Controversy abounds following a statement released by a leading insurance comparison website in the US, that has claimed gay men on average have a shorter life span than heterosexual men.

Insure.com, one of the biggest comparison site in the US, have claimed that their research has revealed that gay men live 20 years less than their heterosexual counterparts.

Joseph White, the author of the article effectively blames lifestyle choices for the differences.

"The studies did not disagree that gay men were dying younger than most other people. Why? The majority of the morbidity stems from AIDS," he wrote.

"But there is also a significant amount of drug use involved in many parts of gay culture, as well as increased incidence of psychological illness, family instability and suicide."

In Britain however, the Association of British Insurers have made it law that lesbian and gay people are treated fairly by insurance companies and any civil partnership is recognised the same as any conventional marriage.