What Would Ho-Moses Do?

New research conducted by ManCentral.com reveals that men of Islamic and Christian faith are most likely to struggle with their sexuality.

Despite wider acceptance and understanding of homosexuality in the UK over the past 50 years, ‘coming out’ still remains as one of the biggest hurdles that gay and bisexual men face. Whilst friends and family are commonly cited as the source of fear, recent statistics reveal that religious beliefs are proving problematic for many gay men.

More than 5,000 members of the free gay dating website ManCentral.com were asked what they felt was the most problematic for them when coming to terms with their sexual orientation. 12% of openly gay men cited religion as their biggest obstacle, whilst a further 15% of closet men struggled with their religious beliefs.

Of all the religious denominations, Islam and Christianity were found to be the most troublesome for gay an bisexual men. 39% of gay Muslim men said that their religion was their biggest worry, whilst 22% of gay Catholics agreed. Intriguingly, 75% of gay Hindus feared their family rather than their religion, however, this may be a result of the importance of family within Hinduism.

In general, 49% of respondents believed that their family was the biggest obstacle when coming to terms with their sexuality. This was strongly true for 61% of men aged 18-24 however this fell gradually to 30% of men aged 51-60. Arguably, with age men become independent of their families and in turn are less likely to fear the repercussions. Conversely, fear of religion remained relatively constant across the age groups ranging between seven and twelve percent.

Furthermore, 4% of Atheist members, and 9% of Agnostic members claimed that their religion was problematic when coming to terms with their sexuality. Sadly, it would seem that for a portion of the gay and bisexual community, the only resolution to their turmoil is to abandon religion altogether.

Research:
ManCentral.com polled 5,679 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.

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.