Our Tax Dollars At Work

Someone at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) evidently has a thing for lesbians. I say that based on the nature of some recent grants awarded for lesbian-related studies.

Feds Spend $1.5 million to Study Obese Lesbians

The National Institutes of Health awarded a Boston hospital more than $1.5 million to figure out why nearly three-quarters of lesbians are overweight — calling the disparities a significant public health issue.

Seems to me that's a "Which came first - the chicken or the egg?" question. Did they become lesbians because they were overweight and couldn't get a man, or did they become lesbians and then turn to food for comfort because they couldn't get a man?

Okay, okay ... cheap, sexist shots. I apologize.

“It is now well-established that women of minority sexual orientation are disproportionately affected by the obesity epidemic, with nearly three-quarters of adult lesbians overweight or obese, compared to half of heterosexual women,” according to a description of the grant.

Oops. I made another politically incorrect statement. It appears the preferred form of address is "minority sexual orientation," not "lesbians." I apologize again for my insensitivity.

BTW, that $1.5M is just the beginning. Uncle Sugar doled out another $2.7M for another lesbian-focused study.

Why Do Lesbians Have Higher 'Risk for Hazardous Drinking'?

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $2.7 million to study why lesbians are at a higher “risk for hazardous drinking.”

I know, I know!!! Because they can't get a man!

Sorry...

The researchers theorize that lesbians report higher rates of traumatic events, making them more likely to engage in hazardous drinking, which has been defined by NIH’s National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism as “more than 7 drinks per week or more than 3 drinks per occasion for women.”

OMG!!! I'm a lesbian!

Furthermore, the problem may be worse for “lesbians of color,” the researchers say.

Shouldn't that be "minority sexual orientation person of color?"

The University of Illinois is not alone in receiving federal funds to study “sexual minorities” and their propensity to drink. The University of Washington has been awarded $1,154,445 since 2010 for its project “High Risk Drinking in Emerging Adult at-Risk Women,” which seeks to find out why young lesbians and bisexuals face an “elevated” chance for hazardous drinking.

Old Dominion University in 2012 received $446,056 for its study titled “Minority Stress, Alcohol Use, and Intimate Partner Violence Among Lesbians.”

If my math is correct that's a total of $5.8 million of our hard-earned tax dollars wasted over the past three years to find out why lesbians drink too much and are overweight. Here's a semi-serious observation. Perhaps they're overweight because they drink too much, eat too much, and don't get enough exercise.

Just like the rest of us...