A MEDICAL DOCTOR has described acts of homosexuality as unhealthy.
Speaking in the presence of members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community at a panel discussion on Alternate Sexuality: Interest And Dangers, Dr Trevor Shepherd, of Shekinah Medical Centre, said he was being forthright and unapologetic about his stance.
He told the gathering at Queen’s College on Monday night that too often people danced around the issue but the truth needed to be told.
“I think the WHO [World Health Organisation] and . . . these [organisations], they are now saying that homosexuality is a normal, healthy lifestyle. When you examine the group as a whole, you would see that so much of what happens among this grouping is decidedly unhealthy – by any norms,” Shepherd said at the event hosted by the Barbados Rally of Concerned Citizens and Churches.
Many issues
“I think that perhaps my colleagues here on the panel try very hard to sound considerate but the point is, I am a doctor, I am accustomed speaking my mind, I am very forthright. The lifestyle is not a healthy lifestyle. I have only dealt with the physical level but when you go to the psychological level and the emotional level, there are so many issues there,” he added.
He acknowledged that some issues found within the LGBT community existed among more “healthy” sectors of society, like promiscuity, but believed the health issues in the former were compounded by harmful practices among homosexuals.
“There is tremendous promiscuity. Some males would report having as many as 35 contacts in one night alone and that was the origin of the HIV explosion. The mucosa of the anus is one cell layer thick, the skin of the vagina is several layers thick. The vagina was designed for the trauma of intercourse; the rectum is not. You can easily break that thin delicate mucosa.
“Sometimes when a patient comes to a doctor, just putting your finger in for a rectal exam . . . you get a little bit of blood because it is so delicate. Even today, the rate of HIV among the homosexual group, the incidence is higher than any other group because that activity is decidedly unhealthy,” Shepherd stated.
During the discussion, representatives of the LGBT community accused the church of pushing anti-homosexual messages which sometimes resulted in violence against some gay people, but this was stoutly denied by church representatives on the panel. (SDB MEDIA)
