ABSTRACT
MOST STUDIES ON COHABITATION that address issues such as the couples’ transition to marriage, dissolution of marriage and their attitudes towards marriage have focused on opposite-sex partners (e.g., Bumpass & Sweet 1989a; Mare 1991; Schoen & Weinick 1993). Opposite-sex cohabitation is often seen either as a prelude or alternative to marriage. The legal problems and controversies of same-sex marriage as well as the stigma associated with gay and lesbian relationships have resulted in the exclusion of same-sex partners in the research of cohabitation. Given the contextual differences, the motivations and factors surrounding same-sex cohabitation are likely to be different from those of opposite-sex cohabitation.
