A UCLA social psychologist testifies on the "remarkable similarities" of gay and straight couples. The expert witness for Prop. 8 challengers says married couples have better health, longer relationships than unmarried couples. Lawyers defending the same-sex marriage ban point to domestic partnerships.
Maura Dolan (LA Times, Jan. 14, 2010) 
Reporting from San Francisco -- A federal trial on same-sex marriage focused Wednesday [1/13/10] on the similarities and differences between homosexual and heterosexual couples, with a psychology professor citing "remarkable similarities."
Prof. Letitia Peplau, an expert on couple relationships, testified that studies have found that the quality of heterosexual and homosexual relationships was on average "the same" as measured by closeness, love, and stability."
"On average, same-sex couples and heterosexual couples are indistinguishable," said Peplau, a UCLA professor of social psychology called by attorneys for two same-sex couples who are trying to overturn Proposition 8, the 2008 voter initiative that reinstated a state ban on same-sex marriage.
Peplau cited a survey of Californians in which 61% of lesbian respondents said they were living with a partner compared with 46% of gay men and 62% of heterosexuals. Homosexual couples tend to have shorter relationships than married couples, she said, but so do unmarried cohabiting heterosexuals.
Under cross-examination, Peplau acknowledged that gay men value monogamy less than lesbians and heterosexuals of both genders. Among heterosexuals and lesbians, "monogamy correlated for relationship satisfaction," Peplau said during the trial's third day. But "for gay men there is no association between sexual exclusivity and the satisfaction of their relationship." More>>
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