They Said Our Wedding Was Unnatural

from: amyking.wordpress.com

How Do Same-Sex Couples View Valentine’s Day?

As far as mainstream holidays go, Valentine’s Day is perhaps the most heteronormative of all. From greeting cards and gifts, to television shows and movies, society inundates us with messages that Valentine’s Day is an occasion to celebrate monogamous, heterosexual relationships. It’s a day when men buy flowers, chocolates, and (for the more adventuresome) frilly panties for their ladies before having a candlelight dinner punctuated by kisses and declarations of love and fidelity. So on a day when almost everything seems to be about “devoted husbands” and their “beloved wives,” what are gays and lesbians supposed to do?

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Marriage Equality: Let’s Ask the Kids

image source: blogs.prideangel.com

Marriage laws may affect the children of same-sex partners, but until recently the impact of such laws on kids has not been studied. When researchers examined the views of adolescent and young adult children of gay and lesbian couples, the children typically desired marriage for their parents. Although opponents of same-sex marriage express concern about the welfare of same-sex couples’ kids, this research suggests that families of same-sex couples think that marriage would benefit them.

Goldberg, A. E., & Kuvalanka, K. A. (2012). The perspectives of adolescents and emerging adults with lesbian, gay, and bisexual parents. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74, 34-52. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2011.00876.x

Relationship Research Misrepresented in Defense of DOMA

One of our fields' more prolific researchers, Dr. Lisa Diamond, recently made the news when she found herself forced to submit an affadavit stating that John Boehner's legal team inaccurately used her research (and writing) to defend the Defense of Marriage Act. Briefly, Boehner implied that individuals are capable of changing their sexual orientation (see SofR's related post on the idea of reparative therapy by Dr. Lehmiller here), and used Dr. Diamond's research on sexual identity labels (not sexual orientation) to supposedly support the claim that sexual orientation is malleable. Read the full story over at the NY Times.

Will Same-Sex Marriage Reduce Equality in Gay Relationships?

The recent legalization of same-sex marriage in New York got me thinking about how the institution of marriage itself could impact same-sex couples. One provocative question that researchers will undoubtedly explore in the coming years is whether the opportunity to marry could potentially undermine what has historically been one of the greatest strengths of gay and lesbian relationships: equality.

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Interracial Homosexual Couples: A Double Whammy?

Image source: ZazzleGrace, from Amsterdam, the Netherlands asked:

My question concerns interracial (or intercultural) couples. Research has already shown that there is no significant difference between interracial and intraracial couples when it comes down to 'what makes them click'. However, from my own experience I know that these couples face a lot more resistance from their social environment than intraracial couples do. I was wondering, is this the same for interracial homosexual couples? Since they already belong to a minority, do they  suffer more than interracial heterosexual couples do?

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