OK, kiddo! Here are all the fantastically amazing posts tagged with Studies
Study: Gay Men Better At Facial Recognition
A study out of York University has found that gay men are faster and more accurate when recognizing faces than their heterosexual counterparts.
Say, let’s try this out now:
(You can submit your time via email. I’ll wait.)
Researchers attribute the results to differences between the brains of gay and straight men. Gay men, they say, like women, use both sides of their brains for performing these sorts of tasks, whereas straight men only use the right half.
This study adds one more biological trait to the growing list of physiological differences between gay and straight men discovered in recent years. Gay men, for example, are statistically more likely to be left-handed, to have counter-clockwise hair whorls, and have longer index fingers than ring fingers (like me).
With more and more biological links are being discovered every year, I wonder when, exactly, the anti-gay lobby will finally abandon their kooky claims that being gay is just some sort of lifestyle choice. I suppose the Vegas odds on 2:30pm aren’t very good.
- Gay men better at recognizing faces: study [Toronto SUN]
Gay Men Make Up Most Victims of Hate-Motivated Violence
There has been a noticeable jump in the number of reported hate crimes in Canada in 2008, and gay men top the charts as victims of hate-motivated violence, according to a police services report.
The rise in hate crimes is most likely due to better reporting of hate-motivated incidents, which is a very good thing, but these numbers are still way too high. The number of hate crimes logged by police, for example, has risen 35 percent since the year before to a grand total of 1,036. That’s over a thousand victims selected simply because of their race, religion, or sexual orientation with no other motivating factors.
Most disturbingly, 75 percent of all hate crimes involving physical violence (as opposed to vandalism and other non-violent incidents) were motivated solely by the sexual orientation of the victim. Of these, 85 percent of the victims were gay men. This means the gay community, and particularly gay men, are at a hugely disproportionate risk of violence.
This has got to change, and it starts by challenging all casual homophobia before it has a chance to escalate to this level of hate.
- Gay men targets of violence as hate crimes jump [Toronto Star]
Academic Studies Weirdly Excluding Gays
A statistically significant percentage of medical studies in the United States have been excluding gay participants for no logical reason, a new survey has found.
The survey was started when one researcher, Brian Egleston, noticed that a clinical trial about cancer patients deferred all gay couples from participating. That study turned out to be just one of about 15% to exclude gay participants without any obvious link to the subject matter. Results of the survey have now been published in last Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine.
It’s definitely odd for such a disciplined field of academics to arbitrarily exclude subjects for research as generic as a cancer study. Unless they know something I don’t. Say… Are—are we gays immune to cancer? ‘Cause if we are, I’m totally starting a new, gay-only, asbestos fashion line.
Cyberbullies Target GLBT Youth
A new study out of Iowa State University suggests that gay and lesbian teenagers are among the hardest hit by cyberbullying, a phenomenon unique to today’s youth. With the popularity of social networking, bullies have found new venues to harass and ostracize their peers, often without the threat of adult intervention.
The numbers aren’t terrifically encouraging. 54% of gay youth and friends of gay youth reported being cyberbullied within the thirty days prior to the researchers’ survey. The next highest group was females, at 21%.
Less encouraging still, victims of cyberbullying reported feeling helpless, with 55% saying that their parents couldn’t do anything to stop it, and 57% saying they don’t believe school officials could help either.
To help ameliorate the situation, I’ve decided to make an actual cybernetic bully, programmed to protect gay youth against its human counterparts. Any investors?
- Cyberbullying hits LGBT youth especially hard [CNET News]
Gay Youth At Greater Risk Of Bullying
Gay teens are nearly twice as likely to be bullied as straight ones, according to a new study conducted out of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
The study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, is based on a survey of 7,559 teens and young adults. While the number of out teens in the sample was relatively small, the results still re-confirm that GLBT youth are at a higher risk of being bullied, likely because bullies tend to target anyone perceived as being different.
Bullying is a huge problem—a problem with lasting, negative effects, and one that will not disappear on its own. Schools must train their staff to recognize and put a stop to it, or the problem will only continue.
High School Still Dangerous For Gay Teens
A professor researching harassment of gay teens is calling high school “the land that time forgot,” a place where aggressive anti-gay sentiment pervades student life.
Catherine Taylor, a professor of education and communications at the University of Winnipeg, regrets to have discovered that virtually all gay teens are verbally harassed, with a startling number even being physically abused. Worse, homophobia so ingrained in school culture that very few students step up to condemn the abuse.
This is the same study, incidentally, that was forbidden from being conducted inside several Catholic school boards in Canada. The study is currently in its second phase, and is seeking funding for its third and final phase to take place early next year.
- Gay teens ‘terrorized’ in Canada’s schools: prof [Ottawa Citizen]
Psychologist Assocation Re-Condemns “Ex-Gay” Therapy
The American Psychological Association has finished a two-year review of their 1997 policy denouncing reparative, conversion therapy for gays. The final verdict: “There is no evidence that sexual orientation change efforts work.”
This latest investigation, launched in 2007, reviewed over 80 studies on the subject of gay conversion therapies published between 1960 to present. The 183-page conclusion, which was released on Wednesday, states that “contrary to claims of sexual orientation change advocates and practitioners, there is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to change sexual orientation.”
The APA removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in 1973, and has warned that any attempt to change sexual orientation can be harmful to the healthy development of individuals. With this latest report, the APA also condemns non-professionals who portray homosexuality as a developmental disorder, saying that they should instead “increase family and school support and reduce rejection of sexual minority youth.”
While the report is all well and good, this exhaustive review really just reinforces what medical professionals have already known for years: gay conversion therapies don’t work because there’s nothing to cure. Whether you’re gay, lesbian, straight, or anything in-between, you’re every bit as worthy of love as anyone else!
A tip o’ the hat to the always indispensable Wayne Besen over at Truth Wins Out for the story!
Canada’s Pink, Frosted Glass Ceiling
A study on gay employees in Canada has shown that there are still barriers when it comes to advancing one’s career.
The Catalyst study, sponsored by the Bank of Nova Scotia, found that less than half of gay workers felt their coworkers were very comfortable with gay employees, and fewer than ten percent felt coworkers were informed about the issues gay employees face. The study also revealed a gender discrepancy when it comes to being closeted at work. While only about five percent of men are completely closeted at work, the figure is more than doubled for gay women at twelve percent.
Combined, these attitudes have resulted in gay people being passed over for promotions, and exclusion from business networks.
Of course, gay workers will always be welcome here at InterSlap Enterprises, Inc..
- On the job and in the closet [Globe and Mail]
Study: Family Reaction Key To Gay Health
Gay youth are at a greater risk of suicide, depression, and self-destructive behaviours if their family reacts negatively when they come out of the closet, a new study has revealed.
Researchers at San Francisco State University found that even marginally supportive behaviour from parents toward their gay children reduced cases of drug abuse threefold, severe depression sixfold, and suicide attempts eightfold.
Caitlin Ryan, the lead researcher of the study, said that while the results are intuitive, many parents still respond in very harmful ways. Parents may have severe, negative reactions to learning about their child’s sexual orientation—such as forcing teens out of their homes, or forbidding them from associating with gay friends—in the hopes that an expression of extreme disapproval will somehow turn their kids straight. Ryan suggested that, while most parents have the very best intentions, greater education is required, and doctors should help spread that message.
Sten Vermund, a pediatrician at Vanderbilt University, agreed, saying that while many parents may have difficulty offering the support their gay children need, it’s important to try:
Someone can still be uncomfortable with their child’s sexual orientation, but if they are somewhat more accepting and do the best the can, they will do the youth a lot of good. That, to me, is an important message.
A great message, indeed, and an excellent lesson with which to start off the new year. Hope you all had a fantastic holiday, kids!
Gays At Higher Risk Of Teen Pregnancy
Researchers at the University of British Columbia have found that gay, lesbian, and bisexual teens are at a significantly higher risk of becoming pregnant or causing pregnancy than their straight counterparts.
The study, which was published yesterday in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, suggests that the higher pregnancy rate among gay teens is largely due to overcompensation—an attempt to “camouflage” one’s homosexuality. Another proposed theory suggests that a higher number of gay teens living on the streets may also have contributed to the counter-intuitive results.
Either way, I have a new concern to lose sleep over. All those anti gay marriage people said I couldn’t reproduce—a horrible lie, apparently. I’m not ready to be pregnant, or a father!
- Gay teenagers at higher risk for pregnancy: Study [Canada.com]
- Gay B.C. teens at higher risk for pregnancy [CTV News]
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