" [I am] tired of the old chestnut that our movement for public acceptance has not increased and will not increase the number of gay men and lesbians in existence. ' There are more of us than there used to be...'phobes' like Pat Robertson are right when they say that we threaten the family, male domination and the Calvinist ethic of work... that has paralyzed most Americans' search for pleasure.'" Source: Donna Minkowitz, " Recruit, Recruit, Recruit," The Advocate, December 29, 1992.
Only 20% of lesbians had relationships that involved cohabitation for more than 3 years. Also, this study found that only 23% of lesbians reported positive relationships with their mothers as compared with 85% of heterosexual women and 70% of lesbians were "tomboys" as children. Source: M. T. Saghir and E. Robins, " Male and female Homosexuality; A Comprehensive Investigation," ( Baltimore: Williams Wilkins, 1973), p.57, table 4:14.p. 226, table 12.11.
Exclusively heterosexual women can, in mid-life, develop lesbian feelings and behavior. This is a well known clinical feature of lesbianism. It often occurs during marriage or after marriage break-up, with no clinically observable hint of prior existence - not even lesbian fantasies. The study also went on to report that most lesbian relationships last less than 3 years. Affairs of 5 years or more are exceptional. Source: West, D.J., Homosexuality Reexamined (Duckworth, London, 1977).
78% of lesbians value highly "Dildos" and regularly engage in stimulation inside the vagina by manual or oral means. Source: K. Jay and A. Young, The Gay Report, ( New York, Summit 1979 ), p. 544, 388, 414.
" We finally realize that recruitment is the only answer...lesbian goals must be to recruit more lesbians." Source: Lesbian activist Kathy McDevitt, in an appearance before the Davis City, California City Council in 1980. Davis Enterprise, October 2, 1980.
" Being a housewife is an illegitimate profession...the choice to serve and be protected and plan towards being a family-maker is a choice that should not be. The heart of radical feminism is to change that." Source: Vivian Gornick, feminist author, University of Illinois, The Daily Illini, April 25, 1981.
A study drew a link between sexual abuse and later lesbianism, but also said that most lesbians learned to masturbate by being masturbated by a female. It appears that these women as growing girls had retreated from distressing male sexual contact at the same time as they experienced female sexual contact. Source: Van Wyk,P.H., Geist, C.S., " Psychosocial development of heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual behavior," Archives of Sexual Behavior (1984); vol.13, pp. 505-544.
A survey of 50 women who became bisexual after the age of 30 found that they were exclusively heterosexual before, having had no earlier significant sexual fantasy about females, and quite heterosexually satisfied. They continued to enjoy promiscuous sexual relationships with both sexes. Source: Dixon, J.K., " Sexuality and relationship changes in married females following the commencement of bisexual activity," Journal of Homosexuality (1985); Vol. 11, pp. 115-133.
Lesbians are 19 times more likely than heterosexual women to have syphilis, twice as likely to suffer from genital warts and 4 times as likely to ave scabies. Source: P. Cameron, K. Proctor, and W. Coburn, " Sexual Orientation and Sexually transmitted Disease," Nebraska Medical Journal, Vol. 70 No. 8, August 1985, pp. 292-299.
In still another study, lesbianism seemed to be associated with poor vaginal function, in which the girls doubted their femininity. Source: Mulaikal, R.M., Migoen, C.J., Rock, J.A., " Fertility rates in female patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency," The New England Journal of Medicine (1987), Vol. 316; pp. 178-182.
A 1970 Kinsey Institute survey of females shows that about 45% of lesbians have been married. Source: Klassen, A.D., Williams, C.J., Levitt, E.E., Sex and Morality in the U.S. (Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1989).
" While incest is generally viewed as dysfunctional for the family - and this is true of heterosexual incest - I will argue that at origin, homosexual incest plays a functional role in the development of the family." Source: Lesbian activist and first female president of the Gay and Lesbian Press Association (GLPA), Susan Cavin, Lesbian Origins, p. 57, 1989.
An anti-male attitude is common among lesbians. Lesbian Geri Cox said this about men " The older I get...the angrier I get. Especially with men. I've gotten to the point where I hate men." Source: Martha Barron Barrett, Invisible Lives ( NY: William Morrow Co,, 1989 ), p. 248.
In 1990, V.E. Coleman surveyed 90 lesbian couples and found that 46% experienced repeated acts of violence in their relationships.
Another study of lesbians found a "relatively high prevalence of the viral STDs, herpes simplex and human papillomavirus (HPV). Source: A. Edwards and R.N. Thin, "Sexually transmitted diseases in lesbians," Internal Journal of STD/AIDS, May 1990, from the abstact, p. 178.
" 'Any women can be a lesbian,' says the song,' Feminism is the theory, lesbianism is the practice,' goes the slogan. And to many women, the 'women's community' is a lesbian community." Source: Beth Elliot, " Bisexuality, the best thing that ever happened to lesbian-feminism?," in Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out. Loraine Hutchins and Kaahumanu (eds.), p. 324, 1991.
Lesbian activist and author Lillian Faderman wrote: " because a general disenchantment with and suspicion of all males was central to lesbian - feminist doctrine, the gay man was naturally seen as being no less an enemy than any other human with a penis, and lesbian-feminists could make no lasting coalition with gay men in a gay revolution." Source: Lillian Faderman, Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers ( NY: Columbia University Press, 1991 ), p. 212.
A 1985 study of 1109 lesbians by Gwai-Yong Lie and Sabrina Gentlewarrier reported that slightly more than half of the respondents indicated that they had been abused by a female partner. Source: Gwat-Yong Lie & Gentlewarrier, "Intimate violence in lesbian relationships: Discussion of survey findings and practice implications," (1991) 15 Journal of Social Service Research 46, The Haworth Press.
A lesbian is 3 times more likely to get breast cancer than a heterosexual woman. Source: Associated Press, " One in Three Lesbians Face Breast Cancer," Desert Sun, 5 February 1993, p. 1.
A national study of 1,924 female homosexuals conducted in 1984 found that 83% regularly used alcohol (25% more than once a week and 6% every day), 47% smoked marijuana, and 30% regularly smoked tobacco. Source: C. Ryan and J. Bradford, " The National Lesbian Health Care Survey: An Overview," in Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Male Experiences, ed. L. D. Garnets and D. C. Kimmel ( New York: Columbia University Press, 1993 ), p.551.
Ex-Gay groups report high levels of male sexual abuse (up to 85%) in lesbians who come to them for help. Source: Davies, B., Rentzel, L., Coming Out of Homosexuality ( Downers Grove, Il: InterVarsity Press, 1993).
In a obituary study released in 1994, 140 lesbians in the sample died at a median age of 45. 23% of the lesbians lived past the age of 64, as opposed to 83% of women in the general population. Overall, 20% of lesbians died a violent death - 512 times the rate of white females aged 25-44. Also 7.1% of lesbians died of AIDS - 41,00 times more than heterosexual females 24-44. Source: Paul Cameron, Phd., " The Gay Nineties," ( Franklin, Tennessee, Adroit Press 1993 ), pp. 54-56.
Dr. Suzanne Haynes of the National Cancer institute estimated that lesbians have a 33% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer, that is 3 to 4 times higher than the average female population. Source: Jancin, B. ( 1994, February 15 ), " Lesbians nay be at higher risk for breast cancer," OB/GYN News, p. 4.
Another study of 113 lesbians reported that 41% said they had been abused in one or more relationships. Source: Ristock, J., "And Justice for All?...The Social Context of Legal Responses to Abuse in Lesbian relationships," (1994) 7 Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 420.
The National Lesbian Health Care Survey revealed that lesbian women reported that over 50% of the nearly 2,000 lesbians surveyed had considered suicide and 18% had attempted it. Source: Bradford, J., Ryan, C, & Rothblum ED, (1994), " National Lesbian Health Care Survey: Implications for mental health care," Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62 (2), pp. 228-242.
In one study, 15% of lesbians engaged in torture for sexual fun (sadomasochism) that included "piercing, cutting or whipping to the point of bleeding" with their lovers. Source: Lemp et al, "HIV seroprevalence and risk behavior among lesbians," American Journal of Public Health, 1995; vol. 85: pp1549-1552.
One study of lesbians and STDs found the prevalence of herpes simplex type-2 was 13%. Source: Marrazzo Jm, Stine K, Handsfield HH, Koutsky LA, " Epidemiology of STD and cervical neoplasia among lesbian and bisexual women." Abstracts of the National Lesbian and Gay Health Association conference, Seattle, WA, July, 1996.
Another study found bacterial vaginosis occurring in 33% of lesbians but only 13% of heterosexual women, and found that: "Cervical cytology abnormalities were uncommon but only found in the lesbians ( those abnormalities may be precursors to cervical cancers). Source: C.J. Skinner and others, "A case-controlled study of sexual health needs of lesbians," Genitourin Medical, August 1996, from the abstract, p. 227.
Studies show that some lesbians and bisexual women have high rates of risky behaviors, such as drug use and exchanging sex for drugs or money. Bisexual women reported higher rates of HIV infection than either exclusively homosexual or exclusively heterosexual women. These HIV-infected bisexual women also had high rates of injection drug use. Source: Eng, TR, & Butler, WT (eds.), 1997, The Hidden Epidemic: Confronting Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Washington, DC, National Academy Press.
Sharing sex toys/devices, engaging in oral-genital or oral-anal contact and being exposed to menstrual or body fluid are high risk behaviors for transmitting pathogens between lesbians. Source: Rankow, EJ, (1997), Primary medical care of the gay and lesbian patient, North Carolina Medical Journal, 58 (2), pp. 92-96.
In 1997, lesbian editorialist and activist Lillian Faderman profiled 5 lesbian leaders who had recently abandoned homosexuality when they fell in love with a man.
Such discrimination from the outside, along with the destructive force of the AIDS epidemic, has tended to obscure the internal problem that plagues the gay community: domestic violence. In fact, several recent studies suggest that same-sex domestic violence may be occurring at a similar rate - approximately one-third of all relationships - as heterosexual domestic violence. A six-city survey conducted by gay activists last year turned up 1,566 reported incidents of gay domestic violence, several hundred more than reported incidents of anti-gay harassment and violence. People are really surprised, especially around lesbian battering. The notion among feminists, lesbians - among women in general - is that this ia a male problem. It's part of an older lesbian-feminist paradigm which says most of the problems in the world come from men and if we could isolate ourselves from them, then things would be kind of idyllic. It's not true. But people in lesbian communities don't want to talk about that publicly. It's like airing dirty laundry. Source: Ros Davidson, " Gay-on-Gay Violence: The gay community's dirty secret - domestic violence - is finally coming out of the closet," Salon Magazine, February 27, 1997.
On April 18, 1997 at a " Youth Pride Day " event at Dupont Circle in Washington D.C., the Lesbian Avengers handed out a brochure to teenage children called "Oral Sex with a Women" written by the Whitman-Walker Clinic Inc. for lesbian sex. The material includes instructions pertaining to homosexual sex activities like "rimming" (insert the tongue into the anus) with lesbians and promotes drug use for enhance sexual pleasure.
Another study of 1,086 lesbian and bisexual women found 21% of lesbians reported having high-risk sexual contact, including sex with homosexual men, and 49% of bisexual women interviewed reported having high-risk sexual contact. In addition, 9% of lesbian/bisexual women reported a history of intravenous drug abuse. Source: " Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Have Unique HIV-Prevention Needs," SEICUS Shop Talk Bulletin, August 1, 1997.
A National Gay and Lesbian Newsmagazine, The Advocate, had a cover article highlighting that " 104,000 lesbians are living with it (breast cancer). This year another 7,028 will get it." Source: The Advocate, " Breast Cancer," ( 1997, September, 30 ).
"I have always been open with my daughter about my lesbianism...I am proud to be the lesbian mother of a lesbian daughter! ...at age 12 she developed a crush towards one of my friends...As teens, some lesbians had their own loving sexual encounters with adult women...To me the ones being controlling and manipulative are those who tell the teens they must not have sex with adult women. Now that is control! " Source: Monica, Oklahoma City, OK, Lesbian Connection, November-December 1997.
An another study by a homosexual "gay gene" scientist, Dr. Dean Hamer, researched women and found that sisters of lesbians had about a 6% chance of being a lesbian, but that daughters of lesbians had a 33% chance of being a lesbian. This "whopping" jump in the percentage of lesbians among daughters of lesbian mothers, said Hamer, " could only mean one thing. being a lesbian... was 'culturally transmitted, not inherited." Source: The Washington Blade (gay paper), January 30, 1998.
In February of 1998, right before Valentine's Day, gay activists across the state of California celebrated "Freedom to Marry Day." In Sacramento, the state's capitol, lesbian activist and the Speaker Pro Tempore for the California General Assembly, Sheila James Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) characterized anyone who opposes same-sex marriage as being "hysterical." Source: "National Freedom to Marry Day," News Conference, hosted by LIFE: California's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and HIV/AIDS Lobby, Sacramento, CA., February 12, 1998.
In one study in 1998, it was found that 30% of the recruited sample of lesbians had evidence of genital Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection, including 19% of exclusively lesbians. Certain strains of HPV are known to be cervical cancer-causing agents. 90% of all cervical cancer is caused by genital HPV infection. Source: Marrazzo,JM, Koutsky, LA, Stine, KL, Kuypers, JM, Grubert, TA, Galloway, DA, Kiviat, NB, & Handsfield, HH, (1998), " Genital HPV Infection in Women who have Sex with Women," Journal Of Infectious Diseases 178 (6), pp. 1604-1609.
"Many lesbians don't get tested for HIV because lesbians as a group are perceived to be at low risk. This reliance on categories rather than the real world of risky behaviors has created denial, say advocates. Many small-scale studies show that lesbians or bisexual women who use IV drugs or have sex with gay or bisexual men are at a particularly high risk for HIV. There are also women who don't identify as lesbian but have sex with other women and women who use donor insemination. A recent study by Emory University researches shows that HIV-positive women have actively reproducing HIV in their vaginal secretions that may be different HIV strains from those circulating in their blood. The data underscores the risk of HIV to lesbians and bisexual women. Other studies suggest that lesbians are at risk for STDs that may increase the risk of HIV transmission." Source: HIV Plus, " Lesbians Take Note," September 1998, vol.1: p. 23.
A report by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs indicates that of 3,327 domestic violence cases self-reported among homosexuals in 12 U.S. cities in 1997, about half involved lesbian, bisexual and transgender women. " The fact is, gay men and lesbians are more likely to be injured by an intimate partner than a stranger," said Susan Holt, program coordinator for domestic violence services at the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center. Holt said that studies suggest that between 25% to 33% of all gay male and lesbian relationships involve abuse. Source: Rhonda Smith, " Lesbians affected by domestic violence, reports says," The Washington Blade, 16 October 1998.
At a private girl's school in Baltimore, Maryland, the headmistress said the following at a all day teachers conference. " On health issues, we want a student to talk to a lesbian... Lesbian issues are integrated into our morals class. Source: Ms. Jeane Brune, Headmistress of Roland Park County School for Girls, AIMS 1998 Fall Conference, November 9, 1998.
Another study of lesbians reveals that: "Genital HPV infection and squamous intraepithelial lesions are common among women who are sexually active with women." Source: J.M. Marrazzo and others, "Genital human papillomavirus infection in women who have sex with women," Journal of Infectious Diseases, December 1998, from the abstract, p. 1604.
Most lesbians have prior, periodic or current heterosexual contact. STD rates for active bisexual women are often twice that of those who engage in exclusively lesbian activity. Source: Doll, LS, & Ostrow, DG, (1999), Homosexual and bisexual behavior, In KK Holmes, PA Mardh, PF Sparling, SM Lemon, WE Stamm, P Piot, & JN Wasserhelt (Eds), Sexually Transmitted Diseases (3rd ed.), pp. 151-162.
While exclusively being a lesbian has little threat of getting AIDS, lesbians have their own set of problems. Domestic violence among lesbian partners is so high that workshops on the subject are popping up around the country. Source: The National Women's Alliance, " From Silence to Voice: A Conference on Partner Violence in Lesbian relationships," C. Nicole Mason, reported by Winnie McCory, Baltimore Gay Paper, 16 April 1999, p. A2, and " Lesbians Right Summit," National Origination for Women (NOW), Jan Collins, Denise Joson, C. Nicole Mason, Chris Mason, and Lois McKieth, "Partner Violence in Lesbian Relationships," 3:30 - 5:00 pm., 23 April 1999.
"Only 2% of heterosexual women had been in treatment for alcohol or 12-step programs, compared with 17% of lesbians - a large difference. This may be the result of prior heavy drinking among lesbians. Or it may be that lesbians are more aware of substance abuse issues than are heterosexual women. One of the questions in the survey is ' Have you ever wondered if you had a drinking problem?,' to which 47% of lesbians answered yes compared with only 14% of the heterosexual women." Source: Esther Rothblum, " Dyke Psyche - Do Lesbians Drink More Alcohol Than Heterosexual Women? ", Baltimore Gay Paper, September 16, 1999: vol.20, no.24, p. A13.
Cathy Renna, director of community relations for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and lesbian activist, told attendees at a workshop on "Responding to the Religious Right" how to approach journalist writing stories on gay issues. " One of the most important things you can do is have those tough conversations with journalists about when it is completely inappropriate to run to some radical group like the Family Research Council because of misguided notions of 'balance'. We have to offer them some more moderate voices, or convince them that there is no other side to these (gay) issues (but ours). We are now in the position of being able to say, we have the high ground... we're the mainstream now." Source: Justin Torres, " Strong Rhetoric on 'Radical Right' Marks Homosexual Conference," CNSNEWS.COM, 4 October, 1999.
Professor Lori B. Gishick, a professor of sociology and women's studies at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina, has worked for about 10 years in battered women's organizations and has run a support group specifically for abused lesbians. The "myth that women are not violent," is persistent and contributes to a denial of woman-to-woman sexual violence, not only among the general population but also among lesbians, says Girhick. " We want to believe that our relationships are safe, that we have equality, and that we have ideal communities. But it's not true." The estimated incidence of domestic abuse in gay and lesbian relationships is one out of three. Girshick says a large number of her respondents, as children and adults, had also been sexually abused , and that the memories of these previous traumas often complicated their reaction to being assaulted by women. According to Grishick, many of these women read books about woman-to-woman sexual violence; they went into therapy; they volunteered at rape crisis centers. For people who are part of a small lesbian community, the social implications of speaking out against their abuser can be terrifying. Girshick reports that some women did become ostracized when they told others. " I've heard stories of individuals who say ' My friends turned against me and protected her.'" There are only a handful of groups for women battered by other women in the country. Source: R. Morgan Griffin, " Breaking the Silence: Sociologist Studies Woman-to-Woman Sexual Violence," GayHealth.com; May 10, 2000.
There is some evidence that the prevalence of certain risk factors for breast, endometrial, or ovarian cancer might be higher among lesbians, a report released in 1999 by the national Institute of Medicine stated. The report's authors said various studies on lesbian health suggest that certain breast cancer risk factors occur with greater frequency in this population. Factors include higher rates of smoking, alcohol use, poor diet, and being overweight. Source: Rhonda Smith, " Lesbian Health - New option for treating ovarian cancer patients," The Washington Blade, June 9, 2000, p. 32.
Physicians often assumed that lesbians who contracted cervical cancer had past encounters with men either by choice, rape, or sexual abuse. A new study shows that this may not be the case and that while rare, woman-to-woman sexual encounters can transmit HPV between partners. Julie Bailey, MD, one of the researchers working in London's two lesbian health clinics, conducted a study that found cervical or Pap smear abnormalities among a group of more than 600 gay women. Nearly 5% of those who had no past sexual contact with men had cervical changes indicating the presence of HPV. This number was more than doubled for those who did report a past encounter with men. "Lesbians see themselves as at lower risk of (Pap) smear abnormality," Bailey tells WebMD. This long-held belief keeps many lesbians from getting regular pelvic exams. Though the study did not determine that oral-genital sex or sharing sex toys is a direct way of transmitting HPV between partners, two women in the study who are exclusively lesbian and had cervical changes did say that these activities were part of their relationship. Source: Candace Hoffmann, reviewed by Dr. Tonja Hampton, "Contrary to Popular Belief, Lesbians Can Get Cervical Cancer; Even Exclusively Homosexual Women Need Regular Pap Tests," WebMD Medical News, June 27, 2000.