Living In The Gaytrix
74% Of Gay And Bisexual Men Would Refuse A Straight Pill

Borrowing the concept from the science fiction film The Matrix, over 2,500 gay and bisexual men were given the choice: Take the blue pill, the story ends, and you wake up heterosexual. Or take the red pill and you remain in The Gaytrix. The statistics revealed that 3 in 4 of those surveyed would refuse to take a pill to change their sexuality.

Strange as it may seem, homosexuality was listed as a psychiatric disorder in the UK up until 1993. Whilst homosexuality has become more widely accepted, embraced and understood over the past 15 years, some people still promote the fallacy of a ‘cure’.

In a recent survey conducted by the free gay chat website ManCentral.com, members were asked if they would take a pill to change their sexual orientation. Lee Martin, a spokesman for the site, explained the reasons for conducting the sensitive research; “In recent years, there have been reports of members of the LGBT community seeking to ‘cure’ themselves through various religious and questionably medical means. Whilst we strongly believe that sexuality is innate, and therefore not something that can or should be ‘cured’, we felt the research would enable the LGBT community to recognise the importance of self-acceptance alongside wider social acceptance.”

Whilst 26% of those surveyed admitted that they would take a ‘straight pill’, if such a pill existed, almost three times as many men (74%) had no desire to alter their sexual preference and chose to reject any such ‘cure’.

Considering the improved attitudes towards homosexuality in today’s society, it may be assumed that younger males would be less inclined to covet heterosexuality than those who grew up in a less accepting social climates. However, males aged between 18 and 24 were the most likely to take a pill to change their orientation (37%), this gradually fell to just 13% of those aged 51 to 60.

Consequently, it seems that for the majority of gay and bisexual men, society bears little impact on the individual, whilst self-acceptance develops with age. On the other hand, younger males are more likely to feel anxious to conform to the norm, which may contribute to the higher percentage of 18-24 year olds willing to take a straight pill.

This theory is supported by the comments of several of those surveyed; one member said “I would not take a pill to change my sexuality now because I have the sense and maturity to realise that homosexuality is naturally occurring. But unfortunately when I was a young man, I am ashamed to say, I would have done anything to conform. That is because of peer pressure and religious pressure which led me to believe I was low-life because of my sexuality.” Similarly, another member (baybee_dee) argued, “I would not [take a pill] because me being straight would not be me at all, being gay is who I am and it’s taken me years to become comfort able with myself.”

The survey also found that:

• 16% of openly gay and bisexual men admitted they would take a pill to change the sexual preference, whilst more than double the amount (38%) of closeted men would accept the altering drug.

• Gay men were the most likely to refuse a ‘cure’ with 79% unwilling to change their sexuality; compared to 66% of bisexual men and 54% of bi-curious males.

Though 1 in 4 of the men surveyed would take a pill to become straight, the research highlights that the majority of gay, bisexual and bi-curious men have no desire to leave The Gaytrix.

Research:
ManCentral.com polled 2,552 members over a three day period. Detailed statistics & breakdowns available on request. Members who answered the surveys remained anonymous to ensure an honest and accurate response.

If You Prick Us, Do We Not Bleed?
3 out of 4 Gay and Bisexual Men Would Donate Blood If They Were ‘Allowed’

According to The National Blood Service, last year they received 2.1 million donations from about 1.6 million donors. Although that sounds a lot, it reflects only 4% of the population, giving two or three times a year.

The NHS needs a constant supply of 7,000 units of blood each day for hospitals across the UK, this equates to at least 2.5 million donations every year, leading to a deficit of 400,000 units of blood each year.

Members of the free gay chat website ManCentral.com were asked if they would donate blood if they were not restricted by the policies of the National Blood Service. An overwhelming 77% of respondents said they would donate blood if they were permitted to do so. Of the 23% who said no, various reasons were provided such as a fear of needles, previous blood transfusions or other family medical conditions such as CJD.

According to the National Blood Service any man who has had sex with another man is unable to give blood due to the risk of transmitting viruses such as HIV, HBV, HCV and syphilis during the 3 month 'window period' when tests can’t detect these viruses in the blood. However this ‘window period’ is the same for everyone regardless of gender and sexuality.

In 1999 heterosexual sex overtook homosexual sex as the most common route of transmission among new HIV cases overall; whilst in 2007, heterosexual transmission accounted for 55% of those diagnosed in the UK. Nevertheless in terms of transmission of the virus within the UK, men who have sex with men are still the group at highest risk of getting a new infection.

Interestingly, members of Man Central who admit to only sometimes practising safe sex were the least likely to agree to donate blood. This suggests that gay and bisexual men are intelligent enough to judge for themselves if they can safely donate blood.

Conservative estimates suggest that there are over 3 million Gay and Bisexual men within the UK. If the results from the research are taken as a reflection of the gay and bisexual population as a whole, gay and bisexual donors could potentially equate to 2.3 million donors compared to the 1.6 million donors of last year.

Whilst the need to protect public health by minimising the risk of transmission of HIV and other blood-borne viruses is undeniable, the life-long ban for gay and bisexual men is unnecessarily stringent and in turn detrimental to public health through the shortage of blood. As with promiscuous heterosexual donors, a 3 or even 6 month exclusion period could be applied to men who have had sex with men, after which time the threat of undetected viruses would be dramatically reduced if not removed.

Additional Statistics

• Those aged 31-35 are most likely to donate blood with 83% saying they would give blood if they could.

• Members looking for sex online were the most likely to avoid giving blood.

• 80% of Gay men said they would donate blood compared to 71% of Bisexual men.

• 78% of members who always practise safe sex would donate blood.

Research:
ManCentral.com polled 3,667 members over a three day period. Detailed statistics & breakdowns available on request. Members who answered the surveys remained anonymous to ensure an honest and accurate response.

For more information please visit:

http://www.blood.co.uk/can-i-give-blood/exclusion/

http://www.tht.org.uk/informationresources/policy/healthpolicy/blooddonations

http://www.tht.org.uk/informationresources/factsandstatistics/uk/heterosexual/

Students can now get a GCSE in Homophobia?

St Joseph’s Catholic School in Newport has come under fire for teaching pupils that homosexual acts are 'morally wrong' and that sex between two men or two women is purely self gratification.

The details of the school's curriculum were discovered by Cain Otley, who runs the Gay Business Network in South Wales. Students have been provided with learning material with the heading “What is the Catholic Church’s attitude to homosexuality?”

The notes provided by the school explain that sex is seen in the Bible as a way of a man and a woman to become ‘one flesh’ to be 'fruitful and multiply'. In contrast, ‘Homosexual sex can never be open to the potential of new life and so sex simply becomes a selfish way of gratifying a person.’

Otley was enraged to read claims that AIDS is seen by some Protestant groups as the ‘gay plague’ and as God’s punishment on gay people and their immoral lifestyle, which they argue, is against God’s law.

Otley explains, “I was completely shocked and disgusted at what I saw. The information contained in the booklet could incite homophobic bullying and homophobia in general.”

The school have defended the teaching material which was distributed to the students of St Joseph's Catholic School which they suggest was designed to help pupils understand what is required by the Welsh Joint Education Committee exam specifications.

A spokesman for St Joseph's said “The information is purely factual as these are the points that students need to know for the examination.”

“In a Roman Catholic school the church’s teaching on sexuality has to be presented clearly and in lessons this is done in a sensitive way […] In lessons they will have discussed these points and put forward opposing views and these will also be included in their examination answers where they are required to give all sides of the argument.”

In response to the notes which claim that AIDS is the 'gay plague', she argued that pupils are taught that whilst AIDS is sometimes seen as the 'gay plague' the Catholic Church teaches that no illness is God's punishment.