Partner Equality

One of the greatest things about a gay relationship is the potential for real equality.

In a straight relationship there are inherent inequalities; for example, pregnancy. The woman is always the one to carry the children and because of this the best that a heterosexual relationship can hope for is 'trade off.'

Trade off is very difficult when you try to equate two very different roles. The woman carries the child(ren) and the man works...is this equal? I personally believe that this setup is a lot more equal than the ones that are most common today: the woman works, takes care of the kids, cooks the meals, and balances the check book; the man works. Now, I realize that this isn't how all straight couples are, but there are enough of these incredibly unequal relationships to spark dialog.

Over the last 50 years, the woman's role has been expanding at a much faster rate than men's, but at the same time the number of same-sex couples has been increasing...

I have often been told by my straight friends that I'm either the woman or the man in the relationship, but it’s a lot more dynamic than that. My partner and I compliment each other in that we take on whatever role is necessary to get the job done.

Since we are not the "usual" couple, we don't have rules about who should do what. If one of us is sad, the other takes on the typical woman's role, comforting and sympathizing. If dinner needs cooking, laundry needs folding, money needs making, or house needs cleaning one of us does it or we help one another. There are no expectations and no gender stereotypes.

Yes, it is a great time to be gay. We get closer and closer to equality with our partner and equality with straight couples every day. I hope that in the future the straight and gay communities can put their differences aside and learn from one another.

There is something to learn from everyone, I hope I'm alive to see that day!