Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: mib@geech.gnu.ai.mit.edu (Michael I Bushnell) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: PCUSA report on human sexuality Message-ID: Date: 22 May 91 04:51:17 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Free Software Foundation, Cambridge, MA Lines: 31 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article jclark@sdcc6.ucsd.edu (John Clark) writes: A book titled 'American Couples' circa 1982 lists average duration of relationship as( in approximate years): Heterosexual non-married 2-3 years Homosexual female 5-6 Homosexual male 7-8 Heterosexual married 15 I'm surprised that gay women had relationships shorter by two years than gay men, because that doesn't match my experience. But then, who knows? The problem is that of the gay relationships cited, certainly some are committed and supported similarly to the heterosexual marriages, and some are certainly more akin to the heterosexual unmarried relationships. We need a breakdown into level of commitment before we can draw any conclusions. The numbers simply aren't parallel. They allow us to conclude only that 1) gay relationships are more stable than unmarried heterosexual ones, on average, and 2) gay relationships are less stable that married heterosexual ones. But, those statements are true, probably, of *all* relationships. The average relationship, overall, is certainly inbetween the two pictures as well. There *is* less regard for stable relationships in the gay community (but not so little regard as the pundits on this list seem to think), and that *is* a problem. But we will never solve it by excluding them, for it is that exclusion that led to the situation as it is. -mib