Study: Young Gays Expect Future Long-term Commitments

A new study shows that many lesbian and gay youths, much like their heterosexual peers, expect to have long-term committed relationships and raise families in the future, according to an April 23 press release from Rockway Institute.

The study questioned about 133 gay New York City youths on various topics, including long-term relationships, family, and adoption. Researchers found that "more than 90% of females and more than 80% of males expect to be partnered in a monogamous relationship after age 30." About 67% of males and 55% of females expressed the desire to raise children. In terms of adoption, 42% of males and 32% of females said they were likely to adopt children.

"We seem to be witnessing the mainstreaming of lesbian/gay youth, with many of them wanting exactly what heterosexual youth have always wanted -- the whole American dream complete with kids and the minivan," Robert-Jay Green of the Rockway Institute said in a statement. "Most agree that the primary issue is whether these youth will be given the equal legal rights to realize their couple and family aspirations just like their heterosexual peers."

Social scientists Anthony R. D'Augelli, H. Jonathon Rendina, Katerina O. Sinclair of Pennsylvania State University, and Arnold Grossman of New York University recently published these findings in the Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling. They report that the study may not be representative of all gay youths in the country. Researchers suspect that because the youths live in an urban environment in which they are aware of the LGBT resources available to them, "youth in rural areas might have different responses." (The Advocate)