ABSTRACT
The opening excerpt from a news story reflects a movement, albeit quite limited to date, to give legislative credence to gay marriages. While the United States as a whole appears to be quite far from a time when such legislation will be enacted at a state or national level, there have been moves-particularly in the State of Vermont (see later)—to officially recognize gay marriages. Mores frequently trail after folkways. The public already recognizes and increasingly accepts gay relationships. As will be discussed in this chapter, there is strong evidence that gay couples do as well parenting as do heterosexual couples, and that the dynamics of their relationships are quite similar in almost all respects to those of heterosexual couples.
