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- It is our hope that these photos shall inspire you!
Consider joining:Today's Health/Excercise Special Message:One in 10 sexually active teens has same-sex partnersMedline / October 28, 2010 / By Zach Gottlieb/ ReutersA new study suggests that nearly one in sexually active ten teens have same-sex partners -- almost twice as many as previous research found. According to a 2002 study of Massachusetts and Vermont teens, only 5 percent to 6 percent of teens had same-sex partners. In the new study, 9.3 percent of teens said they did.
"Clearly there's a high rate of same-sex partners among teens, and we need to recognize any vulnerabilities that may be associated with these behaviors," said Dr. Susan Blank, an assistant commissioner at the NYC Health Department. Blank, who was not involved with the study, was referring to a lower rate of condom use and unwanted sex among teens with same-sex partners seen in the study.
The new research, published in the journal Pediatrics, looked at more than 17,000 teens in New York City. It found that teens who had sex with only their own gender or with both genders were more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors, putting themselves at greater risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, half of the 18 million new cases of STDs that occur each year happen among people aged 15 to 24.
Such risky behaviors included not using a condom during sex and having forced sex. More than half of boys who engaged in bisexual behavior didn't use a condom, compared to a fifth of those who engaged exclusively in heterosexual behavior. The difference was not quite as large for girls who engaged in bisexual behavior and those who engaged exclusively in heterosexual behavior, but it was similar: About half of the former didn't use a condom, compared to 30 percent of the latter.
About a third of those teens who engaged in bisexual behavior had forced sex at some point in their lives, much higher than the 6 percent of those boys who engaged exclusively in heterosexual behavior and the 16 percent of the similar group of girls.
Elizabeth Saewyc, a researcher at the University of British Columbia, told Reuters Health that these teens may engage in riskier behavior because sex education programs don't always acknowledge gay, lesbian, and bisexual relationships.
"Some teens I've seen tell me that they completely check out of sex ed because they feel what they were learning didn't apply to them," said Saewyc, who was not involved in the new study.
She suggested that educators need to acknowledge gay, lesbian, and bisexual relationships more often in sex education curriculums so that teens are more likely to listen and will feel more comfortable discussing any issues.
Though the authors of the new study report that the rate of same-sex partners is higher than previous studies, Saewyc pointed that this rate is actually similar to what she has seen in her own work and other studies.
In the 2008 British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey, for teens who were sexually active, 8 percent of males and 10 percent of females reported having had a same-sex partner. In a study looking at the 2001 Minnesota Student Survey, 9.4 percent of teens reported having had partners of the same or both sexes.
Dr. Preeti Pathela, lead author of the new study, said the results may have been different this time around because some states do not measure same-sex encounters. Still, Pathela said, it's clear that some teens are more vulnerable to risky behavior and STDs than others. In discussing sexual relationships and potential risks, she said it is important that parents, educators, and researchers focus on behaviors and not just on sexual identity.
"How teens identify themselves doesn't always correlate with actual behaviors," said Pathela, a research scientist in the New York Department of Public Health and Mental Hygiene. "Behavior is a better measure of what's actually happening because teens are changing rapidly."
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Take Action:
- Boycott advertisers of Glenn Beck on Fox News as well as all of FOX NEWS! Glenn has lied about Health-care, called our President a racist, and is anti-gay rights.
- We demand immediate end of DADT. It is out-right discrimination.
- Boycott Bill O'Reilly and FOX News and their advertisers. Bill discussed a French commerical by McDonalds that was meant to show that McDonalds is Gay Friendly. Bill said what is next? Is McDonalds going to get be Al-Qaida friendly as well? Further, Bill said that McDonalds would never show a gay friendly commercial in the USA. Imagine, Bill is comparing Gays to Al-Qaida!
- Boycott Arizona the home of senile - Sen. John McCain: because of their Hateful anti-Immigration Law that encourages racial profiling and increases hatred towards minorities. A remedy: Demand Republicans to support Immigration Reform. Further, Their Senator McCain voted against ending DADT and blocked Immigration reform! We shall hold the voters of Arizona responsible!
- NEW: Boycott Target and Best Buy for donating money towards anti-gay political candidates/organizations.
- NEW: Boycott Gold's Gym for donating loads of money to anti-gay candidates.
This group is called "Peckers PICS." The English - slang definition of "pecker" is to pluck at the truth. Therefore, we peck at items such as Gay Men's Health, Male Fitness, Gay (LGBT) Politics & Issues. In this section you may peck at each photo in order to decide the winner of the "war of the fittest!" Whereas, you should select the guy that may inspire you to exercise and "get fit!" Warning: This may stoke you!
Remember your participation in discussion of health / news articles - appearing in this message is greatly appreciated.
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23Brighton, UK - Gay Pride; Aug 7, 2010
London Gay Pride, July 3, 2010
By Krissah Thompson / Washington Post Staff Writer / November 3, 2010The ouster of three judges in Iowa's normally low-key judicial elections marks another battle in the national fight over same-sex marriage and raises fresh concerns over the politicization of judicial elections.
Opponents of same-sex marriage had targeted the judges in an intense campaign to boot them off the state Supreme Court because of a unanimous ruling last year that legalized same-sex unions.
The successful campaign, which was funded to the tune of $700,000 by conservative groups both inside and outside the state, is reverberating across the country and echoes the conservative resurgence reflected in the midterm vote.
Tuesday's electorate was broadly opposed to same-sex marriage, with 54 percent of all voters against it, according to the national exit poll. In Iowa, the exit poll showed 57 percent against same-sex marriage and 38 percent in favor.
"It was a victory for freedom, a victory for liberty," said Bob Vander Plaats, the former Republican gubernatorial candidate and Sioux City businessman who started the push to oust the justices. "If we allow courts to make our law, to amend our law and amend our Constitution, you have tyranny. The people of Iowa were very upset that they never had their voice heard on this issue."
Under Iowa's electoral system, judges run unopposed but need to gain more yes votes than no votes to win another eight-year term. Each of the three judges received only about 46 percent support - making it the first time that Iowa Supreme Court justices had been rejected by voters, according to the Associated Press.
The outcome of the campaign has no direct effect on same-sex marriage law in the state, though social conservatives hope that the election of a Republican-dominated state legislature will bring a referendum on the ruling.
Supporters of gay rights in Iowa are anxious and saddened by the outcome, said Carolyn Jenison, executive director of One Iowa, which joined a coalition advocating for the retention of the judges. "What frustrates me the most as an Iowan is that out-of-state groups came in and flooded the TV and texts and robocalls and drowned out the voice of Iowans trying to counter them," she said.
Legal experts, who argue that it is wrong to punish judges for an unpopular legal decision, are also concerned. Adam Skaggs, counsel for the Democracy Program at New York University's Brennan Center for Justice, said most disturbing was the amount of money in the election that came in from out-of-state groups, including the National Organization for Marriage - which is based in New Jersey and declared marriage a "historic winner at the polls."
"Retention elections of this sort have not typically attracted this kind of money from out of state," Skaggs said. "There is the worry that the groups that were successful in this campaign will say this is a strategy we want to replicate in other states whenever judges make a decision we disagree with. Under our system we want judges deciding cases based on the law and the facts of a single case, not looking over their shoulders wondering if it going to unleash attack ads."
In response to the assertions about the role out-of-state money played in the campaign, Vander Plaats countered that though the money came from out of state, the move to fire the judges began in Iowa. The tough judicial campaign is simply a way of holding justices accountable, he said.
"They are saying we politicized the process. I believe they politicized the process when they usurped the will of the people," he said. "What we are doing is utilizing the process. It was an organic campaign."
In Iowa, judges are initially appointed by the governor from a pool of candidates rated on their merits by a committee. They are then reconfirmed by voters every few years - a provision included as a safety valve in case of gross misconduct.
The Iowa judges - Marsha K. Ternus, Michael J. Streit and David L. Baker - chose not to counter the campaign. After their defeat was announced, they released a joint statement thanking their supporters and saying: "We hope Iowans will continue to support Iowa's merit selection system for appointing judges. This system helps ensure that judges base their decisions on the law and the Constitution and nothing else."
URGENT: Boycott Gold's Gym, Target and Best Buy for donating money towards anti-gay political candidates/organizations and to Proposition 8 (California) to prevent gay marriage. I would not purchase "Blood Diamonds," nor should a person / organization be contributing funds to both Hitler / Nazi's and the Jews at the same time! Obviously giving money to the Jews and not Hitler/Nazi's was the right thing to do. Hence, these companies violated my trust and well-being. They gave money to my enemy who would terminate me from my job, deny me housing and send me to a Internment camp. Therefore, goodbye Gold's Gym, Target and Best Buy! The CEO's of these companies have been insensitive to our reaction and do not even comprehend their actions! What takes so long to "fire" these Neanderthals?
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