Gay Couples as Committed as Straight Couples

While the findings of the studies described in this news article (http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKN2140631220080122) should come as a surprise no one other than the Christianists who persist in trying to depict us as alcoholic, drug using bed hoppers who will have sex with anything breathing, it is nonetheless nice to have the truth supported by research and disseminated by the news media. It is also worth noting that marriage and civil unions added stability to same-sex couples' relationaships. No surprise there in my view. Here are article highlights:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gay and lesbian couples are just as committed in their relationships as heterosexuals and the legal status of their union doesn't impact their happiness, according to new research. In two new studies that compared same-sex and heterosexual couples using different factors and methods to assess their happiness, scientists found few differences.

"Among the committed couples, there were very few differences that we were able to identify either in terms of how satisfied these couples were, how effectively they interacted with one another or how their bodies responded physiologically while they were interacting with one another," Glenn I. Roisman, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, said in an interview.

They found that regardless of sexual orientation, as the level of commitment increased, so did the ability to resolve conflict -- debunking the myth that same-sex relationships are not built on the same level of commitment as heterosexual ones.

In the second study . . . The researchers from the University of Washington, San Diego State University and the University of Vermont found that same-sex couples, regardless of their legal status, were more satisfied with their relationships and reported more positive feelings toward their partners and less conflict than heterosexual married couples.

But gay and lesbian couples not in civil unions were more likely than same-sex couples in civil unions or heterosexuals who were married to end their relationships, according to the study.