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Lesbian Health Highlights

Jude Comfort
Jude Comfort

The results have been released from research gathered by researcher Jude Comfort and her team in 2010 – and it’s not looking good.

Information collected from 900 different lesbians and bisexuals nationwide, reveals that we’re not only unhealthier than the general public; we’re less likely to get pap smears, and more likely to take illicit drugs.

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Researcher Comfort believes that the reason behind our community not taking pap smears can be attributed to common misconceptions – ‘I think there is a real myth out there by members of the community, that if you’re not having heterosexual sex you don’t need to have a pap smear’, she said.

Struggles with coming out and discrimination could potentially be turning us to drug use, with research showing that 36% had used cannabis, 18% ecstasy and 16% speed. All of these statistics are higher than the broader community.

Apparently we don’t like to admit it, but we are also over twice as likely to smoke (33%), compared to our heterosexual friends (15%).

Although research is revealing concerning facts, Comfort is looking forward – ‘We hope that this study will provide important guidance to future public health programs targeting the lesbian and bisexual women’s population, and provide a starting point for further in-depth research’, she said.

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