As the population of gay people seem to be increasing a bit more all the time, there have been more studies into the relationships of gay couples as compared with those of straight couples. What has been found over and over again is that there really aren’t all that many differences between the two. This is probably not going to surprise gay couples because it’s most likely something that they knew all along.
Gay men and women have their own “types” just as straight couples do. They aren’t going to go around hitting on every one that’s the same sex as they are. That’s simply ridiculous, yet it has been the basis of many “fears” that straight people have of gays. The attraction is much the same as straight people have for each other. It’s just that gay people are attracted to people of their own sex.
When it comes to long term relationships, or marriages, the percentage of successful gay marriages compared with that of straight marriages isn’t a huge difference. There are straight couples that split up and divorce. There are also those that get married and stay married until they die. Gay couples tend to do much the same. Once they find their life partner, they can stay together forever.
An example of these couples is singer-songwriter, composer and pianist, Sir Elton John. He met John Furnish in 1993 and they married in 2005 in a civil union. They are happily together still. Actor David Hyde Pierce, who played Dr. Niles Frasier on the television sitcom, Frasier, has been with his long term partner, Brian Hargrove, for 25 years.
However, there are also open marriages and relationships among both gay and straight couples. These are couples that are happily married or living together, while allowing for “playtime” with other people outside of the relationships. This seems to work out nicely for those that are into this sort of arrangement. The point is, that both straight and gay couples engage in this type of lifestyle.
Sadly, another element of the heterosexual world has entered into gay relationships. That element is that of domestic abuse. It’s terribly sad to know that there are many gay relationships where one partner is suffering terrible atrocities at the hands of the one that is supposed to love him or her more than anything.
Domestic abuse has been around for centuries but it only started coming out in the open in the 20th century. Even then it wasn’t something that was talked about often and was hidden as much as possible. But now it has entered into gay relationships and in much the same as it appears in straight ones.
As you can see, there really are no differences between the things that gay couples must deal with when compared with straight couples. The biggest difference is that gay couples still suffer the stigma of preferring to love someone of their own sex. Straight couples, obviously, don’t have to deal with that. It is hoped that, one day in the near future, that stigma will no longer be there.