A report into young people and alcohol has found gay and bisexual high school students are significantly more likely to drink than their straight peers: and they are also more likely to binge drink, to drink alone, and to have unsafe sex and drink-drive as a result. The worrying findings are derived from data from the Youth '07 survey; the ALAC-funded report provides a snapshot of over 9000 secondary school students in 2007. While it has found that overall, young people in 2007 were less likely to be regular drinkers than their 2001 counterparts; 81.5 per cent of gay, lesbian and bisexual young people said they had drunk alcohol compared to 73.8 per cent of straight students. They were also significantly more likely to be current drinkers (74.7%) compared with opposite-sex-attracted students (63.1%), and more likely to have friends who drink (80.5 per cent compared with 66.9 per cent). The study finds gay and bi students are more likely to prefer spirits, at 30.3 per cent, than beer at 18.2 per cent, figures which are almost the exact reverse for teenagers attracted to the opposite sex. It also shows that 24.2 per cent of glb youth said their family or friends had told them to cut down on their drinking, compared with just 15.5 per cent of straight students. They also reported drinking more often and binge drinking more often: “Same/both-sex-attracted students were significantly more likely to report binge drinking (47.7%) compared with opposite-sex-attracted students (35.7%),” the study reads. Further to that, more than half of gay and bi high school students stated they believe it's okay for people their age to drink regularly, whereas just under 40 per cent of straight students feel the same. Glb youth are more likely to take alcohol from home, or to get someone else to buy it for them. They are also less likely to drink with family, and more likely to drink alone. Just over 28 per cent reported having unsafe sex as a result of drinking and 15.5 per cent admitted having unwanted sex for the same reason. They are also more likely to ride with a driver who has been drinking, or drive after drinking themselves. The study's authors say drinking among gay and bisexual students is among the areas where more research is needed.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 12th September 2011 - 3:37pm