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Physician Says Science of Medical Consequences of Homosexual Behaviour is Being Trumped by Political Agenda

Interview provides information resource on medical dangers of homosexuality

WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, Pennsylvania, September 19, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On Thursday, Zenit News published a lengthy interview with Dr. Rick Fitzgibbons regarding the serious medical consequences of homosexual behaviour that are being ignored, if not suppressed, during current public discussions on homosexuality. Dr. Fitzgibbons is a principal contributor to the Catholic Medical Association's statement on "Homosexuality and Hope" and has spoken widely on the issue.

Fitzgibbons indicates that recent historical changes in institutional views of homosexuality have not been helpful for those who have been acting on the disposition. He tells Zenit that "Homosexuality was diagnosed and treated as a psychiatric illness -- abnormal behaviour -- until 1973, when it was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual in psychiatry because of political pressure."

He continues that "The sexual practices of homosexuals involve serious health risks and illness. Specifically, sodomy as a sexual behaviour is associated with significant and life-threatening health problems". Later in the interview he provides far more detail about his claims and the results of research by himself and others on the issue.

Regarding mental health consequences, Fitzgibbons states there is a "strong link between homosexual sex and suicide, as well as a relationship between homosexuality and emotional and mental problems."

"The youth suffering from these disorders" Fitzgibbons tells Zenit, "were four times as likely as their peers to suffer from major depression, almost three times as likely to suffer from generalized anxiety disorder, nearly four times as likely to experience conduct disorder, five times as likely to have nicotine dependence, six times as likely to suffer from multiple disorders, and over six times as likely to have attempted suicide."

Gay activists often claim that lack of social acceptance is the primary cause of mental problems experienced by persons who engage in homosexual activity but Fitzgibbons provides evidence to the contrary. He reports that an extensive study in the Netherlands, where homosexuality has long been accepted and protected under law, indicates that "psychiatric disease cannot be attributed to social rejection and homophobia". The high rate of psychiatric disorders associated with homosexual behaviour in the Netherlands contradicts the gay activist assumption about the cause of these disorders among homosexuals.

Fitzgibbons expresses concern that persons involved in homosexuality have been left at high risk by most medical groups that have "embraced the homosexual agenda and are advocating that lifestyle, despite all of the scientific studies and medical evidence that demonstrate medical and psychological risks."

"It seems", he tells Zenit, "the politically correct homosexual agenda is trumping science."

See the entire Zenit interview at
http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=41158

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