Look to Vermont for Civil Union History, Statistics

Newswise — Advocates and opponents of civil unions and/or marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples in Massachusetts and California would be wise to look to a Vermont study for insight into the attitudes and motives of couples joined in civil unions the first year of this landmark legislation. The recent Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's ruling closely matches the 1999 Vermont Supreme Court decision leading to the legislature's approval in 2000 of civil unions that give gay couples many of the same benefits married couples enjoy.

Sondra Solomon and Esther Rothblum, researchers and psychology professors at the University of Vermont, sent a detailed questionnaire to the 2,300 inaugural couples joined in Vermont civil unions between June 1, 2000, and June 30, 2001. They also asked the couples to provide names and contact information for a married heterosexual sibling and his/her spouse, as well as for a lesbian or gay couple in their friendship circle. More than 1,500 people responded to questions about monogamy, child-rearing and myriad other topics.

Among the study's findings: love, commitment and legal issues motivated more than 90 percent of 300 couples to unite in civil unions, although half of the civil union participants also indicated they took advantage of the groundbreaking Vermont law as a way for society to know about lesbian and gay relationships.

About 82 percent of women in all three types of couples did not approve of sex outside their relationship, while 79 percent of married heterosexual men and 50 percent of gay men in civil unions considered straying from the conjugal bed to be inappropriate. About 80 percent of married heterosexual women and men had children, while 31 percent of lesbians in either type of couple were mothers. Married heterosexual women were much more likely to handle all or most of the childcare than were lesbian mothers.

While couples did not differ in religion while growing up, 40 percent of lesbians and gay men stated their current spiritual beliefs did not conform to a formal religion, compared to 16 percent of married heterosexual men and women. Both types of gay and lesbian couples surveyed had a higher level of education than married heterosexual respondents.

About 14 percent of survey respondents were Vermont residents; 86 percent of responses came from civil union couples in 44 states and several countries, with more than 90 percent of participants identified as Caucasian/European American.