A recently released research by the Canadian Centre for Studies on Human Stress confirmed what every kinkster empirically already knows: coming out about your alternative sexuality is good for your health. The study measured over twenty stress biochemical markers throughout two days in the lives of 87 subjects, both straight and queer, and came to two distinct findings. The first and most important: closeted gay, lesbian and bisexual subjects were consistently more clinically depressed and stressed than those whose sexuality was openly declared. Not a huge surprise, given that leading a double life is obviously taxing. What the researchers didn’t expect was the second result instead, showing that gay and bi men were comparatively much less miserable than heterosexual men.
This is where the research begins to falter, since no clear reason for this could be found (‘gays are just gayer’ was a no-go). In the end the most probable cause was narrowed down to the higher importance the alt.sex subject gave to fitness compared to the straights, as it is known that a better physical shape influences a better mood. Critics have also pointed out that it is easy to be happier as an openly gay person in Montréal, where the research was conducted and there reigns an eminently tolerant culture. Coming out in Central Europe, Africa or the Middle East wouldn’t probably be such a brilliant idea, since unusual sexualities still tend to be dealt with social or actual lynching around there.
This notwithstanding, I have a question for all of my readers. Do the important people in your life know about your unusual sexuality? And if not, why?
