American Cancer Society Blames Traditional Values for Some Higher Cancer Rates
Christian conservatives in the United States are, at this point, used to institutions blaming them for problems that plague minority groups.
But, the American Cancer Society’s recent report might just take this trend to its most absurd lengths yet.
As reported by Fox News, the American Cancer Society has written and released an 88-page report that seems to place the blame on traditional values for increasing the “stressors” that lead to folks in the LGBT community to develop cancer at greater rates.
According to the Cancer Society’s new report, “Exposure to these stressors may lead to increased prevalence of mental health or substance use disorders and unhealthy behaviors that increase cancer risk,” the report said.
And what are these “stressors” that force the LGBT cancer sufferers to find solace in the bottle, whether it holds alcohol or pills?
The ACS said, “LGBTQ+ cancer survivors are more likely to have poor physical and mental health, have higher prevalence of cigarette smoking and heavy alcohol use, and frequently experience homophobia and discomfort expressed by health care providers.”
Now, what does the ACS mean by “homophobia”?
After all, “homophobia” as used in most public discourse is a nebulous, catch-all term that can include anything from actual, unprovoked violence against gay people to politely declining to make a cake for a gay wedding.
According to the ACS, “More than half of LGBTQ+ adults have experienced harassment, including slurs, microaggressions, sexual harassment, and violence, and 1 in 3 have experienced discrimination simply trying to use the bathroom. This discrimination is most common among people of color and extends to health care settings.”
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What the American Cancer Society seems to be saying by using the term “homophobia,” then, is any sort of negative response an LBGT person receives.
“Microaggressions,” as we’ve seen from sources like LibsofTikTok, can include dirty looks from coworkers or customers. “Discrimination” over “trying to use the bathroom” obviously refers to the concerning trend of men in dresses trying to use women’s bathrooms and locker rooms, and “slurs,” we have learned from recent legal cases, can include telling a gender-confused person that one cannot, in fact, change one’s biological sex.
“Homophobia,” then, can refer to anyone who is simply hesitant to accept homosexuality, or any aspect of the LGBT agenda.
Among those who are most staunchly opposed, or at the very least the most hesitant regarding this agenda, are Christians who hold traditional values regarding marriage, sex and the societal roles of men and women.
That hesitance can easily be cast as the “prejudice, rejection, discrimination, and internalized homophobia” that the ACS is blaming for elevated cancer risks in those of the LGBT persuasion.
Reading between the lines, then, what we can understand is that, in blaming higher rates of substance abuse — which in turn is a risk factor for cancer — on “homophobia” and “discrimination,” the American Cancer Society is placing the blame squarely on those holding traditional values.
Remember, simply hesitating to personally embrace any part of the LGBT movement can get you labeled hateful or discriminatory.
How many times have we seen people like Colorado baker Jack Phillips tarred and feathered as a hateful bigot for graciously declining to make a gay wedding cake, or women like Riley Gaines physically attacked for defending women’s sports from the invasion of mediocre male athletes?
While the report cited that common risk factors, such as smoking and substance abuse, tend to be more prevalent in the LGBT community, it then added a lack of “gender-affirming care” to these accepted cancer risk factors.
While admitting that “more research is needed,” it repeated the view proclaimed by some other woke organizations that “gender-affirming care for transgender individuals, including medical interventions such as hormone therapy and surgical procedures, is associated with reductions in depression, suicidal behaviors, and other negative health outcomes in an increasing number of studies.”
The ACS, then, has simply repeated the increasingly wearisome argument that society is compelled to allow teenagers and children to undergo irreversible surgery, or else we are at fault for those children and teenagers harming themselves.
Indeed, according to the ACS, “Perhaps the greatest health disparity faced by LGBTQ+ communities is the presumption-of-care gap, which is the fear that a provider will refuse care due to gender identity or sexual orientation.”
This is quite a bold statement, considering that members of the medical establishment have fallen over themselves to welcome in the alphabet mafia, and this very report is a concrete example of that.
But, admitting that would throw a monkey wrench in the narrative the American Cancer Society has carefully constructed throughout this entire report — that narrative being that those who oppose the LGBT agenda, with their “discrimination” and “prejudice” against gay and trans folks, are the ones to blame for driving LGBT folks to substance abuse, which in turn increases their risk of cancer.
Let’s put it more simply: If traditional values yield LGBT hesitance, and LGBT hesitance contributes to circumstances that result in higher cancer rates, then traditional values eventually result in higher cancer rates.
That, at least, is the strong implication of the ACS’s findings.
Like many left-wing institutions, the American Cancer Society has twisted its findings to support the predominant left-wing ideology and demonize the majority of Americans who oppose that ideology.
But would we expect anything less from our elite institutions?
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
