The Sexual Continuum

Discussing all things related to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) health.

by Dr. Brian Mustanski

Outlook Not Looking Good for "Conversion Therapy"

Job prospects are not looking good if you make your living doing pseudotherapy to try and change a person’s sexual orientation. Read More

Author of Controversial Study on Therapy to Change Sexual Orientation Apologizes

Dr. Spitzer, author of controversial "conversion therapy" paper now writes, “I also apologize to any gay person who wasted time and energy undergoing some form of reparative therapy because they believed that I had proven that reparative therapy works with some ‘highly motivated’ individuals.” Read More

Are Homophobic People Really Gay and Not Accepting It?

New research finds higher levels of homophobia in individuals with unacknowledged attractions to the same sex, particularly when they grew up with authoritarian parents who also held homophobic attitudes. Read More

New Research on What Protects Gay Youth from Suicide Risk

What protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youths from considering suicide and, conversely, what makes them most vulnerable to it? Read More

Digitizing Sexual Health Promotion and HIV Prevention

At the IMPACT LGBT Health and Development Program at Northwestern University we have been focused on using the internet for sexual health education. Read about some of our approaches to promoting the sexual health of young people through videos and social media. Read More

Bayard Rustin: A Forgotten Civil Rights Hero

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I want to share the story of Bayard Rustin, a gay man who was a key leader in the civil rights movement. Read More

Does Same-Sex Marriage Improve Gay Men's Health

A new study published in the American Journal of Public Health provides insightful research suggesting that gay men were able to lead healthier, less stress-filled lives when states offer legal protections to same-sex couples. Read More

How Often Do Men and Women Think About Sex?

The publishers of the Journal of Sex Research agreed to make this article freely available so that you can read it yourself. Here's the link: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224499.2011.565429 Read More

How Often Do Men and Women Think about Sex?

Recently there has been a lot of attention in the media about a new study on frequency of sexual thoughts among men and women. The scientist who led the study, Dr. Fisher, agreed to do a guest blog and describe the important findings in her own words. Read More

World AIDS Day 2011

December 1st is World AIDS Day, the day when individuals and organizations from around the world come together to bring attention to the global AIDS epidemic. Read More

Do You Know What “Straight” Means?

It may seem obvious that if you want to know someone’s sexual orientation you could simply ask them. For example, “Are you gay?” But in reality it is much more complicated than that. Read More

Learn from the Experts About the Development of Sexual Orientation

Sexuality and gender play a big role in shaping identity, but for much of human history how they are determined has remained unknown. Watch experts explain the science of sexual orientation. Read More

New Study Highlights the Complexity of Transgender Identities

This month my graduate student Laura Kuper and I published a new study in the Journal of Sex Research that reports on data we collected from an online sample of transgender individuals. Read More

25% of Americans are gay or lesbian (or so people think)

It's not actually the case that 25% of Americans identify as gay or lesbian, but according to a recent Gallup poll that's the belief of the average American adult. Read More

New study on risk and benefits of serious relationships

This week we published a new study in the journal Health Psychology that found that young gay and bisexual men in serious relationships have nearly eight times the rate of unprotected sex as compared to when they are in casual relationships. Read More

Institute of Medicine Report: The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People

Today the Institute of Medicine released its long-awaited report, The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) People: Building a Foundation for Better Understanding. Read More

Black History Month: Stories of Gay Black Men in the South

In honor of Black History Month I am sharing a video we recently released at the IMPACT LGBT Health and Development Program. The video interview is with E. Patrick Johnson, who is a professor of Performance Studies at Northwestern University. Read More

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

What many people may not know is that his wife Coretta was a champion of LGBT equality. She said, "I believe all Americans who believe in freedom, tolerance and human rights have a responsibility to oppose bigotry and prejudice based on sexual orientation." Read More

It's not just IF you use a condom, its HOW you use a condom.

When used correctly, condoms are very effective at preventing HIV. But they need to be used correctly, and unfortunately we may not do a good job of explaining to young people how to use condoms correctly. Our new study found 95% of young men who have sex with men (MSM) make errors when using condoms. Learn the correct steps. Read More

Young people talk about what they like about being "single."

What do young people like about being "single?" While being in a relationship can be healthy and fullfilling, so can being single. We set up a video camera at the Chicago Pride Festival and asked people what they like about being single. Here are there answers. Read More

New research on mental health and suicide attempts in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth

6% of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth attempted suicide in the past year - an alarming rate, but one that is comparable to other urban, minority youth. This is one of the findings from a study our research team published in the current issue of the American Journal of Public Health. Read More

Today is World AIDS Day

Today is the 22nd annual World AIDS Day. What can you do to participate? Read More

New study shows medication can help prevent HIV infection, but reducing risk behaviors is still critical

Today results of the international iPrEx trial were released, examining whether drugs used to treat HIV can also help prevent HIV infection. The once-daily pill provided an average of 44% additional protection against HIV infection, but was most effective in those who were highly compliant in taking the medication. Read More

LGBT Youth talk about connecting to family and community

My research shows that LGBT youth want to hear more positive messages about their strengths, connection to family and community, and healthy relationships. We set up a video camera and asked people why they were proud of their community and to tell us about their relationships. This is the first video, with stories about connecting to family and community. Read More

It gets better: A video campaign featuring hundreds of videos by people standing up for gay youth

In September several LGBT young people tragically took their own lives. In the media it was reported that they had experienced bullying, victimization, and harassment. To help tell the story of how things get better famous syndicated columnist Dan Savage launched a YouTube channel that allows gay adults to upload videos of themselves describing the bullying they might have experienced in high school, but also talking about how much better their lives are now. Many celebrities, including Ellen Degeneres, Kathy Griffin, and Eve joined in and shared their words of encouragements with the simple message that "it gets better."

Researchers published findings from the largest nationally representative study of sexual and sexual-health behaviors ever conducted. It is one of the most comprehensive studies on sexuality in almost two decades and documents the sexual experiences and condom-use behaviors of 5,865 adolescents and adults ages 14 to 94. Among other findings: 8.4% of girls between the ages of 14 and 17 identified as bisexual.

We set up a video booth at the 2010 Chicago Pride Festival and asked people to write on a card why they "heart" or love their sexuality. Read More

Question 3: Is it a moral or legal issue? And the verdict! (part 5)

In the Proposition 8 trial verdict, Judge Walker indicated that the evidence prevented in the trial focused on three broad questions. In today's blog I am going to summarize the evidence on the third question: Whether the evidence shows Proposition 8 enacted a private moral view without advancing a legitimate government interest. Also....the final verdict. Read More

Question 2: Does the state have an interest in treating same-sex and opposite-sex couples differently? (Part 4)

In his verdict, Judge Walker indicated that the evidence presented in the trial focused on three broad questions. In today's blog I am going to summarize the evidence on the second question: Whether any evidence shows California has an interest in differentiating between same-sex and opposite sex unions. Read More

Question 1: Does any evidence support California's refusal to recognize marriage between two people because of their sex (Part 3)

In today's blog I will focus on the first question of if there is any evidence to support California's refusal to marry two people of the same sex. Read More

Brian Mustanski, Ph.D., is Associate Professor at Northwestern University and the founding Director of the IMPACT LGBT Health and Development Program.

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