When gays and lesbians have access to government-sanctioned marriage, or engage in highly committed "marriage-like" unions, their rates of break-up are the same as those of heterosexuals, a new study finds and reported by WebMD.com.
The data used in the study covers 2009 through 2012, said the WebMd article, before the Supreme Court decision overturning the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). That decision helped encourage many more states to support same-sex marriage.
However, even the earlier data used in the current study suggests that "same-sex couples and heterosexual couples have statistically indistinguishable rates of [marriage] breakup," according to the study's author, Michael Rosenfeld, associate professor of sociology at Stanford University.
The study appears in the October issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family.
Rosenfeld noted that prior research suggested that same-sex relationships might not be as stable over the long term as straight couples. However, none of those studies had access to the nationally representative data of his new report.
Of course, between 2009 and 2012 many states did not sanction same-sex marriages. For that reason, Rosenfeld also included "marriage-like" unions such as domestic partnerships, civil unions, and other arrangements "that include a strong interpersonal commitment" from each partner, he said.