The Gay Divorce

Contents:

• CELEBRATG MY (GAY) DIVORCE
• HOW MANY GAY MARRIAG END IN DIVORCE?
• PREDICTORS OF RELATNSHIP DISSOLUTN LBIAN, GAY, AND HETEROSEXUAL ADOPTIVE PARENTS
• WHY LBIAN UPL ARE MORE LIKELY TO DIVORCE THAN GAY ON
• UNMARRIED AND GAY DIVORCE ISSU

CELEBRATG MY (GAY) DIVORCE

Celebratg My (Gay) DivorceMarriage equaly means divorce equaly—and I feel pri, as well as sadns, about my spl om my WhmanEdor’s Note: This article is part of a seri about the gay-rights movement and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Augt 25, 2013, I said “I do” to Jim, my partner of ne years, who beme my “lawfully wedd hband.

I didn’t want to be “gay married”; I wanted to be “married” like any other uple, thank you very much. Our divorce, I thk, did as much as to legimize marriage equaly as our more: How gay marriage beme a nstutnal rightLike so many other people of my generatn, I never thought I’d be able to marry “my hband” and “to love, re for, and support him, ” as we put our vows.

As she explaed later, after other gay male upl town got hched, “I like to thk that my [male] iends who have hbands n fd a ty b of validatn hearg that term applied to their chosen one. (I also didn’t want to be known as the “gay divorcé, ” as some of my iends began llg me.

HOW MANY GAY MARRIAG END IN DIVORCE?

We did not—uld not—jt snap our fgers and erase our turned out, many of our iends—straight and gay—didn’t thk divorce laws applied to same-sex upl. Fred Hertz, a California-based lawyer specializg same-sex-fay law, told me: “What is really surprisg to many of my clients is there is no separate set of l for gay upl—nventnal heterosexual divorce law appli to all married upl, gay or straight. I, too, have been a very public advote for same-sex marriage, and I feared that I had “let down my tribe, ” as another gay man told me after his marriage end.

The statistics may provi some sight to how the legalizatn of same-sex marriage has affected the divorce rate among gay and lbian Marriag Takg PlaceSce the legalizatn of same-sex marriag 2015, there has been a drastic crease the unns. This also means that lbian divorce rat are higher than other same-sex upl and about twice as likely to file for divorce as gay upl. Like heterosexuals, many lbian, gay, and bisexual people want to form stable, long-lastg relatnships and many of them do.

In fact, rearchers have found that the majory of lbian, and gay, adults are mted relatnships and many upl have been together 10 or more years. Empiril rearch also shows that lbian and gay upl have levels of relatnship satisfactn siar to or higher than those of heterosexual upl. How do laws that lim marriage to heterosexuals affect gay and lbian people?

PREDICTORS OF RELATNSHIP DISSOLUTN LBIAN, GAY, AND HETEROSEXUAL ADOPTIVE PARENTS

The fai and iends of lbian and gay upl who are nied marriage rights may also experience negative physil and mental health nsequenc siar to those experienced by their loved on. The vast majory of scientific studi that have directly pared lbian and gay parents wh heterosexual parents have nsistently shown that the same-sex upl are as f and pable parents as heterosexual upl, and that their children are jt as psychologilly healthy and well adjted. Many people thk gay upl or gay marriag tend not to last long or that they are not lifelong marriag.

Bee more and more untri all around the world are regnizg gay marriage, the surge gay upl choosg to get married means we have more data than ever before. The Netherlands, which legally regnized gay marriage before any other untry the world, has the most data. One study suggts that approximately 15% of gay marriag end divorce wh 10 years, as opposed to 18% their heterosexual unterparts.

WHY LBIAN UPL ARE MORE LIKELY TO DIVORCE THAN GAY ON

Below, we will review the differenc between gay and straight marriag and divorc. Comparg the statistics on gay marriage and straight marriage. When parg gay marriag to straight marriag, the data shows that gay people typilly stay together longer and divorce ls.

Are there any differenc between a gay divorce and a straight divorce?

When discsg gay divorce, there some issu wh the law.

UNMARRIED AND GAY DIVORCE ISSU

Gay divorc n also brg up issu if there is a child or children volved. When discsg gay divorce, pecially when parg agast straight divorce, many legal issu arise. Marriag and marriage-like relatnships between same-sex dividuals are beg more mon, but the wispread lack of legal sanctn for same-sex marriage means that gay and lbian dividuals mt act utly when separatg their relatnship bonds.

Wisns ranked send among the stat for the largt crease (81 percent) om 2000 to 2005 the number of gay and lbian upl, 1 behd only New Hampshire. In 2005, 14, 894 Wisns upl were mted gay and lbian relatnships. 2 The breakdown was relatively equal between gay upl and lbian upl.

In addn, there has been an upsurge sce 2005 the number of gay men and women who are "g out" and openly datg. The creasg number of reported gay and lbian relatnships, upled wh creased legal protectn for same-sex upl, means that is very likely more gay and lbian upl are livg openly your muny. A fay law attorney should be well versed on the legal rights of and remedi available to gay and lbian upl.