Contemporary Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Identities

1
Comparing Same-Sex Couples Who Were Married in
Massachusetts, Had Domestic Partnerships in
California, or Had Civil Unions in Vermont Esther
Rothblum Kimberly Balsam
2
Difficulties doing same-sex couples research

• Who is a lesbian, gay man, bisexual woman, or
  bisexual man sexual orientation has many
  dimensions
• Each member of the couple may differ on these
  dimensions
• In the absence of legal marriage, what is a
  couple?
• Research on heterosexuals has nearly always
  focused on married couples

3
Difficulties doing same-sex couples research

• Heterosexual cohabiting couples differ from
  married couples in many ways
• Studies on same-sex couples have included couples
  regardless of how long they have been together,
  or only focused on those who have been together
  for a certain number of years, or only those
  living together
• Who is bisexual? Few same-sex couples studies
  mention which couples identify as bisexual

4
International Status of Same-Sex Marriage

• SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
• Belgium, Canada, The Netherlands, South Africa
  (pending), Spain
• REGISTERED SAME-SEX COHABITANTS
• Andorra, Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Czech
  Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
  Great Britain, Greenland, Iceland, Israel,
  Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal,
  Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland

5
CURRENT STATUS OF SAME-SEX LEGISLATION IN THE U.S.

• No federal legislation
• Over 40 states have legislation not recognizing
  same-sex marriages from other states
• 1996--Defense of Marriage Act--no state is
  required to honor same-sex marriages from other
  states
• George Bush advocating for constitutional
  amendment banning same-sex marriages

6
CURRENT STATUS OF SAME-SEX LEGISLATION IN THE U.S.

• Same-sex couples can get married in Massachusetts
  if they reside in that state.
• Vermont, New Jersey and Connecticut have civil
  unions
• California, Hawaii, Maine and D.C. recognize
  same-sex domestic partnerships
• All cover only statewide benefits, yet the real
  benefits of marriage are federal (1,138 benefits
  including social security survivor and spousal
  benefits, filing a joint federal income tax
  return, immigration rights, Family and Medical
  leave act, inheritance rights).

7
Our prior research Civil Union Study

• First study of same-sex couples who were united
  in civil unions during the first year the
  legislation was available
• Vermont was the first U.S. state to have any form
  of legalized relationships for same-sex couples
  (before any province of Canada) beginning July
  2000
• Civil union certificates represent a POPULATION
  because all of the civil union certificates are
  available
• Could compare our sample to the whole POPULATION
  on a few variables to examine the
  REPRESENTATIVENESS

8
Comparison Groups

• There were three comparison groups
• Same-sex couples who were united in civil unions
• Same-sex couples who did not have a civil union
  (from the friendship circles of civil union
  couples)
• Married heterosexual couples (who were siblings
  of civil union couples)

9
IMPLICATIONS

• In many ways, same-sex couples in civil unions
  were like same-sex couples not in civil unions,
  and different from heterosexual married couples
• Demographics
• Length of relationship
• Division of labor and finances

10
IMPLICATIONS

• In some ways, civil union couples were different
  from same-sex couples not in civil unions
• Children (among men)
• Mutual friends (among men)
• Outness (among women)
• Contact and closeness with family of origin

11
How about same-sex marriage?
12
Interstate Same-Sex Couples Study
Collected data to compare same-sex couples in
2004 MA couples in their first year of
marriage CA couples in their first year of
domestic partnerships VT couples in their first
year of civil unions This allowed us to see
whether the symbolism of marriage in MA differs
from other types of legalized relationships
13
Differences between these states
VT is small, rural state, 97 white, couples can
come from out of state to have civil unions and
80 of civil unions are from out of state CA and
MA larger populations, urban, multi-ethnic In MA,
only residents of MA can get married In CA, most
domestic partnerships are from in state couples
have to live together to have dom. partnerships
14
Differences between these states
VT For about 200, the Vermont Office of Vital
Records of the Vermont Department of Health
provides photocopies of civil union certificates
of all couples who had civil unions. CA For
about 25, the Secretary of States Office in
California provides an excel file with names and
addresses of all couples who ever had same-sex
domestic partnerships.
15
Differences between these states
MA Each city keeps records of marriages, and it
can take over a year for these data to get to the
Secretary of the Commonwealths office.
Consequently, by 2005 only data from Cambridge
and Somerville, Massachusetts were complete and
so we obtained names and contact information from
these two cities. Even today, no statewide
database of all MA same-sex couples
16
Interstate Same-Sex Couples Study
VT 235 surveys completed (167 women and 68 men
93 white) CA 431 surveys completed (235 women
and 196 men, 83 white) MA 258 surveys completed
(149 women and 109 men, 89 white) Note gender
ratio Race/ethnicity comparable to population in
VT (only state to keep these data)
17
Interstate Same-Sex Couples Study
For the present analyses, used one member per
couple (the person who filled out questionnaire
A) VT 121 (86 women and 35 men) CA 221 (120
women and 101 men) MA133 (78 women and 55 men) 2
x 3 anovas or chi squares Used a cut-off of
plt.001 to control for multiple comparisons
18
Interstate Same-Sex Couples Study
Differences by State -MA couples higher on
education -MA and CA couples have higher income
than VT couples -MA and CA couples live in larger
cities than VT couples -MA couples more
politically liberal -MA couples more feminist -CA
couples go to LGB bars and clubs more often
19
Interstate Same-Sex Couples Study
Gender Differences -Male couples -Are
older -Have been in their relationship
longer -Are more exclusively gay (rather than
bisexual) -Earn higher incomes Than female
couples
20
Interstate Same-Sex Couples Study
Gender Differences Male couples -Moved a
greater distance the last time they moved -More
likely to have served in the military -Less
likely to have children -Go to bars and clubs
more often -Go to bars and clubs more often by
themselves Than female couples
21
Interstate Same-Sex Couples Study
This study is not representative of same-sex
couples of color. -Using data from the 2000 U.S.
Census, Rosenfeld and Kim (2005) found that
same-sex couples are more likely to be
interracial than are heterosexual
couples. -People of color may be faced with
choosing between LGB communities and communities
of color Same-sex legalized relationships are
very public
22
Interstate Same-Sex Couples Study
Politics Over 95 of participants are registered
to vote and about 95 voted in the last election.
83 of men are Democrats, 5 are Republicans,
and 12 are Independent. Among women 77 are
Democrats, 4 are Republicans, and 19 are
Independent.
23
Three-Year Follow-Up Study of Original Study

• These couples are still in the first year of
  their legalized relationship
• We have just completed the three-year follow-up
  study of couples who had civil unions in VT
  during the first year of that legislation, their
  partnered same-sex friends not in civil unions,
  and their heterosexual married siblings and
  spouse. Vermont civil unions have been around
  the longest
• This allowed us to determine what factors at Time
  1 predict relationship satisfaction 3 years
  later, controlling for family variance

24
Importance of relationships in western cultures

• Sometime during the day that Susan and I decided
  to have a relationship, we heard a knock at the
  door. Rushing from different places in the house
  to answer it, we opened the door together. To
  our amazed delight, there on our doorstep rode a
  magnificent ship. No ordinary ocean-going vessel
  this but a luxury liner tiered with staterooms,
  looking for all the world like a great floating
  wedding cake. Our relation Ship! we cried
  joyously in union.
• Sonia Johnson, 1991, The Ship That Sailed Into
  the Living Room