Heat Stroke?

Former AZ senator claims gays only live 42 years

Ron Gould, Mohave County Supervisor and former Arizona state senator, has come under fire for saying gay men only live 42 years due to their “sinful lifestyle.”

Gould made the comments to the Kingman Daily Miner, a local newspaper. Gould proudly touted his anti-queer record and made the claim about gay life expectancy when asked about gay people dying young.

Related: STUDY: Life Expectancy Of HIV-Positive Gay Men Similar To That Of General Population

“That’s why they die,” Gould said, referring to the “sinful” gay lifestyle. “We all have our sins, but we should try to suppress them. Alcohol is harmful, too, but we don’t see groups promoting alcoholism.” He also slammed marriage equality. “It used to be ‘tolerate us,’;” he said of same-sex marriage, “now it’s ‘accept us.'”

In the same interview, Gould slammed signs written in “Mexican.”

The claim Gould makes about gay life expectancy likely comes from a widely-debunked study from the 1990s sponsored by the anti-gay Family Research Institute. Paul Cameron, the lead researcher on the study, came up with the 42-year number by counting obituaries of gay men in local newspapers and averaging the age of the deceased. Cameron had his membership in the American Psychological Association terminated over his shoddy methods and anti-gay agenda.

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