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SUMMARY Marriage is a mental health protective factor and homosexuality is sometimes a risk factor. The combined effect of these factors on mental health was examined in this study. We conducted a secondary analysis of an international, cross-sectional survey completed in 2000 (N = 7,616). We examined risks of suicide ideations and attempts, behavioral problems, and treatment histories for male and female participants from Canada and the United States. We found significant relations between sexual orientation and suicidality in all four gender-country groups. We found significant associations between relationship status and suicidality for men but not women in both countries. Behavioral problems and treatment histories were equivocal. We discuss the mental health implications of these findings for same-sex marriage.

In this article, we examine the associations between women’s relationship status and sexual orientation in relation to suicidality (ideations and attempts), selfperceived excessive use or difficulties controlling the use of alcohol, drugs, and sex, and self-reported psychotherapy and psychiatric medications (past and present). On the basis of our analysis of these factors, we argue that the US Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the ban on same-sex marriage may have adverse health consequences for lesbians and bisexual women. Marriage is a well-known protective factor against suicidality and concomitant psychopathology (Smith et al., 1988), and DOMA deprives lesbians and bisexual women of its security. Homosexuality is no longer officially regarded as a psychopathology. Homosexuality per se was removed from the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1973, and ego-dystonic homosexuality was eliminated in 1987. More recently, homosexuality was deleted from the International Classification of Diseases in 1992. However, recent studies (Gilman et al., 2001; Mays and Cochran, 2001) have noted higher risks of stress-related disorders, such as depression and anxiety, among nonheterosexuals than in the general population. Because homosexuality is not regarded as a psychopathology, the cause for the higher rates of stress-related disorders among gay men, lesbians, and bisexual women relative to heterosexuals may be related to sociological rather than psychological differences between the two groups. We focus on marriage because it is legally proscribed in many countries and married individuals in every age and sex group have the lowest suicide rates (Smith et al., 1988). Psychopathology is a risk factor for suicide (Desjarlais, Eisenberg, Good and Kleinman, 1995), and social theorists (Durkheim, 1966) have noted that marriage is a protective factor against suicide. There is also a clear relation between sexual orientation and suicidality (McDaniel et al., 2001).

We hypothesized that a higher proportion of bisexual females (n = 792) and transgender individuals (n = 73) than bisexual males (n = 1,457) would self-report suicidal intent, behavioral difficulties, and mental health treatment. Relative to bisexual males, bisexual females and transgender individuals had significantly higher prevalence rates of suicidal intent, mental health difficulties, and mental health services. Prevalence rates among transgender participants did not vary by sexual orientation. The findings suggest that sexism and heterosexism have an interactive effect that compounds the social weight of oppression and increases risks for overwhelming sexual minorities' adaptive functioning.

The effect on rancidity of heated residues of the four commercial types of baking powder was measured in artificial aqueous fat systems. The powders inhibited rancidity in such systems in the following order: combination, tartrate, monocalcium phosphate, and pyrophosphate—the combination being least effective and the pyrophosphate very much more effective than any other type.

A number of phenolic inhibitors were tested in pure dry hard lard and in the same lard in contact with an aqueous solution at pH 7.5. In dry lard, at a concentration of .005%, the order of effectiveness of the antioxidants tested was NDGA (best), BHA, propyl gallate, lauryl gallate, and alpha-tocopherol. In contact with aqueous solutions at pH 7.5 NDGA was much less effective, and BHA was the best antioxidant tried. Of a group of synergistic antioxidants in aqueous solution in contact either with plain lard or with lard containing .005% of the phenolic inhibitors mentioned above, hexametaphosphate and Maddrell’s salt were the most effective. Ascorbate generally accelerated rancidity with all of the primary antioxidants except NDGA. Polyphosphates counteracted the accelerating effect of ascorbate. Combinations of polyphosphate with ascorbate and primary inhibitors gave prolonged protection.