tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14215370.post113994069420676795..comments2023-10-31T07:29:17.510-07:00Comments on = LNews =: Study: Civil Partnerships Improve HealthLNewsEditorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15516265929045096334noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14215370.post-1139941553615096102006-02-14T10:25:00.000-08:002006-02-14T10:25:00.000-08:00JIC Post:By Chris JohnsonReuters AsiaGay and lesbi...JIC Post:<BR/>By Chris Johnson<BR/>Reuters Asia<BR/><BR/>Gay and lesbian civil partnerships -- better known as "gay marriage" -- could bring lasting health benefits to same-sex couples, researchers said on Tuesday.<BR/><BR/>Doctors already know that marriage benefits the health of both sexes in a variety of ways. British scientists said civil partnerships for gay couples were likely to offer similar advantages.<BR/><BR/>"Marriage confers health benefits on men and women and similar benefits could arise from same-sex civil unions," said Professor Michael King, of London's Royal Free and University College Medical School, in a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.<BR/><BR/>The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Australia and Canada already give same-sex couples the rights traditionally offered to married couples.<BR/><BR/>Britain introduced civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples late last year.<BR/><BR/>Elton John and his partner David Furnish made use of the new legislation, which creates partnerships which are not technically marriages but confer similar benefits.<BR/><BR/>"It looks like both men and women benefit from (traditional) marriage," King said in an interview.<BR/><BR/>"These are not effects just on happiness or well-being. They seem to be important in terms of cardiovascular disease and other issues."<BR/><BR/>Civil unions probably reduce discrimination against gay and lesbian couples and make their relationships more stable.<BR/><BR/>"It may be that recognition and support of relationships like that through taxation ... lead to people's lifestyle being different," he said.<BR/><BR/>"If it leads to gay peoples' relationships being more stable because families recognized them and there was a social framework of recognition, that might mean less exchange of partners, less sexual risk, less drinking, less of the sorts of problems that gay men and lesbians sometimes get into."LNewsEditorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15516265929045096334noreply@blogger.com