Mental Health for Gay and Bisexual Men | CDC

Contents:

• LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS
• WHAT’S WRONG WH CHOOSG TO BE GAY?WHAT’S WRONG WH CHOOSG TO BE GAY?
• HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO
• CAN SOMEONE BE HOMOSEXUAL AND NOT GAY?
• THE HEALTH RISKS OF GAY SEX

LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS

The majory of gay and bisexual men have and mata good mental health, even though rearch has shown that they are at greater risk for mental health problems.

However, ongog homophobia, stigma (negative and ually unfair beliefs), and discrimatn (unfairly treatg a person or group of people) n have negative effects on your health. Keepg your sexual orientatn hidn om others (beg “ the closet”) and fear of havg your sexual orientatn disclosed (beg “outed”) n add to the strs of beg gay or bisexual.

In general, rearch has shown that gay and bisexual men who are open about their sexual orientatn wh others have better health out than gay and bisexual men who do not. However, beg “out” some settgs and to people who react negatively n add to the strs experienced by gay and bisexual men, and n lead to poorer mental health and discrimatn. Mental health unselg and support groups that are sensive to the needs of gay and bisexual men n be pecially eful if you are g to terms wh your sexual orientatn or are experiencg prsn, anxiety, or other mental health problems.

WHAT’S WRONG WH CHOOSG TO BE GAY?WHAT’S WRONG WH CHOOSG TO BE GAY?

While many gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men may not seek re om a mental health provir bee of a fear of discrimatn or homophobia, is important to keep this as an optn and to fd a provir that is tstworthy and patible. In many untri where homosexualy has been crimalised, LGBT advocy has foced s attentns on the mand for same-sex marriage laws, legal adoptn, parenthood, and further down that road, rights to divorce and ctody.

The stggle for gay rights has also been ed to pkwash other hidn agendas, cludg jtifyg ary terventns and civilisg missns, mostly targetg the non-Wt.

This not only rerc racial and cultural stereotyp – Islam more generally is projected as primive and homophobic – but also the procs jtifi vlent ary terventn.

HERE'S WHAT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL WOULD DO AND WHAT WOULDN'T DO

In this view, human rights n be nsired to be a regulatory and ernance enavour that produc a “tolerable homosexual” rather than a project that mov the directn of lastg eedom or brgg about a radil transformatn of the sexual orr.

The term “homosexualy, ” while sometim nsired anachronistic the current era, is the most applible and easily translatable term to e when askg this qutn across societi and languag and has been ed other cross-natnal studi, cludg the World Valu Survey. Dpe major chang laws and norms surroundg the issue of same-sex marriage and the rights of LGBT people around the world, public opn on the acceptance of homosexualy society remas sharply divid by untry, regn and enomic velopment. Those Wtern Europe and the Ameris are generally more acceptg of homosexualy than are those Eastern Europe, Rsia, Ukrae, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Ai.

In many natns, there has been an creasg acceptance of homosexualy, cludg the Uned Stat, where 72% say should be accepted, pared wh jt 49% as recently as 2007. In many of the untri surveyed, there also are differenc on acceptance of homosexualy by age, tn, e and, some stanc, genr – and several s, the differenc are substantial. For example, some untri, those who are affiliated wh a relig group tend to be ls acceptg of homosexualy than those who are unaffiliated (a group sometim referred to as relig “non”).

CAN SOMEONE BE HOMOSEXUAL AND NOT GAY?

For example, Swen, the Netherlands and Germany, all of which have a per-pa gross domtic product over $50, 000, acceptance of homosexualy is among the hight measured across the 34 untri surveyed. By ntrast, Nigeria, Kenya and Ukrae, where per-pa GDP is unr $10, 000, ls than two--ten say that homosexualy should be accepted by society. The study is a follow-up to a 2013 report that found many of the same patterns as seen today, although there has been an crease acceptance of homosexualy across many of the untri surveyed both years.

Central and Eastern Europeans, however, are more divid on the subject, wh a median of 46% who say homosexualy should be accepted and 44% sayg should not be. But sub-Saharan Ai, the Middle East, Rsia and Ukrae, few say that society should accept homosexualy; only South Ai (54%) and Israel (47%) do more than a quarter hold this view.

However, while took nearly 15 years for acceptance to rise 13 pots om 2000 to jt before the feral legalizatn of gay marriage June 2015, there was a near equal rise acceptance jt the four years sce legalizatn. More than eight--ten Democrats and Democratic-leang pennts (85%) say homosexualy should be accepted, but only 58% of Republins and Republin leaners say the same.

THE HEALTH RISKS OF GAY SEX

In 22 of 34 untri surveyed, younger adults are signifintly more likely than their olr unterparts to say homosexualy should be accepted by society. This difference was most pronounced South Korea, where 79% of 18- to 29-year-olds say homosexualy should be accepted by society, pared wh only 23% of those 50 and olr. This staggerg 56-pot difference exceeds the next largt difference Japan by 20 pots, where 92% and 56% of those ag 18 to 29 and 50 and olr, rpectively, say homosexualy should be accepted by society.