The federal government will shell out close to $1 million for a study of the alcohol habits of lesbian couples and bisexual women, The Washington Free Beacon reports.



The National Institutes of Health has awarded the money as a grant to Virginia-based Old Dominion University by National Institutes of Health to look at the romantic relationships of same-sex females in a bid to find what causes them to drink.

"Sexual minority women … report more heavy drinking, more alcohol-related problems, and higher rates of alcohol use disorders as compared to heterosexual women. Young sexual minority women are particularly vulnerable," the grant for the study says.

"No studies have examined how relationship factors and partners' alcohol use contribute to hazardous drinking among female sexual minority couples."

One hundred fifty lesbians will be recruited for the study.