Risk of psychiatric disorders among individuals reporting same-sex sexual partners in the National Comorbidity Survey

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the risk of psychiatric disorders among individuals with same-sex sexual partners. METHODS: Data are from the National Comorbidity Survey, a nationally representative household survey. Respondents were asked the number of women and men with whom they had sexual intercourse in the past 5 years. Psychiatric disorders according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Revised Third Edition (DSM-III-R) criteria were assessed with a modified version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. RESULTS: A total of 2.1% of men and 1.5% of women reported 1 or more same-sex sexual partners in the past 5 years. These respondents had higher 12-month prevalences of anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders and of suicidal thoughts and plans than did respondents with opposite-sex partners only. Decomposition showed that the elevated same-sex 12-month prevalences were largely due to higher lifetime prevalences. Ages at onset and persistence of disorders did not differ between the same-sex and opposite-sex subsamples. CONCLUSIONS: Homosexual orientation, defined as having same-sex sexual partners, is associated with a general elevation of risk for anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders and for suicidal thoughts and plans. Further research is needed to replicate and explore the causal mechanisms underlying this association.     

Differences in Sexual Risk Behaviors Between College Students with Same-Sex and Opposite-Sex Experience: Results from a National Survey

The goal of this study was to identify differences in the sexual health behaviors (condom use and number of sexual partners) between college students with same-sex sexual experiences and those with only opposite-sex partners. Data from a random sample of American university students were gathered as part of the 1997 College Alcohol Study. Odds ratios were estimated for consistent condom use and multiple sex partners for students with same-sex or both-sex sexual partners compared to those with exclusively heterosexual contacts. Five percent of respondents reported ever having a same-sex partner. Significant differences in safer-sex practices were found between groups. Females with both-sex experience and males with both-sex or only same-sex experiences were more likely to report multiple recent sexual partners than their peers with only opposite-sex partners. Odds ratios of consistent condom use were lower for men with only same-sex experience than among those with only opposite-sex partners. Findings have implications for sexual health education on the college campus. Consistent condom use remains low among college students. Education programs should emphasize the importance of limiting the number of lifetime sex partners, especially among students with same-sex experiences.     

Comparison of Teenagers' Early Same-Sex and Heterosexual Behavior: UK Data From the SHARE and RIPPLE Studies

PurposeNorth American research finds increased sexual risk-taking among teenagers with same-sex partners, but understanding of underlying processes is limited. The research carried out in the United Kingdom compares teenagers' early sexual experiences according to same- or opposite-sex partner, focusing on unwanted sex in addition to risk-taking, and exploring underlying psychosocial differences.MethodsMultivariate analyses combined self-reported data from two randomized control trials of school sex education programs (N = 10,250). Outcomes from sexually experienced teenagers (N = 3,766) were partner pressure to have first sex and subsequent regret, and sexual risk measures including pregnancy. Covariates included self-esteem, future expectations, substance use, and communication with mother.ResultsBy the time of follow-up (mean age, 16), same-sex genital contact (touching or oral or anal) was reported by 2.3% of teenagers, with the majority also reporting heterosexual intercourse. A total of 39% reported heterosexual intercourse and no same-sex genital contact. Boys were more likely to report partner pressure (Odds ratio [OR] = 2.56, 95% confidence intervals [CI] = 1.29–5.08) and regret (OR = 2.32; 95% CI = 1.39–3.86) in relation to first same-sex genital contact than first heterosexual intercourse, but girls showed no differences according to partner type. Teenagers with bisexual behavior reported greater pregnancy or partner pregnancy risk than teenagers with exclusively opposite-sex partners (girls, OR = 4.51, 95% CI = 2.35–8.64; boys, OR = 4.43, 95% CI = 2.41–8.14), partially reduced by attitudinal and behavioral differences.ConclusionsThis UK study confirms greater reporting of sexual risk-taking among teenagers with same-sex partners, and suggests that boys in this group are vulnerable to unwanted sex. It suggests limitations to the interpretation of differences, in terms of psychosocial risk factors common to all adolescents.     

Adolescent same-sex romantic attractions and relationships: implications for substance use and abuse

OBJECTIVES: Nationally representative data were used to examine associations of romantic attractions and relationships with substance use and abuse. METHODS: Data from the Add Health Study were examined. Youths reporting same-sex and both-sex romantic attractions and relationships were compared with those reporting opposite-sex attractions. Survey regression and logistic regression were used to control for sample design effects. RESULTS: In the case of certain outcomes, romantic attraction affected males differently than females. Youths with both-sex attractions were at a somewhat higher risk for substance use and abuse than were heterosexual youths; females with same-sex attractions were also at higher risk for some outcomes. Sexual-minority youths varied little from heterosexual youths in regard to trajectories of substance use and abuse. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between youths with only same-sex attractions and those with both-sex attractions. These findings also call into question previous findings indicating that sexual-minority youths are automatically "at risk."     

Patterns of health-compromising behaviors among Minnesota adolescents: sociodemographic variations.

OBJECTIVES: This study compared prevalence rates of health-compromising behaviors among boys and girls from different ethnic backgrounds in early, middle, and late adolescence and compared co-occurrences of such behaviors across gender and ethnic groups. METHODS: The study population included 123 132 adolescents in grades 6, 9, and 12. Adolescents completed a classroom-administered statewide survey focusing on high-risk behaviors, including unhealthy weight loss, substance abuse, suicide risk, delinquency, and sexual activity. RESULTS: Prevalence rates of most health-compromising behaviors differed by gender, increased with age, and tended to be highest among American Indian youth and lowest among Asian Americans. Strong associations were found between substance abuse and delinquency across all ethnic groups. Substance abuse and delinquency were associated with suicide risk across most ethnic groups. Covariations with sexual activity and unhealthy weight loss behaviors showed more ethnic variation. CONCLUSIONS: Prevention interventions should take into account the tendency for health-compromising behaviors to co-occur and should be sensitive to demographic and socioeconomic differences in behavior patterns.     

Early-life mortality risks in opposite-sex and same-sex twins: a Danish cohort study of the twin testosterone transfer hypothesis

PurposeTo investigate the twin testosterone transfer (TTT) hypothesis by comparing early-life mortality risks of opposite-sex (OS) and same-sex (SS) twins during the first 15 years of life.MethodsWe performed a population-based cohort study to compare mortality in OS and SS twins. We included 68,629 live-born Danish twins from 1973 to 2009 identified through the Danish Twin Registry and performed piecewise stratified Cox regression and log-binomial regression.ResultsAmong 1933 deaths, we found significantly higher mortality for twin boys than for twin girls. For both sexes, OS twins had lower mortality than SS twins; the difference persisted for the first year of life for boys and for the first week of life for girls.ConclusionsAlthough the mortality risk for OS boys was in the expected direction according to the TTT hypothesis, the results for OS girls pointed in the opposite direction, providing no clear evidence for the TTT hypothesis.     

Sex in Australia: sexual identity, sexual attraction and sexual experience among a representative sample of adults

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of same-sex and opposite-sex attraction and experience in Australia and the prevalence of different sexual identities. METHOD: Computer-assisted telephone interviews were completed by a representative sample of 10,173 men and 9,134 women aged 16-59 years from all States and Territories of Australia. The overall response rate was 73.1% (men, 69.4%; women, 77.6%). Men and women were asked about their experience of same-sex and opposite-sex attraction and experience along with their sexual identity. The agreement and disagreement between sexual attraction and sexual experience were explored. RESULTS: Among men, 97.4% identified as heterosexual, 1.6% as gay or homosexual and 0.9% as bisexual. Among women, 97.7% identified as heterosexual, 0.8% as lesbian or homosexual and 1.4% as bisexual. Among men, 91.4% reported only opposite-sex attraction and experience, as did 84.9% of women. Thus, some same-sex attraction or experience was reported by 8.60% of men and 15.1% of women. Of men, 4.2% reported sexual attraction and sexual experience that was inconsistent, as did 8.2% of women. Factors associated with this agreement or disagreement included age group, non-English-speaking background, education and socio-economic status. CONCLUSION: Relatively few Australians reported a sexual identity other than heterosexual. However, both same-sex attraction and homosexual experience are more common than homosexual or bisexual identity would suggest. Reporting same-sex attraction or experience was associated with poorer mental health and is likely to reflect responses to homophobia in Australian society.     

Same-sex attraction, drug injection and binge drinking among Australian adolescents

OBJECTIVE: To document the prevalence of same-sex attraction among students in years 10 and 12 in Australian Government high schools and to assess the association between same-sex attraction, binge drinking and drug injection. METHOD: Cross-section survey by anonymous, self-administered questionnaire of 3,387 students in Years 10 and 12 of the Government school system in Australia. RESULTS: Approximately 6% of respondents reported being currently attracted to members of their own sex. Being attracted to members of the same-sex was associated with more frequent binge drinking among boys and girls, and a three- to four-fold increase in the likelihood of reporting injecting drug use both over the lifetime and within the previous 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents attracted to members of the same-sex report engaging in elevated levels of health-limiting behaviours. There is an urgent need for further research to document the reasons for this. It is recommended that health promotion activities directed at moderating young people's drug and alcohol practices explicitly acknowledge the over-representation of same-sex attracted young people in their target audience.     

Gender Similarities and Differences in the Association Between Risk and Protective Factors and Self-Reported Serious Delinquency

Boys consistently report higher rates of serious offending during late adolescence than do girls, yet research is mixed regarding the ways in which males and females may differentially experience risk and protection in their families, schools, peer groups, and as individuals. This article examines gender differences in 22 psychosocial risk and protective factors associated with serious delinquency. Based on self-reported information from 7,829 10th-grade students completing the Communities That Care Youth Survey, all psychosocial factors were significantly related to serious delinquency for both sexes. For 12 of the 22 factors, the strength of the association was significantly greater for males, and, for 18 factors, boys reported higher levels of risk exposure and lower levels of protection than did girls. Together, these findings suggest that boys' greater involvement in serious delinquency is due to the combination of experiencing more risk and less protection than girls and the greater association of these predictors with serious delinquency for boys compared to girls. Implications for prevention programming are discussed.     

A Multidimensional Measure of Sexual Orientation,Use of Psychoactive Substances,and Depression: Results of a National Survey on Sexual Behavior in France

Using data from a large national representative survey on sexual behavior in France (Contexte de la Sexualité en France), this study analyzed the relationship between a multidimensional measure of sexual orientation and psychoactive substance use and depression. The survey was conducted in 2006 by telephone with a random sample of the continental French speaking population between the ages of 18 and 69 years. The sample used for this analysis consisted of the 4,400 men and 5,472 women who were sexually active. A sexual orientation measure was constructed by combining information on three dimensions of sexual orientation: attraction, sexual behavior, and self-definition. Five mutually exclusive groups were defined for men and women: those with only heterosexual behavior were divided in two groups whether or not they declared any same-sex attraction; those with any same-sex partners were divided into three categories derived from their self-definition (heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual). The consumption of alcohol and cannabis, which was higher in the non-exclusively heterosexual groups, was more closely associated with homosexual self-identification for women than for men. Self-defined bisexuals (both male and female) followed by gay men and lesbians had the highest risk of chronic or recent depression. Self-defined heterosexuals who had same-sex partners or attraction had levels of risk between exclusive heterosexuals and self-identified homosexuals and bisexuals. The use of a multidimensional measure of sexual orientation demonstrated variation in substance use and mental health between non-heterosexual subgroups defined in terms of behavior, attraction, and identity.     

Lifetime prevalence of suicide symptoms and affective disorders among men reporting same-sex sexual partners: results from NHANES III

OBJECTIVES: This study examined lifetime prevalence of suicide symptoms and affective disorders among men reporting a history of same-sex sexual partners. METHODS: In the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, men aged 17 to 39 years were assessed for lifetime history of affective disorders and sexual behavior patterns. The study classified this subset of men into 3 groups: those reporting same-sex sexual partners, those reporting only female sexual partners, and those reporting no sexual partners. Groups were compared for histories of suicide symptoms and affective disorders. RESULTS: A total of 2.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.3%, 3.1%) of men reported same-sex sexual partners. These men evidenced greater lifetime prevalence rates of suicide symptoms than men reporting only female partners. However, homosexually/bisexually experienced men were no more likely than exclusively heterosexual men to meet criteria for lifetime diagnosis of other affective disorders. CONCLUSIONS: These data provide further evidence of an increased risk for suicide symptoms among homosexually experienced men. Results also hint at a small, increased risk of recurrent depression among gay men, with symptom onset occurring, on average, during early adolescence.     

AIDS-related risk among adolescent males who have sex with males, females, or both: evidence from a statewide survey

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the prevalence of AIDS-related risk behaviors among adolescent males with female, male, and both-sex sexual partners and explored factors related to these behaviors. METHODS: Three waves of a population-based survey provided data on male high school students: 3065 with only female sexual partners, 94 with only male partners, and 108 with both. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine AIDS-related outcomes. RESULTS: Youths with any same-sex experience reported less school AIDS education. Bisexual experience predicted multiple sexual partners, unprotected intercourse, sexually transmitted disease, and injection drug use. School AIDS education and condom instruction predicted less AIDS-related risk. CONCLUSIONS: Bisexually active adolescent males report especially high levels of AIDS risk behavior. School-based AIDS prevention should address the needs of all sexually active youths.     

Testing the Universality of the Effects of the Communities That Care Prevention System for Preventing Adolescent Drug Use and Delinquency

Universal community-oriented interventions are an important component in the prevention of youth health and behavior problems. Testing the universality of the effects of an intervention that was designed to be universal is important because it provides information about how the program operates and for whom and under what conditions it is most effective. The present study examined whether the previously established significant effects of the universal, community-based Communities That Care (CTC) prevention program on the prevalence of substance use and the variety of delinquent behaviors held equally for boys and girls and in risk-related subgroups defined by early substance use, early delinquency, and high levels of community-targeted risk at baseline. Interaction analyses of data from a panel of 4,407 students followed from Grade 5 to Grade 8 in the first randomized trial of CTC in 12 matched community pairs suggests that CTC reduced students’ substance use and delinquency equally across risk-related subgroups and gender, with two exceptions: The effect of CTC on reducing substance use in 8th grade was stronger for boys than girls and the impact of CTC on reducing 8th-grade delinquency was stronger for students who were nondelinquent at baseline.     

Sexual Behaviors among Club Drug Users: Prevalence and Reliability

HIV prevention efforts require a focus on reducing high risk sexual behavior. Because these are self-reported, assessments that reduce memory bias and improve elicitation of data are needed. As part of a multi-site psychometric study of club drug use, abuse, and dependence, data were collected with a test-retest design that measured the reliability of the Washington University Risk Behavior Assessment for Club Drugs (WU-RBA-CD). Reliability was assessed separately by sex via kappa coefficients and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC); z tests compared coefficients by sex. A total of 603 participants were interviewed by independent assessors with 5 days in between interviews. Reliability for all 51 items of the sexual activity section of the WU-RBA-CD ranged from .23 to 1.00; 71% (n = 36) of items resulted in moderate to high reliability (.55–1.00). Number of lifetime sex partners was consistently reported for same-sex partners for both men and women and opposite-sex partners. Items with high reliability included reporting ever being under the influence of ecstasy (.87) or GHB (.87) while having sex. Items with lower reliability included those that queried the determinants of condom use (.45–.82) and about behaviors and attitudes experienced while using drugs (.23–.87). Very few sex differences were revealed in the reliability of reported sexual activities. Overall, the WU-RBA-CD performed with fairly high reliability rates. Assessing situations of when, how, and why individuals use condoms may offer the clearest evaluation of determinants of sexual behaviors, yet those items are not as reliable.     

A comparison of homeless and high-risk young adults: Are they one and the same?

Although experiencing poor parenting has been linked to high-risk behaviors and negative outcomes among different populations, very little research has been conducted on whether inadequate parenting has the same detrimental consequences for homeless and high-risk young adults. As such, this article compares homeless and marginally housed young adults to see if the associations between poor parenting (e.g. lower monitoring, neglect and physical abuse) and negative outcomes including depressive symptoms, victimization, delinquency and substance use are similar for these two groups. The sample consisted of 199 homeless and high-risk young adults from the Midwestern United States. Multivariate results revealed that childhood sexual abuse was correlated with physical and sexual victimization and delinquency among marginally housed young adults. Among homeless individuals, neglect and physical abuse were associated with physical victimization and delinquency, respectively. Caretaker monitoring was linked with delinquency and substance use among both groups. Finally, caretaker substance misuse was related positively with higher levels of substance use, but only among marginally housed individuals. The results are discussed in terms of policy implications.     

Correlates of same-sex sexual behavior in a random sample of Massachusetts high school students.

OBJECTIVES: This study documented risk behaviors among homosexually and bisexually experienced adolescents. METHODS: Data were obtained from a random sample of high school students in Massachusetts. Violence, substance use, and suicide behaviors were compared between students with same-sex experience and those reporting only heterosexual contact. Differences in prevalence and standard errors of the differences were calculated. RESULTS: Students reporting same-sex contact were more likely to report fighting and victimization, frequent use of alcohol, other drug use, and recent suicidal behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Students with same-sex experience may be at elevated risk of injury, disease, and death resulting from violence, substance abuse, and suicidal behaviors.     

Emotional intimate partner violence experienced by men in same-sex relationships

Intimate partner violence research has focused almost exclusively on physical and sexual intimate partner violence in opposite-sex relationships, paying little attention to the intimate partner violence experienced by men in same-sex relationships. Emerging research focusing on intimate partner violence among male-male couples has focused largely on physical and sexual violence, with little consideration of the unique forms of emotional violence experienced by gay men. Ten focus-group discussions with gay and bisexual men were conducted to examine perceived typologies, antecedents and experiences of emotional violence that occur between male partners. Participants described emotional violence as the most threatening form of intimate partner violence, driven largely by factors including power differentials, gender roles and internalised homophobia. Results indicate that gay and bisexual men perceive emotional intimate partner violence to be commonplace. A better understanding of emotional violence within male-male relationships is vital to inform intimate partner violence prevention efforts and the more accurate measurement of intimate partner violence for gay men.     

Sexual Minority Status and Self-Rated Health: The Importance of Socioeconomic Status,Age, and Sex

Objectives. I examined how sexual minority status, as indicated by sex of sexual partners, is associated with self-rated health and how socioeconomic status suppresses and age and sex moderate this association.Methods. I used multinomial logistic regression to analyze aggregated data from the 1991 to 2010 General Social Survey, a population-based data set (n = 13 480).Results. Respondents with only different-sex partners or with any same-sex partners reported similar levels of health. With socioeconomic status added to the model, respondents with any same-sex partners reported worse health than those with only different-sex partners, but only if sexual intercourse with same-sex partners occurred in the previous 5 years. Age and sex moderated this relationship: having any same-sex partners was associated with worse health for women but not men and among younger adults only.Conclusions. The relationship between sexual minority status and self-rated health varies across sociodemographic groups. Future research should use population-level data to examine other health outcomes and continue to explore how the intersection of sexual minority status and other sociodemographic indicators shapes health.Sexual minorities, defined as persons who are sexually attracted to people of their own sex; have sexual relations with people of their own sex; or identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or queer,1 are disadvantaged in many physical and mental health outcomes, including cancer, depression, HIV/AIDS, obesity, anxiety disorders, cardiovascular disease, and disability, relative to heterosexuals.1–5 Most previous studies did not examine variation in sexual minority health by age or sex nor how the sexual minority health disadvantage might be linked to socioeconomic status (SES), a composite measure of economic status (measured by income or wealth) and social status (measured by education).6Because people occupy many social identities and may possess multiple marginalized statuses that both independently and relatedly influence health, I advocate for an intersectional approach to studying sexual minority health.7,8 I examined how the relationship between sexual minority status and health is suppressed by SES and moderated by age and sex. I assessed suppression by SES because high SES improves health through multiple pathways (e.g., access to care and healthy foods, education, living conditions).6,9 Sexual minorities, on average, report higher SES than do heterosexuals,10,11 and this SES advantage may mask their health disadvantage. I also considered moderation by age and sex. Previous research indicated that both age and sex significantly shape racial, SES, and marital status health disparities.12–14 Thus they likely influence sexual minority health disparities, although this has been largely unexamined.     

National and State-Specific Health Insurance Disparities for Adults in Same-Sex Relationships

Objectives. We examined national and state-specific disparities in health insurance coverage, specifically employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) coverage, for adults in same-sex relationships.Methods. We used data from the American Community Survey to identify adults (aged 25–64 years) in same-sex relationships (n = 31 947), married opposite-sex relationships (n = 3 060 711), and unmarried opposite-sex relationships (n = 259 147). We estimated multinomial logistic regression models and state-specific relative differences in ESI coverage with predictive margins.Results. Men and women in same-sex relationships were less likely to have ESI than were their married counterparts in opposite-sex relationships. We found ESI disparities among adults in same-sex relationships in every region, but we found the largest ESI gaps for men in the South and for women in the Midwest. ESI disparities were narrower in states that had extended legal same-sex marriage, civil unions, and broad domestic partnerships.Conclusions. Men and women in same-sex relationships experience disparities in health insurance coverage across the country, but residing in a state that recognizes legal same-sex marriage, civil unions, or broad domestic partnerships may improve access to ESI for same-sex spouses and domestic partners.There are approximately 646 000 same-sex couples in the United States according to the 2010 decennial census.1 Same-sex couples reside in every state, but each state has its own laws and regulations regarding the legal status of same-sex marriage. At the time of this writing, 16 states and the District of Columbia had recognized legal marriages for same-sex couples; an additional 3 states had extended civil unions or comprehensive domestic partnerships to same-sex couples; and the remaining states had banned same-sex marriage altogether through legislative action or amendments to their state constitutions.2 Differences in same-sex marriage laws can affect access to health insurance for same-sex couples or members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population. When states adopt same-sex marriage or civil unions that extend spousal rights and protections to same-sex couples, fully insured private employers regulated by state insurance laws are often required to treat married same-sex couples as married opposite-sex couples.The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 limits the reach of state insurance regulation. Although states maintain jurisdiction over fully insured health plans, employers that self-insure—or assume the risk of health claims out of their own assets—are regulated under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act, as health benefits are treated not as insurance but as an employee benefit similar to employer-provided pension plans.3,4 In 2010, more than half of all workers (57.5%) with employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) were covered by self-insured plans.5 Because so many workers are covered by self-insured plans, state-level marriage policies can have a limited effect. Buchmueller and Carpenter, using data from the 2001–2007 California Health Interview Surveys, found that insurance mandates that extended health care benefits to same-sex spouses in California had no statistically significant effect on dependent coverage for gay and bisexual men and only a small positive effect on lesbian and bisexual women.6The federal Defense of Marriage Act, passed in 1996, created additional barriers for LGBT workers interested in adding their spouses to their ESI plan, even when states acknowledged the legality of same-sex marriage. Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court in 2013) defined marriage as “a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife” for federal purposes.7 The federal government does not tax employer contributions to an opposite-sex spouse’s health benefits, but under the Defense of Marriage Act, a same-sex partner’s health benefits were taxed as if the employer contribution was taxable income. LGBT employees paid, on average, $1069 in additional federal income taxes when they added their same-sex spouses to employer health plans.8 These barriers to ESI may have led LGBT persons to enroll in public programs or forgo health insurance and access to affordable health care.Data on the LGBT population have historically been limited to convenience and nonprobability samples of gay men and lesbians through health care providers and researchers focusing their research on LGBT health.9 Although federal surveys do not ascertain sexual orientation, data have been edited to identify same-sex couples and households. Three previous studies have used intrahousehold information from federal population surveys to compare the health insurance coverage of individuals in same-sex relationships with that of those in opposite-sex relationships.Heck et al. used the National Health Interview Survey to compare health insurance coverage and access to medical care of adults in same-sex relationships with that of married adults in opposite-sex relationships.10 They used multivariate logistic regression models for men and women and found women in same-sex relationships significantly less likely to have health insurance, to have seen a medical provider in the previous 12 months, and to have a usual source of care. Health insurance coverage, unmet medical needs, and having a usual source of care were not statistically different between men in same-sex relationships and married men in opposite-sex relationships. The authors believed the HIV epidemic motivated gay men to maintain a regular provider. Compared with the other studies using federal surveys, the National Health Interview Survey accommodates the smallest sample size (316 men and 298 women in same-sex relationships)—even after pooling data across a wide time frame (1997–2003).Ash and Badgett took advantage of larger samples in the Current Population Survey.11 Designed to measure labor force participation and unemployment, the Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey requires respondents to report health insurance coverage during the previous 16 months for each person in the household. Pooled data between 1996 and 2003 still produced relatively small sample sizes (486 men and 478 women in same-sex relationships), but their study found that both men and women in same-sex couples were 2 to 3 times more likely to be uninsured than were married individuals in opposite-sex relationships.Buchmueller and Carpenter used a national sample of adults aged between 25 and 64 years in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to compare health insurance and utilization of health services of same-sex couples with those of opposite-sex couples (both married and unmarried).12 Again, both men and women in same-sex relationships were significantly less likely to be insured. Married people in opposite-sex relationships had the highest rates and odds of insurance coverage, followed by men and women in same-sex relationships, and then by unmarried men and women in opposite-sex relationships. Although it provides the largest sample to date (2384 men and 2881 women in same-sex relationships), their study pooled data across a wide period (2000–2007) of decline in health insurance coverage, especially for people with ESI.13These 3 studies were restricted to national-level estimates and surveys with limited sample sizes. Our research builds on the previous work but extends the analysis to all states. To our knowledge, only 1 other study has estimated health insurance disparities for same-sex couples in a single state using the California Health Interview Study.14 Because of the variation in state policies and attitudes toward same-sex couples,15,16 we expected geographic patterns in health insurance. We took advantage of relatively large samples in the American Community Survey (ACS) to compare state-specific health insurance disparities, particularly in ESI coverage. Following recent studies examining the potential for same-sex marriage to improve the health of the LGBT population,17–20 we sought to add early evidence on the relationship between legal same-sex marriage and health insurance coverage.