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The June 2004 issue of Journal of Family Psychology began with three articles on Gay Couples who have had Civil Unions.

Solomon, Rothblum, and Balsam compared about 300 lesbian and gay couples who had civil unions in Vermont to about 200 lesbian and gay couples who had not, and about 400 heterosexual married couples. The interesting thing about this study was that the sample of lesbian and gay couples who had not had Civil Unions were obtained by asking friends of the couples who had to participate, and the sample of married heterosexual couples were obtained by asking siblings of the lesbian and gay couples who had Civil Unions to participate. Thus, they were able to obtain three samples of people who were similar in age, ethnicity, education... making comparisons easier.

The results were hardly shocking but were interesting:
  • lesbians and gays were no different from married heterosexuals in terms of religion during childhood, but 35-40% of lesbians and gays no longer identified as being part of a religious group as adults compared to 16% of married heterosexuals
  • heterosexual women reported performing more housework and almost all childcare compared to their male partners, while lesbians and gays reported more equal division of labor in the home, with heterosexual women spending twice as much time per week doing housework
  • lesbians and gay men reported receiving more support from friends than families; however, among lesbians and gays, those who had Civil Unions felt more support from their families than those who had not
  • while heterosexual women were more likely to initiate contact with their in-laws than lesbians, gay men in civil unions and married heterosexual men were equally likely to initiate contact with their in-laws, and more likely to do so than gay men without Civil Unions
  • lesbians who had Civil Unions were more "out" than those who had not
  • heterosexuals were more likely to have been in their relationship longer, with gay men who had not had Civil Unions being more likely to have discussed ending their relationship
  • while lesbians and heterosexuals were more likely to be living across urban and suburban areas, gay men were three times more likely to live in cities than their brothers

Patterson, commenting on Solomon et al.'s findings, notes that in many cases, gays and lesbians were more similar to each other than to married heterosexuals, indicating sexual orientation likely has more of an impact on the experiences of gays and lesbians than does Civil Union status. Green, commenting on Solomon et al.'s findings, follows up with this idea, arguing that lesbian and gay couples have three significant hurdles to overcome, and that seeking Civil Unions might be one way couples would indicate progress at overcoming these hurdles.
 
Hurdle One: Homophobia
Green discusses briefly the kinds of homophobia gay and lesbian couples face, consistent with Patterson's note of employment and religious discrimination for gays and lesbians.

Hurdle Two: Lack of Templates for Couplehood
Green discusses the lack of clear guidelines for coupling, commitment, and living together. He notes that a kind of relational ambiguity results. Heterosexuals clearly know the difference between dating, living together, being engaged, being married, and having a wedding, as each is marked by some clear demarcation or ritual, but lesbians and gays do not have such clarity as their relationships are not recognized by churches and States by and large. They don't receive the same level of support from the State or Federal government either.

Hurdle Three: Family Support
Green discusses the difficulties heterosexual families hve understanding the prejudice against gays and lesbians, and helping their gay and lesbian children and siblings cope with these experiences. Barring a clear relationship status, some families don't know how to respond to a gay or lesbian family member's partner, or how to support their family member's relationship. Such ambiguity for family leaves many gays and lesbians to create a "Family of Choice" composed of gay and lesbian friends instead for support.

All three articles propose many research ideas for learning about gay and lesbian couples over the next few years as the legal landscape changes, and Civil Unions become more common and accessible.

References
Soloman, S. E., Rothblum, E. D., and Balsam, K. F. (2004). Pioneers in Partnership: Lesbian and Gay couples in Civil Unions Compared With Those Not in Civil Unions and Married Heterosexual Siblings. Journal of Family Psychology, 18(2), 275-286.

Patterson, C. J. (2004). What Difference Does a Civil Union Make? Changing Public Policies and the Experiences of Same-Sex Couples: Comment on Solomon, Rothblum, and Balsam (2004). Journal of Family Psychology, 18(2), 287-289.

Green, R. J. (2004). Rick and Resilience in Lesbian and Gay Couples: Comment on Solomon, Rothblum, and Balsam (2004). Journal of Family Psychology, 18(2), 290-292.