Are homosexuals less monogomous than heterosexuals?

Question

I have heard that homosexual relationships don't last as long as others and that homosexuals are less monogomous (they cheat more). Is this true? I do know that there homosexual couples who have been together for decades, but I'm talking overall. Honest answers please.

Christains are often slammed for having a divorce rate that is just as high as non-Christans.

Would it really benifit the homosexual community to legalize homosexual marriage, if it would (if this is true) only expose a 70% to 80% divorce rate?

Answer 1

No, we're just as monogamous as anyone else... I've been with the same woman for almost 2 years and have never cheated on her... and with a 50% divorce rate, the straights have ruined the sanctity of marriage without help from the gays.

Answer 2

Well, I wouldn't break it up into gay vs. straight. Individuals all struggle with monogamy- some can handle it, others can't. Your sexual orientation has little bearing on whether or not you are more likely to cheat.

Having said that, I do think that there are some factors at hand. The gay community has long been one that is more open and accepting towards open relationships, polyamory, group sex, etc.. Whether or not this is a good thing really isn't up for debate, at least not here. But it does allow more possibility for non-monogamy than straight, conservative traditionalist views of the thing. Too, marriage is still mostly denied to gays, and while that should have NO effect on the monogamy of a devoted couple who merely doesn't have the paper license, it may psychologically make it easier to cheat (also, costly divorce agreements aren't such a thing to worry about in gay relationships, so they may be more willing to go ahead and cheat and live with the consequences). In addition, gays do not have to worry about pregnancy as an issue of cheating, although STDS are rampant- but proper precaution also allows an easy avenue. It's said that the gay community is notorious for promiscuity, and in some ways it's true. There's a very large group of gay party-goers who are out for just that which simply has no such equivalent in the straight world, or if it does, is not so freely acknolwedged. There are many other reasons I can think of, but these are some of the core. But we can't forget that heterosexuals are notoriously bad at monogamy as well. I'm sure the numbers about even out if everyone's being completely honest.

In the end, some people may be swayed to be less monogamous, but no, there is nothing associated with homosexuality that universally makes them less apt for monogamous relationships.

As for your other question- ah, to tack on such a loaded question-divorce rates don't even come into the picture. It's all about rights, and if you want to get married just so you can get divorced a month later, it's your right to do so.

Answer 3

Actually I've been with my significant other 14 years. The divorce rate is so high and still climbing in heterosexual marriages...The friends I know have all been in their relationships for 10, 20 plus years. I don't think it's the lifestyle I think it's the individual person themselves. I don't understand and never have why it's so easy for some to cheat on their wife's / husbands. I found my soul mate which is hard to find....This problem among homosexual and heterosexual's has nothing to do with legalizing anything...Heterosexual marriages are becoming extinct...

Answer 4

That make no sense. It's a stereotype. Cheating is a personality trait, not a characteristic of sexual orientation. Besides, even if your hypothetical were true (which it's not!), why would it be right to legally deny equality for those who are monogamous? That's like saying marriage should be denied to anyone under 30 because the divorce rate is higher in that group - have no idea if that's true, lol, but you get the point, right?

Answer 5

Homosexual men are less monogamous than heterosexual men only because women are the ones that are the major influence when it comes to monogamy. If you want to get and/or keep a woman, you better at least appear to be monogamous.

Although I have nothing against homosexual marriage, I doubt marriage itself would have much effect in changing behavior. Even in heterosexual marriage, there is a lot of cheating going on.

Answer 6

You are actually raising two different and unrelated points.
1. Monogamy is not related to sexual orientation but to gender, men are less likely to commit than women. The kind of casual tricking that is quite common among gay men is very rare among gay women. Some lesbian couples stay together even after they have both found other lovers, because of the companionship and friendship they have built up. Many men, sadly, tend to look at their lovers as they do their cars, something to trade in when you want a newer model.
2. Until it was banned by the Pope in the 10th century same-sex marriage was the norm rather than the exception world wide. In many pre-Christian cultures marriage was considered a legal contract rather than a Religious one, and was negotiated the same way. A look at world history will show that polygamy, both polygyny and polyandry, same-sex marriages, line marriages, open marriages, even marriages with expiration dates that have to be renewed like a drivers license, have all been considered acceptable and normal in the past. Hetero life-long monogamy is actually one of the rarer and least successfull forms, hence the divorce rate to which you refer. The U.S. has long imposed, through legislation, fundamentalist Christian values on it's citizens. That is why it is illegal in most states, and for all Military personel, to engage in oral or anal sex with your spouse, or to use any position other than the missionary. Giving basic human rights to gay humans cannot but benefit the gay community. What they do with them is up to them.

Answer 7

nope. humans are humans reguardless of orientation.

i've always thought that it just looks like homosexuals are less monogamous because about the time straight people are being promiscuous, the gay people are still so young that they are too scared for others to find out who they are. by the time homosexuals are comfortable enough with themselves to start dating and playing around, the straight people have started getting married and being monogomous. but then, i'm in my 30's and i think it is great that the level of acceptance has risen to the point that people are able to be out at a younger age rather than feeling guilty and 'wrong' for so many years.

Answer 8

In Spain gay marriages it's been legal for a couple of years now and the media has reported only one gay divorce now (lesbians). I don't think gay people are gonna divorce more than straight people. You said it yourself, Christians divorce rate is as high as non-religious people. I think divorce rate within gay community will be like the one in straight community.

Even if it's expose a high divorce rate, gay people deserve the right to be married. Otherwise marriage itself could be forbidden because nowadays a lot of straight people divorce (even in hours ala Britney). When the gay marriage was approved, the vice president of Spain said: the greatness of civil rights is that the more you share them the more you get. I really loved that sentence.

Answer 9

well, I don't know about the entire community, but speaking for myself, and the majority of our gay/lesbian friends, no, we are NOT less monogamous than straight people. We have friends who've been in relationships for years. My partner and I have been together 2 1/2 years, and plan to stay together always. We're registered domestic partners, and we've had a commitment ceremony. And, when it finally becomes legal, we WILL get married!

Answer 10

i do not believe homosexual relationships are less monogomous than heterosexual relationships. My siblings have all been married and divorced (my eldest brother 3 times) during the time my partner and i have been together.