Do Gay Men Have Less Stable Relationships?

No one really knows why, but for decades, social studies have hinted that gay men are more promiscuous and less faithful in relationships. Formal studies that have been done to pick apart claims that gay men are less capable of committing to one person however have failed to prove anything. So why are we worried?

The HIV/AIDs epidemic is the major concern. Responsible monogamous couples have very little reason to worry about contracting HIV/AIDs or any other sexually transmitted disease, but young homosexual and bisexual men make up an astoundingly large percentage of new HIV/AIDs diagnoses, and these individuals tend to fall into a “high risk sexual behavior” category also. Although this is hardly proof that gay men are less monogamous, it certainly suggests that they are. There are other reasons to think that promiscuity is a real issue in gay male relationships; past studies that were done on monogamy and relationship security and satisfaction have found that when they compared lesbian, heterosexual, and homosexual relationships women reported feeling more secure and satisfied than men in general. No differences were found to be a result of sexual preference, just gender.

The reality is men usually feel less commitment than women do in relationships, and less satisfied. National surveys that track the prevalence of cheating in married couples have found that, in the U.S. and the U.K., married men are almost twice as likely as married women to have slept with someone other than their spouse. Since most gay couples aren’t married the odds that one of the partners will cheat could be even higher. It’s probably not a terrible thing that gay men are less committed.

Some ultimately suggest that monogamous partnership is unnatural. But, regardless, the contribution that young gay men make to the HIV/AIDs epidemic is something that needs to be taken more seriously. Condom use is not enough. Gay men must take the initiative to know their sexual partners’ history. Like all sexually active people with more than one partner, Gay men should be tested for STDs routinely. Psychologically healthy monogamy may be bogus, but we can’t pretend that having multiple partners is just as safe.

HIV And AIDS Among Youth And Young Adults

Youth and young adults between the ages of 13 and 24 in the United States are among the highest risk groups of being infected with HIV. The CDC reports that the greatest number of new HIV infections within this age group are among gay and bisexual males, with African-American and Latino males who have sex with other men being at even greater risk.

Why is this population increasingly at risk? There are a myriad of reasons, including a lack of sexual education and information promoting abstinence and delaying initial sexual encounters. These groups are also among the highest populations suffering from substance abuse, homelessness, and sexually transmitted infections.

Looking at global numbers, a young person becomes HIV-positive every 30 seconds. Studies have shown that the majority of youth and young adults in the U.S. are not afraid of contracting HIV, which equates to low testing rates and low rates of condom use. While there are an increasing number of HIV and AIDS awareness promotion programs, youth advocacy, and health counseling, the data translates to a dire need for greater outreach efforts.

The best way to prevent infection with HIV is abstinence. Secondly, reducing the number of sexual partners, avoiding unprotected sexual encounters, and being tested regularly are the most important steps you can take to prevent infection or spreading the virus. More than half of the percentage of youth infected with HIV/AIDS were not aware that they had the virus.

While many young adults are not concerned with contracting HIV, a large number are still in denial of the increasing risk of contracting and spreading the virus. Even if you think you are not at risk, it is recommended that you get tested regularly. Speak to a professional today, there are a number free test sites available as well as youth programs and counseling services .

The Tay Bush Inn Raid

On Sept. 14, 1961 242 patrons, nearly all of them men, were packed into the Tay-Bush Inn at the Corner of Taylor and Bush in San Francisco. The photo shows the scene – a block of apartments occupies the block where the Inn was. Gary Kamiya tells SF Gate what happened on that night.

“The Tay-Bush was a one-room cafe that drew night owls who danced to its jukebox until dawn. Some walked up the hill from the theater district after the shows let out.

At 3:15 that September morning, three undercover police officers in the bar gave a prearranged signal, the jukebox went silent, a loudspeaker outside blared and uniformed cops barged in. They began herding the patrons onto the sidewalk and arresting them.

The headline on The Chronicle’s story the next day read, “Big Sex Raid – Cops Arrest 103.” The secondary headline said, “139 Get Away.” (Police later insisted only five or so had escaped.)

The story called the raid “the biggest action of its kind in the history of the department.” Many of the arrestees were students, it said. “Others called themselves clerks, laborers, hairdressers; one said he was a psychologist. Police said the men were dancing together and kissing.”

The raid “was reminiscent of the old speakeasy days of Prohibition,” The Chronicle wrote. “Three paddy wagons shuttled back and forth between the inn and the city prison – seven loads in all – and apartment house dwellers watched from their windows.”

Most of the patrons were booked as “visitors to a disorderly house.” The bar’s owner, 27-year-old Robert Johnson, was booked on four counts, including “lewd and indecent acts” and “keeping a disorderly house.”

Asked by a reporter if any “deviates” had been at his club that night, Johnson said, “Yes, of course. But we have a lot of show people and others – they like the New York atmosphere – you know, brick walls.” ”

Despite having the names of the arrested printed in the papers, charges against all but two of those arrested were dropped. The raid – years before Stonewall – raised a political consciousness in the gay community. The Mattachine Society seized on the incident to push for civil rights.

The Tay-Bush raid made the civil rights of gays and lesbians a legitimate subject for debate, and marked the beginning of the end of San Francisco’s crackdown on gay bars. The SFPD’s final attempt to repress gays took place on New Year’s Day 1965, when police raided an advocacy group’s masquerade ball at California Hall on Polk Street. Even John Shelley, the mayor, condemned the police action. San Francisco was now Gay.

Harlem’s Hidden Gay History: The Rockland Palace Drag Balls

The Hamilton Lodge was a black gay social group that held extravagant drag balls in Harlem, New York, in the 1930s. Prohibition put an end to the Hamilton Lodge drag formals at the Rockland Palace on West 155th Street.

New York’s drag balls were given national exposure by the 1990 documentary “Paris is Burning.” Harlem’s gay scene was well known before Prohibition, and Hamilton Lodge was one of the foremost venues for the area’s thriving LGBT community. Artists who supported Harlem’s gay community during the 1930s included Tallulah Bankhead.

Inside the Rockland Palace, The Black Archives

“You had a large majority of drag queens and what we now call gender-queer pushing the boundaries,” says Hael Fisher, who is relaunching the Hamilton Lodge drag balls. “And you had a lot of white onlookers who came up from the West Village to be a part of this.”

The Rockland was torn down in the 1960s and the site became a car park.

Leonard Matlovich

Leonard P. Matlovich was born on July 6, 1943 and died on June 22, 1988. He was a Vietnam War veteran, race relations instructor, and recipient of the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. Matlovich made history by becoming the first gay service member of US forces to out himself to the military to fight their ban on gays. In the 1970s he and Harvey Milk were the best known gay men in America.

The gay community rallied behind his fight to stay in the USAF. His photograph appeared on the cover of the September 8, 1975, issue of Time magazine, making him a symbol for thousands of gay and lesbian servicemembers and gay people generally. Matlovich was the first openly gay person to appear on the cover of a U.S. newsmagazine.

In October 2006, Matlovich was honoured as a leader in the history of the LGBT community .

A Mormon and church elder, Matlovich found himself at odds with the church, and their opposition to homosexual behavior. He was twice excommunicated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for homosexual acts.

In 1986 Matlovich was diagnosed with HIV/Aids. Typical of the man, he was among the first patients to try a newly developed treatment, AZT.

His grave at the Congressional Cemetery does not prominently bear his name. The inscription reads: “When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.” His grave is in the same row as that of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.

Many Transgender People Are Completely Avoiding Doctors

It can be difficult for many individuals to have discussions about their sexual history with a physician. It’s not uncommon for people to consider it uncomfortable. But, for many transgender people, the conversation never happens because they do not seek out health care, according to Adrian Juarez, PhD, a public health nurse and assistant professor in the University at Buffalo School of Nursing.

A preliminary study (“Examining the Role of Social Networks on Venue-Based HIV Testing Access and Decision Making in an Urban, Transgendered Population”) that examined health-based decision making and access to HIV testing in urban, transgender populations, showed that many transgender individuals withheld from pursuing necessary care due to social stigma and lack of affordability.

“There is evidence that health care providers do tend to be judgmental, and it’s unwelcoming,” says Juarez. Of course, people are not going to visit health care providers if they fear that they’re going to face discrimination and stigma.

The results of the study are especially cause for concern because, according to a 2009 report from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), about one third of transgender people in the U.S. are HIV positive. And, transgender women of color are even more at risk of HIV infection. According to the NIH study, more than 56 percent of black transgender women are HIV positive.

Among other reasons, an inability to afford medical care is keeping transgender patients away from doctors. Transgender people are more than twice as likely to be homeless and four times more likely to experience extreme poverty (compared to the general population)…having a household income of less than $10,000 per year. This data comes from a 2011 report from the National Center for Transgender Equality. It’s not as if it’s easy for transgender people to get work, either. According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, out of more than 6,000 transgender people surveyed in the nation, 90 percent said they were subject to mistreatment, harassment, and discrimination at work.

If a transgender person does happen to visit a healthcare provider, some doctors are not informed on how to properly treat the patients. Juarez says, “It puzzles me how doctors will still refer to trans individuals by their biological name. That’s their identity.”

The line between identifying and biological gender can be blurry in healthcare settings. For example, transgender men still need Pap smears and transgender women need prostate screenings, but some health care providers might not offer these tests in order to keep from making suggestions that go against the patient’s identified gender. There is an urgent need to address stigmatization and provide health care professionals education on how to appropriately and compassionately treat transgender patients.

Americans Identifying as LGBTI+ Increased

According to a recent survey from the Gallup research firm, 5.6 percent of Americans are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex people. This significant increase, which means about 18 million people, is attributed to the greater acceptance of LGBTI+ individuals in the society.

While this rate was 4.5 percent in Gallup’s 2017 survey, the result from the 2020 survey indicates a record jump of 24 percent. The main reason for the increase is from Generation Z adults aged 18-23. 15.9 percent of this generation say they are LGBTI+.

“At a time when the public is increasingly promoting equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, ınterex + people, a growing percentage of Americans identify as LGBTI+,” the Gallup website said.

In the 2020 election, the US saw Pete Buttigieg as the first openly gay presidential candidate. LGBTI+ candidates have had multiple historic wins, including Sarah McBride, the first open transgender state senator.

According to the Washington-based research center Public Religion Research Institute, Americans’ support for same sex marriage, which was legalized in 2015 and seen largely as a synonym for LGBTI+ rights, rose from 36 percent in 2007 to 62 percent in 2020.

The Gallup survey shows that 54.6 percent of LGBTI+ Americans identify as bisexual, 24.5 percent are gay men, 11.7 percent are lesbians and 11.3 percent are transgender.

For the first survey conducted in 2012, 15,000 Americans were randomly interviewed by phone throughout 2020. While 86.7 percent of the respondents identified themselves as heterosexual, 7.6 percent refused to respond to the interviewers. This rate was around 5 percent in past surveys.

There were significant differences between generations. Among those born before 1946, seniors were much less likely to see themselves as LGBTI+. The lowest rate was recorded as 1.3 percent.

Researchers found that women were more likely to describe themselves as LGBTI+ than men. While this rate was 4.9 percent for men, it was 6.4 percent for women. From a political point of view, 13 percent of liberal respondents and 2.3 percent of conservatives identified themselves as LGBTI+.

It is noted that there is a similar trend in England. According to government data, the proportion of people identifying themselves as lesbian, gay or bisexual increased from 1.6 percent in 2016 to 2.2 percent in 2018.

American First Lesbian Attorney General

If you are confused about American politics (which I as a Canadian am often), there are two major parties in the USA – the Democrats and the Republicans. President Obama is a Democrat.

If you are a lesbian, then the Democratic party is kinder to you. Under President Obama and with pressure on the Supreme Court by the LGBT community and their friends, state by state is legalizing same-sex marriage.

Democrat Maura Healey was elected as the state’s new top cop last night,succeeding her former boss Martha Coakley and making history as the nation’s first openly gay state attorney general.

“I’m so humble and grateful to the voters across the state for turning out to elect me,” said Healey, who plans to tackle gun violence, prescription drug and heroin abuse, and civil rights, among other issues, when she takes office in January.

“It’s a broad agenda and a big agenda. … As attorney general you don’t have the luxury to do just one thing at once,” Healey said. “It’s important to build and maintain the top talent in the attorney general’s office so we’re able to protect the people of Massachusetts.”

Healey, who helped lead the legal battle to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act and give federal recognition to same-sex married couples while working for the attorney general’s office, beat out Winchester attorney and Republican John B. Miller to become the first openly gay state attorney general in the nation.

“I’m proud that we’ve broken that barrier, but I’m also proud that it wasn’t an issue during the campaign,” Healey said. “I think that says a lot about how far we’ve come.”

MassEquality Executive Director KC Coredini called Healey’s win a “historic victory for LGBTQ people and for LGBTQ equality.”

“Maura has spent the last seven years in the attorney general’s office making the commonwealth a national leader on LGBTQ issues with her vision, drive and talent,” Coredini said. “Now, as the country’s first openly gay state attorney general, she is poised to make history again, not only with what more she will accomplish in this critical office, but with who she is.”

Healey worked in the AG’s office first as the chief of the civil rights division and then leading bureaus on Public Protection and Advocacy, as well as on Business and Labor.

The former Middlesex County prosecutor cast herself as the underdog and triumphed in the primary over the Democratic-establishment-backed candidate Warren Tolman to win a spot on yesterday’s ballot.

Healey, a Harvard graduate, also played professional basketball in Europe before earning a law degree at Northeastern University.

In the open race for treasurer, Brookline Democrat Deb Goldberg beat Republican Mike Heffernan and Green Rainbow candidate Ian Jackson to replace Treasurer Steven Grossman, while Democratic incumbents Secretary of State William F. Galvin and Auditor Suzanne Bump held onto their seats.

Galvin fended off challenges from Malden Republican David D’Arcangelo as well as Green Rainbow Party candidate Daniel Factor, while Bump bested Republican Patricia

Maura Healy-American First Lesbian Attorney General

Paula, 2014, stories4hotbloodedlesbians.com

Lesbian Victories in US Politics

Christine Quinn, an open and married lesbian is running for Major of New York City. If she wins, it will be the first time in twenty years since a Democrat takes the position. Michael Bloomberg has been in office for twelve years.

In the mayorial race is Anthony Weiner, who became infamous when he emailed pictures of his crotch to a number of women. Weiner is married to a former Hilary Clinton’s aide,Huma Abedin who has stood by him.

So, is there a penis versus a vagina race between these two? (just joking).

As LGBTI people, it is heart-warming to read of our brothers and sisters who have made a difference in politics. Harvey Milk paid with his life in San Francisco in 1978 when he fought against a proposal to fire all gay school teachers in California.

To the present, we congratulate gay Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell involved in marriage equality in the New York State Legislature

For the record,

– no openly LGBT governor or United States president has ever been elected to office

– no openly LGBT person has been named or served as a federal Cabinet member

But, we’re discussing lesbian victories in USA politics, so let’s celebrate

– Federal judge: Deborah Batts, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York – appointed 1994

– U.S. Senate (first openly LGBT person, out when first elected): Tammy Baldwin – elected 2012, lesbian, representing Wisconsin

Lesbian Mayors

Massachusettes: Gina Genovese, elected Mayor, 2005 – Neptune Township

Texas :Mayor: Annise Parker, elected Mayor of Houston 2009

So let’s spread this information world-wide to aspiring lesbians politicians and lawyers.

paula, 2014, stories4hotbloodedlesbians.com

Lesbians More Likely To Orgasm, Study Finds

Does one sexual identity have a greater likelihood of sexual pleasure then another? A study by the Kinsey Institute for research of sex and gender at Indiana University Bloomington has found that lesbians are the most likely of any group to experience orgasms.

The study entitled “Variation in Orgasm Occurrence by Sexual Orientation in a Sample of U.S. Singles” surveyed 6,151 single and sexually active men and women, from ages 21 to 65. The researchers found that lesbian women had the highest frequency of orgasms at 75% of sexual experiences resulting in orgasm. The lowest likelihood of orgasm was found in bisexual women at 58%.

The correlation between rate of orgasm and sexual identity was not demonstrated in men. However, men orgasm 85% of the time regardless of sexual orientation or identity, whereas adjusting for sexual orientation, women orgasm only 62% of the time.

The institute’s founder Alfred Kinsey, pioneered research in sexual pleasure as a scientific pursuit, and noted as early as the 1950s, a correlations between sexual orientation and orgasm, however this is the first attempt to codify Kinsey’s theories.

Scientists next hope to find whether a mental or physical differentiation is responsible for the variations in likelihood of orgasm. Very little is known outside of a purely physiological level—the increase of heart rate and changes in blood pressure. The mental and emotional aspects of stimulation remains something of a mystery to researchers.

Dr. M. Mirza, 2015
lgbt health wellness .com

How Many Americans Are Bisexual or Homosexual?

A recent survey (the annual National Health Interview Survey) by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention asked about sexual orientation for the first time. While the majority of candidates reported being heterosexual, of the 34,557, 1.6 percent claimed to be homosexual and 0.7 claimed to be bisexual. While many other surveys have claimed much higher numbers, it is important to keep in mind that this is a very difficult number to pinpoint.

You may be asking why. To start, the survey is more or less showcasing results for how those who have taken it identify themselves. Whether or not it factually identifies all participants based on societal definitions of sexuality is too complicated a question to test without further research. Keep in mind that many people do not care to share their sexuality, possibly due to shame, misidentification with how they feel inside, or simply not wanting to release that information. It’s a complicated subject; proclaiming you are gay or bisexual carries many social stigmas.

Questions were provided to surveyors via computer, which they personally asked participants who then answered by showing flash cards. This person to person questioning may help comfort, but still, it does nothing to encourage people to discuss their true indentity. Furthermore, the survey asked nothing regarding transexuals, whose sexuality may be very difficult at times to define.

These statistics may help narrow and target treatment for sexual minorities, which is good, but they still lack accuracy. Without societal reform, it may be impossible to get information that is, figuratively, hidden in the closet.

September 2014

Transgender woman murdered

Tyler’s friends believe she was a victim of a hate crime.

“This has to be a hate crime, this has to be a hate crime, nothing else because that was an upstanding person with a good heart,” Underwood’s roommate, Coy Simmons told KYTX.

“She was lovely, just a lovely person.”

Tyler’s friends say she was well-liked and had no enemies. “She’s a fan favourite,” Kenya Darks told local news station, KLTV.

Police suggested that Tyler was shot before trying to flee from her attacker in her car. Police are still searching for a suspect. and have appealed to the public to come forward if they have any information.