I'm not married and probably never will be, but the results of a new study are telling me I'm happier now than I was before 'gay marriage' was legal.
The American Journal of Public Health has published the results of a study that was conducted in the US state of Massachusetts — the study tracked a population of gay men in the 12 months before and the 12 months after the legalisation of same-sex marriage in that state.
The study was completed before the US Supreme Court decision that enshrined marriage equality in all states of that country. – glxy.eu
Reporter Gareth Johnson spoke with Dr Qazi Rahman, assistant professor in cognitive biology at London’s Queen Mary University and a global expert on sexuality. His hope was to understand what this study might be telling us about gay men and their health. Here are some of the questions Gareth asked Dr. Rahman with the answer to the last one shared. For all of the answers, head over to glxy.eu.
– In simple terms, why is this study good news?
– When we talk about health outcomes — what does this actually mean?
– What might be causing these higher rates of health issues for gay men and lesbians?
– So any sort of minority group could be experiencing mental health issues higher than the norm?
– How does this relate to the Massachusetts study? Why would legalising same sex marriage have a positive health impact in this context?
and
– What does this research mean for the way that policy makers approach the health of gay men and lesbians?
Dr Rahman: One thing that we do know is that public policy matters — and that the science on this matters — studying the science of intervention is important. It matters in the sense that you are potentially saving lives — particularly of those LGBT youth who may be thinking about suicide.
What’s really important from a scientific perspective is to measure things such as potential health benefits in a really concrete way so that policy makers can be informed about the potential costs and benefits of decisions.
From a clinical perspective we also need to think about the types of health interventions we are undertaking — tailoring psychotherapy educational initiatives in schools in a way that creates a socially supportive environment for LGBT youth and encourage resilience and coping mechanisms.
You can’t assume that everyone is the same — you have to accept and study diversity — then you can make an impact on wellbeing. – glxy.eu
I think this has great bearing on LGBT all over the world. if the government legally supports your happiness or your ability to be happy, you will be happier. This was a great question proposed to an Australian politician just this past week.
The Victorian Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie takes much of the spotlight on Monday night’s Q&A program, facing a video question from her brother about the impact of a plebiscite on his ‘emotional wellbeing’. ‘I think it will only be damaging if all of us, as Australians, choose to actually not respect each other’s views,’ she says, adding that she believes same-sex marriage to be a ‘conscience issue’ – theguardian.com
So Bridget, according to the study mentioned above, if you care about your brother's health and well being, work to pass marriage equality in Australia. And if you care to be a human, do it, too.
Do you agree with the studies?
Are you happier as an LGBTer because marriage equality exists?
Even if you're not married, is there greater happiness in your life?
Or are you more depressed now since the goal before was a boyfriend and now the bar has been raised to finding a husband?
Imagine how much happier we will be once we all can pee where and when we need to.
h/t:
