Queer Town: Gay Marriage Equals Good Health

Last week, the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association released a report that didn't get much play in the press. While campaign rhetoric was ramped up in the Proposition 8 battle to possibly ban same sex marriage in California, GLMA, which is based in San Francisco, gave another major reason for keeping gay marriage legal: It's important to one's health.

"Marriage can help protect and promote the mental and physical health of lesbians and gay men," GLMA writes in the report, and then lists why: "Marriage is associated with multiple mental and physical health benefits; marriage is also associated with many tangible and intangible benefits that support psychological health, including access to health care through a spouse; and other kinds of legal recognition of same sex relationship do not provide the full range of benefits provided by marriage."

For years, studies have been released here and there about the health benefits of marriage for gays and lesbians, but this report lays it out in 16 pages. For anyone on the fence about same sex marriage, and that includes gays and lesbians, it's a must-read that shows, once again, bigger issues are at stake on Election Day.

Contact Patrick Range McDonald at pmcdonald@laweekly.com.