Many of the questions raised by the survey simply don't have answers yet. As psychotherapist Matthew Dempsey explained in a video, gay and bisexual men may focus so much on their body image to mask deeper feelings of inadequacy and even shame about their sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is different from sexual behavior because it refers to. A 2007 study found 15 percent of gay or bisexual men suffered from an eating disorder at some point, compared to 5 percent of straight men. Bisexual persons can experience sexual, emotional, and affectional attraction to both their own sex and the opposite sex. Some of the findings for physical fitness among gay and bisexual men could have roots in what is actually a problem in the community: the prominence of body image issues and body shaming. It's unclear, for instance, why bisexual Americans in particular seem to have worse access to health care than the rest of the population. His girlfriend went upstairs to bed, and he and I stayed downstairs and continued drinking. Eventually everyone left except for me, him, and his girlfriend. Everything went great at first, and we all were having a good time. 1) Bisexual Americans are the least likely to have a usual place to go for medical careĢ) Bisexual people are also much less likely to have health insuranceģ) Gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans are more likely to smoke and drink heavilyĤ) Gay men and lesbians are much more likely to get vaccinatedĥ) Gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans are much more likely to get tested for HIVĦ) Straight Americans are less likely to be physically activeħ) Gay and bisexual men are are also less likely to be obese than women and straight menĪlthough some of the data is eye-opening, the survey doesn't give any explanation for its findings. Last weekend my straight friend and I decided to invite some people over and have a cookout at his house. The survey provides the first-ever deep dive into some of the real health-based differences between straight, gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans. The survey of nearly 35,000 adults found that 96.5 percent of Americans identify as straight, 1.6 percent as gay or lesbian and 0.7 percent as bisexual, with 1.2 percent saying they identify as something else, they don't know, or they refuse to answer. Roughly 2.3 percent of Americans identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, and their sexual orientation can correlate with differences in access to care and health outcomes.Ī new federal health report released Tuesday is the first large-scale government survey to measure Americans' sexual orientation and compare differences between the groups.