ABSTRACT
Research on sexual-minority (i.e., nonheterosexual) youths has exploded in the past 10 years, but this research has been fairly lopsided in its emphasis. Disproportionate attention has been paid to these youths’ suicidality, verbal and physical victimization, and risk behaviors (particularly unsafe sex and substance use), whereas more normative features of their development have received little attention. Reflecting this fact, there has been scant research on the quality and developmental significance of sexual-minority youths’ romantic experiences. Although the unique dynamics of lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults’ romantic relationships have been extensively studied (Gray & Isensee, 1996; James & Murphy, 1998; Kurdek, 1994, 1998; Peplau, Cochran, & Mays, 1997; Peplau, Veniegas, & Campbell, 1996), this has not been true for sexual-minority youths (for exceptions see Diamond, Savin-Williams, & Dubé, 1999; Savin-Williams, 1996a, 1998).
