Tag Archives: sexuality

File this one under sorry not sorry: The Church of England will not be withdrawing guidance that said sex is only for “heterosexual married couples”. But the archbishops of Canterbury and York are “very sorry and recognise the division and hurt” last week’s statement caused. Justin Welby [photo] and John Sentamu say the statement “jeopardised trust”. It came ahead of …

The Guardian reports: The Church of England has stated that sex belongs only within heterosexual marriage, and that Christians in gay or straight civil partnerships should be sexually abstinent. Bishops have issued pastoral guidance in response to the recent introduction to mixed-sex civil partnerships, which says: “For Christians, marriage – that is, the lifelong union between a man and a …

The New York Times reports: How do genes influence our sexuality? The question has long been fraught with controversy. An ambitious new study — the largest ever to analyze the genetics of same-sex sexual behavior — found that genetics does play a role, responsible for perhaps a third of the influence on whether someone has same-sex sex. The influence comes …

Boing Boing reports: This cartoon from Bill Nye Saves the World uses various ice cream flavors as part of a hysterical analogy on the intolerant views of Christians when it comes to sexuality. It starts off with various flavors of ice cream showing up at an “Ice Cream Conversion Therapy” group. Vanilla is the dogmatic leader of the group. “It’s …

The BBC reports: A gay man in Belgium is trying to end his life because he cannot accept his sexuality. He told the Victoria Derbyshire programme he wanted to be granted euthanasia on the grounds of extreme psychological suffering. Sébastien has thought carefully about the moment he hopes his life will come to an end. “The moment when they put …

Tribune News Service reports: A growing number of Americans are having gay sex, or at least admitting to it. And that’s OK with more of us. “People over time are reporting more same-sex sexual experiences than ever before,” said Brooke Wells, a social psychologist at Widener University’s Center for Human Sexuality Studies. The behavioral trend, reflected in an annual survey …

John Kasich yesterday shrugged and said “probably” when a gay San Francisco man asked if he believes that people are born gay. CNN reports: Kelly Bryan, 62, asked Kasich the question at a forum hosted by the Commonwealth of California Club, telling the Ohio governor, “Gay people are human beings and not a lifestyle choice. Please respond without prayer being …

Via Science Daily: Around half of all heterosexual men and women potentially carry so-called homosexuality genes that are passed on from one generation to the next. This has helped homosexuality to be present among humans throughout history and in all cultures, even though homosexual men normally do not have many descendants who can directly inherit their genes. This idea is …

The Sexuality Information & Education Council applauds:  Earlier today, President Obama released his fiscal year 2017 budget, the final budget of his administration. The President’s Budget supports the sexual health of our nation’s youth by eradicating abstinence-only-until-marriage funding, increasing funds for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, maintaining funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Adolescent and …

Following up on last week’s British survey, YouGov has released a poll taken in the United States in which 31% of those 18-29 say they are not 100% heterosexual.  From the latest report: Younger Americans are noticeably less likely than their elders to put themselves in a firm category. While 80% of all Americans say that they are completely heterosexual …

“[G]ay activists are as responsible as anyone for the fact that a large swath of Americans who thought they were OK with gays are finding themselves surprised by their own reactions to what they’re starting to see [on television]. This is, after all, a civil rights movement that aggressively worked for many years to downplay the mechanics of gay sexual …

Dr. Marcie Bianco writes at Mic.com: Does getting high make you a little gay? If so, you may just be a “highsexual.” The term, ensconced in Urban Dictionary since 2009, made its way onto two Reddit forums in recent weeks as a way to describe the alleged phenomenon of participating in sex with someone of the same gender or having …

“A person with same-sex attraction is called to live celibately, like any unmarried heterosexual person. And though celibacy has its challenges (as does marriage) it can also be a very fulfilling way to live. Of this I am a witness. I am heterosexual, but I live celibately, not just because I am a priest, but because I am unmarried. And …

Via press release from the National Center for Lesbian Rights: Today, the District of Columbia Council unanimously approved a bill that will protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth from the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion therapy. When signed into law, Washington, D.C. will become the third jurisdiction—behind California and New Jersey—to pass legislation protecting LGBT youth from practices …

A dwindling number of Brits believe that homosexuality should be made illegal again. Attitudes to homosexuality are clearly becoming more liberal but there are still pockets of resistance. In total, 16% of Britons continue to believe that homosexuality should be outlawed. Men (19%) are more likely than women (13%) to advocate the banning of gay sex, and rejection of homosexuality …

Cardinal Timothy Dolan has been the target of withering criticism from Catholics after saying that he’ll stay on as the grand marshal of next year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade even though the entire celebration is totally going to be ruined by the inclusion of one LGBT group. Dolan responded to his naysayers this week in a lengthy letter published to …

Via Talking Points Memo: Six in 10 Republicans would be upset if they had a child who told them he or she was gay, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll. Twenty-three percent of Republicans surveyed said they’d be “very upset” and 37 percent would be “upset.” Just 38 percent said they’d either be “not very upset” or “not upset at …

A Los Angeles gay man has filed a lawsuit after discovering that his medical records list him as having the “chronic problem” of homosexuality. Matthew Moore, 46, who is openly gay, said he was shocked to see his sexual orientation still described as a chronic condition more than a year after he complained about the use of the archaic medical …

Discredited, debunked, and denounced researcher Mark Regnerus writes at Public Discourse: Churchgoers who oppose same-sex marriage sense that they are out of step with the rest of the nation about sex and relationships. (The numbers above reinforce that.) And Christians who favor legalizing same-sex marriage often remain embattled with those who oppose it, and yet sense that their own views …

As you surely know, anti-gay hate groups and Christian organizations have been doing cartwheels over the recently released CDC survey which reports that just over 2% of Americans collectively self-identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. (The survey questions did not touch upon gender identity.) The Washington Post today notes that activists are calling out the CDC. “The truth is, numbers …