Thursday, May 17, 2007

Gays, lesbians more likely to become teen parents, B.C. study says



A study called Not Yet Equal: The Health of Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Youth in B.C. has found some interesting, if counter-intuitive, outcomes in regards to the sexual health of young gays, lesbians and bisexuals in that province. According to the principal investigator of the study, Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc at U.B.C., non-heterosexual youth there are three times as likely to be involved in a pregnancy than their straight counterparts, raising some interesting questions about why people engage in the sexual behaviours they do. Dr. Saewyc speculates that these findings, although seemingly contradictory to sexual identity, also point to young people attempting to secure socially acceptable identities (i.e. motherhood and fatherhood are generally viewed more favourably in mainstream Canadian culture than being gay, lesbian or bisexual). This would certainly be an interesting area for further exploration, and may have important implications for sex ed strategies in teaching gay, lesbian and bi youth.

The study, done in collaboration with the McCleary Centre Society (a B.C. based organization that encourages participatory research with youth in regards to youth health), collected data from 74,000 teens between grades 7-12 in 1992, 1998 and again in 2003. Another concerning finding from this study that should be explored further includes the percentage of young lesbians who said they had encountered physical violence (45%, up from 27 in 1992). Good sexualities education would cover identity discussions, relationship behaviours and why we choose the sexual behaviours we engage in. Young women in particular tend to describe sex as "just happening" and often don't take any agency for their choices. This is a dangerous position to be in, because sex that "just happens" without planning and agency is often unprotected sex. Opening up these conversations is an important and necessary part of helping youth understand and engage with their sexualities.

You can download the Not Yet Equal: The Health of Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Youth report here

(Source: Globe and Mail, Wed May 16, 2007, pg A6)

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