by the wrist, the priest orders the demon: 'Turn for Jesus Christ.'

The dramatic video opens with a calm interview between the priest and the smartly dressed businessman.  When asked who is inside him, Tegus quietly says that it is his 'friend' and that he has many 'friends' inside him.

The priest calmly asked for some names and in response Tegus says: 'I made him gay'.

Starting to build up the tension for the packed congregation, the priests asks: 'What have you been pushing him to do against his will?'

Tegus tells the priest how the supposed demon made him love men instead of loving women and that he loves men.

Lowering his voice a few tones, the priest starts to interrogate the man, questioning how the demon entered his body.

The businessman informs the priest thathe caught the demon from swimming in a hotel pool.

Continuing to maintain his audience's attention, the priest lambasts Tegus, calling him 'an unclean spirit.'

He becomes harsher in his tone, ordering Tegus to come closer.  Firmly held by two men in matching red jumpers, Tegus is exorcised by the priest, who raises his hands near to the frightened man.

Shouting  the words 'Turn for Jesus Christ', the priest grabs him tightly by his wrist, yanking down on Tegus' arm.

Attempting to run away, the priest yells at him to come here and he is prevented from escaping by two of the red shirted assistants.

The priest turns, flashing his arms and ordering the man to go, causing Tegus to collapse to the ground.

A faint ripple of applause can be heard from the silent congregation.

Walking around in a disoriented manner, the man is asked how he is. Quietly he tells the priest that he is fine.

Asked what he said earlier, Tegus insists he said nothing.

Speaking in a crudely edited interview afterwards, Tegus recalls how he got the demon from swimming.

'After swimming, I went back to my room in the night to sleep and I had a dream. I dreamt where I saw myself swimming in the same pool and when I woke up, I felt something had entered me.'

'I started having passion for men and going closer to my closer men. Before my journey, I had a fiancee.I had to ask her to quit the relationship because I had no passion for anymore - no more affections for her.'

Tegus insists at the end that he has had 'total deliverance' and now feels a 'passion for the opposite sex.'

Nigeria has strict laws on homosexuality, where anyone who commits a homosexual act can be punished for up to 14 years in jail. Same sex marriage is also banned in the West African country.

SOURCE






American College of Pediatricians: Gay Marriage Ruling ‘Tragic’ for Children

“This is a tragic day for America’s children,” Dr. Michelle Cretella, president of the American College of Pediatricians, said Friday in a statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision legalizing same-sex marriage.

“The SCOTUS has just undermined the single greatest pro-child institution in the history of mankind: the natural family.

"Just as it did in the joint Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions, the SCOTUS has elevated and enshrined the wants of adults over the needs of children,” Cretella said.

The American College of Pediatricians is “a nonprofit organization of pediatricians and health care professionals dedicated to the health and well-being of children.”

The College filed an amicus brief in Obergefell v. Hodges, the case which led to the legalization of gay marriage in the United States. The brief examines scientific studies on same-sex parenting conducted during the past 20 years.

“Despite being certified by almost all major social science scholar associations -- indeed, in part because of this -- the alleged scientific consensus that having two parents of the same sex is innocuous for child well-being is almost wholly without basis,” the brief states.

The brief maintains that the “alleged consensus” that the children of same-sex couples do not suffer any disadvantage is the result of “intense politicization of research agendas” -- not of objective science.

It references the American Psychological Association’s (APA) 1991 guidelines on Avoiding Heterosexist Bias in Psychological Research. The guidelines define “heterosexism” as “conceptualizing human experience in strictly heterosexual terms and consequently ignoring, invalidating, or derogating homosexual behaviors and sexual orientation, and lesbian, gay, and bisexual relationships and lifestyles.”

“How can a researcher who has discovered negative outcomes for children with same-sex parents publish such findings without ‘invalidating (or being perceived as invalidating) lesbian, gay and bisexual relationships?’ the brief asks. "Even worse, how can a researcher who suspects that he or she may find such outcomes find funding or support for the research?” the amicus brief asks.

According to the court document, some studies that reported no difference between children raised by same-sex couples and children raised by heterosexual couples were later found to be invalid.

For example, in the three often-cited studies of adolescents raised by lesbian mothers conducted by Dr. Jennifer Wainright of the University of Virginia, for "27 of the 44 'lesbian mother' couples" she cited, "the responding adolescent reported that one of the parents in the household was his or her male father," the brief noted.

"Wainright et al's three studies compared a group of heterosexual parents with another group of (mostly) heterosexual parents. It is not surprising they found 'no differences' in child outcomes betweeen these groups..."

When Dr. Paul Sullins, an associate professor of sociology at the Catholic University of America, re-analyzed Wainright’s data, with the sample corrected to include only same-sex couples, he found that 87.7 percent of children with married same-sex parents exhibited symptoms of depression, compared to 47.2 percent of children with married opposite-sex parents.

One third (32.4 percent) of children with married same-sex parents reported feeling fearful or crying almost every day, compared to 3.1 percent of children with married opposite-sex parents, according to Sullins’ study.

Adolescents who reported that they had already had sexual intercourse were asked if they had ever been forced to have sex against their will. More than two thirds (70.5 percent) of adolescents with married same-sex parents responded “yes” to this question, dropping to 10 percent of those with married opposite-sex parents. 

However, Sullins’ data also suggests that “same-sex parents are just as loving and caring, perhaps more so, than are opposite-sex parents” and that negative results are not the result of any stigma attached to the children of same-sex parents.

The brief states that “special consideration must be given to the states’ interests in the well-being of children, who are uniquely vulnerable and have little recourse against harm,” asserting that state laws preventing same-sex marriage have a “rational basis” and that it would be “imprudent” for the courts to restrict these laws.

“Although it is disappointing only four of the nine justices heeded the scientific findings in the College brief,” Cretella  added, "the College will continue to proclaim the important unique contributions of both mothers and fathers to the optimal nurturing of all children.”

SOURCE






Australia: That Leftist double standard about free speech again

Attorney-General George Brandis was widely ridiculed after he made these comments in the Senate in May, 2014: “People do have a right to be bigots, you know. People have the right to say things that other people would find insulting, offensive or bigoted.”

Many of Brandis’s critics were from the ABC, where the Attorney-General is something of a hate ­figure.

So it was a surprise on Monday night to hear so many people on the ABC’s Q & A program using Brandis’s exact argument to defend the show’s decision to grant several minutes of airtime last week to ­Islamic extremist Zaky Mallah.

Host Tony Jones kicked off the homage to Brandis with these opening remarks: “The ABC’s editorial standards tell us to present a diversity of perspectives so that, over time, no significant strand of thought or belief within the community is knowingly excluded, nor disproportionately represented.”

Guest Anne Aly, a research fellow at Perth’s Curtin University, readily agreed. “We deserve to have these issues brought to our attention,” she said.

A video question from viewer Michael Daley followed Aly’s theme: “The High Court has held that there is an implied freedom of political communication. Therefore, while I disagree with the comments made by Zaky Mallah last week, we have an obligation to honour his right say them.”

And guest Lawrence Krauss, one of those relatively obscure American academics who so frequently appear on Q & A, joined in. The ­director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University said that some of Mallah’s views were “despicable”, but in our society “we have to be willing to have discussions about despicable views”.

In other words, people have the right to say things that other people would find insulting, offensive or bigoted. George Brandis should consider himself deeply honoured by the ABC’s belated agreement.

SOURCE

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Political correctness is most pervasive in universities and colleges but I rarely report the  incidents concerned here as I have a separate blog for educational matters.

American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of  other countries.  The only real difference, however, is how much power they have.  In America, their power is limited by democracy.  To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already  very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges.  They show there the same respect for free-speech and political diversity that Stalin did:  None.  So look to the colleges to see  what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way.  It would be a dictatorship.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, GREENIE WATCH,   EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS and  DISSECTING LEFTISM.   My Home Pages are here or   here or   here.  Email me (John Ray) here

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