Nearly all cervical cancers are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), a common virus that affects the mouth, throat and genital area, and most people get some form of it in their lifetime. “We also know that NHS screening services need to be inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual trans and non-binary people, and I’m delighted to have been asked to help the NHS address these issues and more.” If you’ve got a cervix, you can get cervical cancer, and as cervical cancer is preventable people should take up their regular screening appointments. “Let’s be clear: cancer does not discriminate. “The misleading information that gay and bisexual women aren’t at risk of this disease is one of the most dangerous myths around, because it has created a screening gap for thousands, which is a major concern for our community. The NHS Long Term Plan sets out action to tackle major killers like cancer and a renewed focus on prevention.Ĭharities have previously warned of the common misconception that women who have sex with women do not need to be screened, even though the virus that causes cervical cancer is passed on through any type of sexual activity.ĭr Michael Brady said: “Pride Week is an opportunity to give a platform to the issues facing LGBT people, and little is more important than ensuring everyone has the information and services they need to stay healthy and avoid major illness. Speaking at the Royal Society of Medicine’s ‘Pride in Medicine’ event later today (Saturday), NHS national advisor for LGBT health Dr Brady will say the figures are “a major concern”, and will urge everyone who is eligible to come forward and get screened.Īn estimated four out of five cases of cervical cancer, 83%, could be prevented if everyone attended regular screenings. However, any sexual activity can pass on the virus which causes the vast majority of cervical cancers, Dr Michael Brady warned.Īnalysis of data from the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) Foundation has revealed that nearly one in five – 19% – of LGB women who are eligible for cervical screening has never been to an appointment. Up to 50,000 lesbian, gay and bisexual women have never been for a cervical cancer screening test because they wrongly think they are not at risk. Chatterbox is in no position to judge Breedlove’s science, but he will restate, for those who’ve not heard it before, Chatterbox’s Law of Biological Determinism: Conservatives believe that genes determine everything except homosexuality liberals believe that genes determine nothing except homosexuality.The common belief that lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) women are not at risk of cervical cancer is fake news that has created a dangerous screening gap, the NHS has warned today.
![are you gay test for women are you gay test for women](https://www.allthetests.com/quiz33/picture/pic_1487683440_1.jpg)
In fact, this whole realm of inquiry risks being polluted at every turn by cultural prejudice. The press release fails to state the less politically correct corollary that lesbians are indeed “masculine” women, just like mainstream culture says they are. If there is, Breedlove says, it “calls into question all of our cultural assumptions that gay men are feminine.” Indeed, it would argue the opposite–that gay men are “hypermasculized,” i.e., they have more male hormones. In other words, there might be a connection for men, too. What about guys? According to the press release, men had a more “complicated pattern.” For them, there is “no direct relationship between finger length and sexual orientation.” (Isn’t that just what a guy named “Breedlove” would say? Let’s see your fingers, pal.) But “some gay men did appear, based on their finger lengths, to have been exposed to greater than normal levels of fetal androgens before birth,” the press release continues. It’s also true, apparently, that a fair number of heterosexual women have the same configuration the Inquirer piece has evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers of Rutgers, who has performed similar research, saying he found substantial overlap between gay and straight women on relative finger size. According to Breedlove, though, homosexual women tend, as men do, to have index fingers that are much shorter than their ring fingers. It’s just that in women, the difference is usually less pronounced. In fact, almost everybody, male and female, has a ring finger that’s longer than their index finger. Our first order of business is to dismiss the AP’s simplistic assertion that women’s index and ring fingers “tend to be about the same length” and, if they’re not, it could be a sign that the woman is gay. ET on March 30, Nature hadn’t yet posted the study on its Web site, but this Berkeley press release provides a bit more detail. Chatterbox and the Chatterkinder, however, Chatterbox thought it advisable to get a bit more information.