Lesbians are apparently having better sex than straight women.
A recent study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine focuses on how sexual orientation associates with orgasm frequency in single men and women. Researchers collected responses via a 2011 online questionnaire from 6,151 men and women between the ages of 21 and 65. They then only analyzed those response of a smaller subsample of 2,850 singles — including 1,497 men and 1,353 women — who had sex within the past 12 months.
Participants were asked to identify their gender, sexual orientation and percentage of time they orgasm with a familiar partner on a scale of zero to 100.
Although responses from the male participants did not vary much based on sexual orientation — heterosexual men reported an 85.5 percent orgasm rate, gay men 84.7 percent, and bisexual men 77.6 percent — responses from women showed notable variation. While heterosexual women reported orgasming 61.6 percent of the time and bisexual women reported 58 percent, lesbian women had the highest orgasm rate at 74.7 percent.
In the study text, the researchers posit the higher lesbian percentage could be attributed to factors such as “self-identified lesbian women are more comfortable and familiar with the female body and thus, on average, are better able to induce orgasm in their female partners.” Other reasonings include: length of the sexual encounter, attitude towards gender, sexual roles during intercourse and possible hormonal differences.
Author Justin R. Garcia, MS, PhD, who is an assistant professor of gender studies and a director at the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, explained the implications of the findings further in an email to The Huffington Post.
“Little is known about orgasm occurrences among women and men of varied sexual orientations across the adult lifespan,” he said. “Understanding the factors that influence variation in orgasm occurrence among sexual minority populations may assist in tailoring behavioral therapies for those of different sexual orientations.”
Such a study could offer better insight into better orgasms for all couples, he said.
“Moreover, to the extent that lack of orgasm is seen as a common and unwanted problem, learning more about orgasm in same-sex relationships may inform treatment for men and women in both same-sex and mixed-sex relationships. Consequently, these findings may contribute to promotion of a more informed and positive sexual health care.”
For most guys and girls, gender isn’t something that really gets questioned. Most guys feel perfectly normal being male, and most girls feel very natural being female. However, this isn’t true for everyone. Some people who are born male feel as though they should have been born female, and vice versa. These people are known as being “transgender” and it’s a serious wellness issue. Feeling like you’re living in the wrong body isn’t just a matter of sexual health, but really your mental and emotional wellbeing, as well as your relationships.
What society thinks of as being intrinsically male or female will play a role in how you feel about yourself. These expectations can include things like hairstyles, clothing, and jobs — and how people should act or behave. These aren’t often spoken rules but rather cultural norms which cause you to grow up believing men should act a certain way and women should act a certain way, and you don’t really give this much thought. These assumptions, however, don’t fit with your gender identity if you’re transgendered. Somehow, you know you feel “different” from the time you’re young, from puberty or even later in life. This mismatch may make you feel confused and emotionally conflicted.
As a result of this conflict, you may decide to physically change your body to match your gender identity. This can be done through surgery or taking hormones, but either route you take can be a long, complicated, and expensive process. For this reason, and others, some transgender people decide to keep things as they are, but dress as the opposite gender instead. Then there are those who decide to use a different name and pronouns that go with that name. If your birth name is Anthony, for example, you might ask people to call you Amanda and refer to you as a “she”. You might find you aren’t completely sure what you want to do yet. If you do decide to start living like someone of the opposite gender, it’s likely for certain issues to arise. Filling out forms that ask for your gender and choosing which public toilets to use can suddenly become very complicated decisions to make.
One thing to bear in mind is that being transgender is not the same thing as being gay. Rather, being transgender is about your gender identity, or the way you see yourself and the gender you most closely identify with. Being gay or lesbian, on the other hand, is about your sexual orientation, or the gender you are attracted to. Many gay and lesbian people are completely comfortable with their gender; they are simply a man who is attracted to other men, or a woman who is attracted to other women. However, because sexual orientation is a different thing from gender identity, a transgender person can be straight, gay, or bisexual — just like other people can.
Another important distinction to make is that dressing in clothes typically worn by the opposite sex does not automatically mean you are a transgender person. People who dress in clothes that are usually associated with a different gender are sometimes called cross-dressers or transvestites, and these people can make these clothing choices for a variety of reasons. Yes, this may be because of their gender identity, but people who dress as the opposite sex can also be making a clothing choice for fun, comfort, or as a way to express their personal style — not because they see themselves as the other gender. To find out more, look online for more information, as well as support groups for people going through the same things you are.
An informal “don’t ask don’t tell” policy in doctors’ offices is preventing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender patients from getting optimal health care, according to a report released today called “Becoming Visible.”
Yet, most don’t ask about sexual orientation or gender identity. At the same time, many LGBT patients believe that medical providers may be biased against them and don’t speak up. The lack of frank discussions between providers and patients can undermine care.
Dr. Mark Thrun of Denver Health: ““We doctors are afraid to offend our patients. So nobody talks about sexual health.”
Experts say it’s up to doctors to break the silence.
“Providers need to recognize that they hold the power in these relationships. The onus is on the medical community,” said Dr. Mark Thrun, director of HIV and STD prevention and control at Denver Health and a board member for One Colorado. Thrun, who is gay, helped conduct the research for Becoming Visible, which included extensive surveys with about 400 doctors.
“We doctors are afraid to offend our patients,” Thrun said, “so nobody talks about sexual health.”
In the clinic where Thrun treats people for STDs, he said he asks all his patients about their sexual orientation and gender identity, but that’s not standard among doctors, especially among older providers.
And Thrun said studies show doctors are the least comfortable among medical providers in talking about sexual health. Nurses, social workers and nurse practitioners seem to be more at ease asking relevant questions.
Ashley Wheeland, health policy director for One Colorado, said the report helps triangulate the gap between patient views and physician perspectives.
The new report “Becoming Visible” finds that doctors aren’t always comfortable asking patients about their sexual preference or gender identity. Without this information, doctors can’t give optimal care. (Photo by Mark Manger. Courtesy One Colorado.)
“There is a disconnect in how LGBT feel in our health system and how physicians feel they’re treating LGBT people,” Wheeland said.
Doctors now overwhelmingly recognize that sexual orientation and gender identity are vital to health and that’s a huge change from just 10 years ago, said Wheeland.
Better training for doctors and simple practices to make LGBT patients feel more comfortable can make a big difference in overall health, she said.
A previous One Colorado report called Invisible http://www.one-colorado.org/news/lgbt-health-report/ surveyed about 1,300 LGBT people in Colorado and found that patients are more likely to get an array of helpful preventive services from flu shots to dental care and annual checkups if they have a good trusting relationship with their providers and believe that they are receptive to working with LGBT patients.
LGBT patients are also at higher risk for some health problems including HIV, heart disease, breast cancer and depression, so knowing their sexual history is vital.
“If I don’t know that my patient is LGBT, I may not be asking the next questions that might drive screening tests or future referrals,” Thrun said.
“And as a doctor, I need to know who my patients are, who is going to twist their arm to get them to take their meds, who takes care of them at home, who helps them stay healthy. Whether straight or gay, I need to know who your support systems are,” he said.
The major findings and recommendations from the report include:
Physicians report high levels of comfort in serving lesbian gay and bisexual patients. Fewer providers are comfortable serving transgender patients, who are the most stigmatized among LGBT patients.
Physicians care about how they are serving the LGBT community and recognize that sexual orientation and gender identity are vital factors in overall health.
Physicians and other providers should ask patients about sexual history and preferences.
Subtle signs of support for LGBT people — like rainbow or equality symbols — can let patients know they are welcome. The survey results show few providers have policies in place to show that they are LGBT-friendly even though simple changes to forms or visual cues could go a long way in helping LGBT patients feel more at ease.
Colorado physicians are more comfortable when patients disclose sexual orientation or gender identity and are less comfortable asking patients directly.
Physicians generally believe they are already treating their LGBT patients equally, but not all LGBT patients are getting the care they need.
Primary care physicians were more likely than specialists to acknowledge the role that sexual orientation and gender identity may play in overall health.
Younger physicians and those in urban areas offer more LGBT-friendly policies than those in rural areas.
Along with the report, One Colorado and the report partners also created a continuing education program for physicians on how they can better care for LGBT patients. (Click here for more information.)
In the UK, gay marriage has now become legal, meaning that the topic of sexual orientation has become more prominent than ever before. But what does it mean to be gay, bisexual or transgender? Do LGBT teens face greater risks to their sexual health, and overall wellbeing? Let’s take a look at how sexual orientation affects wellness.
As a teenager, puberty causes hormonal and physical changes which, in turn, lead to an awakening of your sexual feelings. It’s perfectly normal to wonder and even worry about these new feelings, and many people find it takes a long time to understand who they are and who they’re becoming. Part of this involves understanding your own sexual feelings and who you are attracted to. This is known as your sexual orientation, or your emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction to other people. Sexual orientations include – but are not limited to – heterosexuality (being attracted to people of the opposite sex to you), homosexuality (being attracted to people of the same sex to you) bisexuality (being attracted to people of both sexes) and asexuality (not feeling any sexual attraction to others, but still feeling emotionally close to other people).
Discovering your sexual feelings is daunting for any teenager, but this can be particularly intense if you begin to have romantic or sexual thoughts about someone who is the same sex as you. This does not necessarily mean that you are gay. Adolescence is a time for discovering who you are and, as such, it’s common to have feelings about people of both genders – it’s your body’s way of sorting through emerging sexual feelings, kind of in the same way you might try on an outfit, but decide it’s not for you. Even if you go beyond thinking about it, and start to experiment with sexual experiences with people of your own sex or of the opposite sex, this does not necessarily mean that you are gay or straight.
You may have seen the term LGBT or LGBTQ used to describe sexual orientation. This abbreviation stands for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning”. However, transgender isn’t really a matter of orientation, but of gender identity. If you’re transgender, you may have been born as one gender, but feel you should have been the other one. If you’re a man, you feel like you’re a female and vice versa. The reason why transgender people are included in the LGBTQ acronym is because they are people who don’t feel they fit into the category of being “straight.” There’s nothing wrong about being LGBTQ. Still, not everyone believes that. These kinds of beliefs can make things difficult for LGBTQ teens in particular.
Even though a change seems to be coming for LGBTQ individuals, it can still feel like the “norm” is to be straight, which can make you feel different from your heterosexual friends. As recently as 2012, a survey by the Human Rights Campaign found that 92% of LGBT teens had heard negative things about being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. You may feel like that you need to deny this part of yourself, or hide it away for fear of prejudice, rejection, or bullying – even from friends and family who might support you. Telling your close family and friends about your orientation is known as “coming out”. Many teens find they have good support systems during this time, and are perfectly comfortable being open about their orientation. However, there are still many teens don’t have adults they can talk to about sexual orientation, and these young people are at a greater risk for emotional problems like anxiety and depression.
Men who have sex with other men don’t often reveal their sexual practices or sexual orientation to their GP. But this lack of disclosure could lead to a number of health problems being overlooked, either through a lack of information or an inadequately trained physician. Because of the greater societal pressure and lack of emotional support leading to the practice of unsafe sex could puts the risk of sexually transmitted diseases higher. This is especially the case when combined with drug abuse, psychological issues and behavioural disorders. Recent trends show that an increasing rate of sexual risk takers among these men, especially among young men. Periodic screening is thought to be more successful the earlier it is started, to assess the health risks and current health state, as well as giving GPs a better understanding of their patients’ medical past for any future appointments. The physician should offer advice and question their sexual orientation in a non-judgemental and confidential manner, to ensure that their patient feels comfortable in talking about their sexual practices.
Targeted screening for depression, sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse, and a host of other disorders, should be performed routinely. The guidelines for these screenings do offer some suggestions for the care of men who have sex with other men, though they are inconsistent and subject to change. Men who have sex with men may identify themselves as heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual. Whatever label is used, it’s important to remember that these men are at an increased risk of HIV, anal cancer, and psychological or behavioural disorders. As such, their health care needs to be assessed differently regardless of how they classify their sexual orientation. The rate of men who had sex with men in the previous year was believed to be 1.7 to 2 per cent. However, surveys from 1996 to 200 show that this rate is at least 3.1 to 3.7 per cent. Previous estimates were, as a result, far too low and this could result in many men not being asked the right questions by their physician, leading to greater health risks.
This is something GPs need to consider when speaking to their male patients. Recent trends show that there has been a resurgence in the risky sexual practices that put men at risk of STDs and HIV infections. For example, the prevalence of men taking part in unprotected anal intercourse increased from 37 per cent to 50 per cent from 1993-94 to 1996-97. Particularly in the case of younger men, the disease risk isn’t assessed a lot of the time because if the numerous impediments to adequate care under the current healthcare system. Family GPs need to find an effective system in order to identify and assess the risk in men who have sex with men, so that the right screening can take place. Although men who have sex with men can be at a higher risk than other for preventable diseases and health problems, they don’t receive the appropriate preventative services. There are a number of hindrances for these screening guidelines, such as some physicians feeling uncomfortable discussing the concept of men having sex with men, or not understanding the issues these men face. As such, their patients will not feel comfortable in discussing these issues openly and that could put their health at risk. In creating a more in-depth and effective screening process, men who have sex with men won’t need to miss out on the health care services they require.
