More Thoughts on the Goodness and Badness of Alcohol

The New York Times has a great article entitled "Alcohol’s Good for You? Some Scientists Doubt It" on whether alcohol in moderation is good for you or not.

A few sweeping generalizations about why this connects to us: as queers, research shows we drink more. Our community tends to be based around events, not geography (hence the "we are everywhere" t-shirts back in the 90's). That's one of the reasons our community has so many damn galas and fundraisers. As well as social gatherings. So, we're not drinking home, alone (well, I'm sure some of us do, but I couldn't find anything sweeping on that). We're doing it out in community.

So that's why I am really interested in all of this back and forth about whether its OK or not OK to drink (cause we do it a lot). And how much. And how it benefits your heart. But not your breasts. Or whatever.

What I like about this article is that it allows for nuance. And how things affect each other. Rather than isolating alcohol use, they suggest that context matters:

“The moderate drinkers tend to do everything right — they exercise, they don’t smoke, they eat right and they drink moderately,” said Kaye Middleton Fillmore, a retired sociologist from the University of California, San Francisco, who has criticized the research. “It’s very hard to disentangle all of that, and that’s a real problem.”

Do you find that when your alcohol consumption is more moderate the rest of your life is more balanced? Or does one not affect the other?

Turns Out Being Married and Happy is GOOD for you!

The Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) has a report on their website documenting why gay marriage is good for our health.

Turns out being in a loving and stable relationship (aka what marriage should be about) has many physical and mental health benefits. To quote the American Psychiatric Association's policy statement sited in the report:

"Sustained and committed marital and family relationships are cornerstones of our social support network as we face life's challenges, including illness and loss."

I love this report - it talks about our emotional and physical health - which are critically important to living fulfilling lives. Sure, its not as sexy as talking about the tax benefits apparently, but really - how queers build our families of choice and our long-term relationships helps us define who we are.

Now, here's my question: lesbians tend to have a series of long-term relationships more so than straight women. How do you think that will change with the norming of marriage (one long-term relationship) in our community?