Professor Walter Williams: Being Gay Is Like Smoking, So Charge LGBT People More for Life Insurance

[big_dog]

Conservative columnist Walter Williams compared LGBT people to smokers and obese people to suggest they should pay more for life insurance. The George Mason University economist noted that some insurance companies charged lower premiums to customers who “hadn’t made a life-shortening lifestyle choice” – such as giving up smoking and losing weight. Williams cited a decades-old study published by the International Journal of Epidemiology and frequently cited by anti-LGBT activists that found HIV reduced the life expectancy of gay men by eight to 20 years – although he did not mention if HIV or AIDS influenced the findings.

“That’s a lifestyle shortening of life expectancy greater than obesity and tobacco use,” Williams wrote. “Yet one never hears of insurance companies advertising lower premiums for heterosexual men. You say, ‘That would be discrimination.’ You’re right, but why is it acceptable for insurance companies to discriminate against smokers and the obese but not homosexuals?” The study’s authors have noted in recent years that HIV/AIDS treatment has improved greatly since the study was conducted in the early 1990s, and they have complained about previous attempts to link their findings to anti-LGBT platforms.

“The publication had to soft-pedal its study results because of complaints that pointing out life expectancy differences between heterosexuals and homosexuals had become fuel for homophobia,” Williams wrote. “The bottom line is that homosexuals have far greater political power and sympathy than smokers and the obese.” A more recent study by the Mailman School of Public Health found that LGBT people who lived in communities with high levels of anti-gay prejudice live an average of 12 years less than those who live in less prejudiced communities. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/02/professor-being-gay-is-like-smoking-so-charge-lgbt-people-more-for-life-insurance/

[spanone]

1. professor of asinine ideas.

[KamaAina]

2. Note to Prof. Williams: Lesbian women have a much lower than average rate of AIDS.

So do we charge them less?

[benld74]

3. Being a bigot is like watching people grind their teeth when you talk,,,,,,

[Kingofalldems]

4. Why do you so often post what republicans have to say?

[tanyev]

5. Is he OK with people opposed to contraception paying more for health insurance?

Because I'll bet a Quiverfull family costs their insurance company a lot more than my childless self and my husband cost ours.

[MFrohike]

6. I wonder if BB&T approved that message

After all, their CEO is the one funding his department.

[gratuitous]

7. Dear Prof. Williams

Being a Negro in the United States carries a certain health risk with it, as well (ask Michael Brown's family about that). While I'm confident that well-compensated professionals such as yourself have a lower risk personally, you're still part of that easily identifiable high risk pool. What should your higher health insurance premium be?

Or do you want to tuck tail and now admit that you understand the concept of "shared risk"? Permission to slink away from decent society is hereby granted, you jerk.

[fadedrose]

14. ++++

am white, but your point is valid....my shoulders aren't broad enough to handle what blacks have been living through for hundreds of years . . . some progress, but not that much. I 'm too wimpy to have been born black and so admire their tenacity and perseverance, and COURAGE.

[Behind the Aegis]

8. Just goes to show...

...one can have a degree and still be an idiot!

Trust me, as someone who used to smoke (5 months today!!! ) and is gay, smoking isn't shit like being gay. I chose to smoke, and to quit, I didn't choose to be gay, nor can I quit it (I am way too good!). Were it not for AIDS, would life expectancy vary for gay men? I sincerely doubt it, except for stress related illnesses.

[Marrah_G]

10. You mean there isn't a patch for that?

[Marrah_G]

9. Not sure what his point is...they already screen for HIV in most types of policies

Doesn't matter if someone is LGBT, Straight or Non-sexual.

[justiceischeap]

11. This dude is under the delusion that only gay people have HIV/AIDS

So, they would have to charge more for any heterosexual male or female that had contracted HIV/AIDS as well. It's sad when people make anti-LGBT arguments and don't take the next logical step in their argument, especially when it comes to HIV/AIDS. I think the second group that has the highest instances of HIV/AIDS is the African-American community... so with his thinking, they too should be charged more for insurance but then that begs the question, if that happened, would he cry racism?

[Initech]

12. These people have an almost cartoonish hatred of the LGBT community don't they?

It's scary to think what would happen if they were given any real power.

[loyalsister]

13. So sad that he shares his name with a well remembered man

This Walter Williams founded the first major journalism school in the world at MU. I am sure that he and other true journalists would weep if they were to see the spectacle American journalism has become.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Williams_(journalist)


When I saw the building named after him, I thought it was sad that some people might think of the bigoted columnist before the true journalist.