Ending a gay partnership or marriage can be confusing, emotionally draining, and legally challenging. With the hodgepodge of gay union laws across the country, it can be difficult to know what your rights are or where and how to get help dissolving your committed relationship. The Complete Gay Divorce explains, in straightforward, easy-to-understand language, how to end a civil union, marriage, or domestic partnership, as well as your rights concerning the division of assets and debts and the payment of spousal and child support. The book also tackles the question of whether or not you have anything to dissolve if you were married in a state in which gay marriages were later overturned.

LGBTQ Divorce and Relationship Dissolution: Psychological and Legal Perspectives and Implications for Practice brings together social science and legal perspectives to examine the timely topic of relationship dissolution and divorce among sexual and gender minorities.

Despite the increase of research on divorce, relatively little is known about such topics as how men adjust to divorce compared with women, how blacks adjust compared to whites, and what divorce adjustment looks like over time. Filling a gap in the literature, PORTRAIT OF DIVORCE presents a comprehensive and detailed report on the causes and consequences of divorce. Inclusive in its scope, the book covers the period of estrangement through the divorce process and on to 4 years after the couples separated. The work is based on the integration of original data with over 50 years of prior research. In addition, it contrasts divorcing people with a comparable sample of people who remain in intact marriages. The book opens with a discussion of today's changing attitudes about marriage and the resulting mixed view of divorce. A new model of divorce adjustment--one that integrates the pathology and crisis models of adjustment and includes elements of loss and change--is outlined. The four sources of study data used for the book are described, as are the ways in which such key elements as subjective distress, attachment, self-esteem, and illness contacts were measured. To address the issue of comparability of the married samples, background characteristics of the suburban, reconciled, and marital transition samples are examined. Also, "risk factors" that have been thought predispose those who divorce are explored. Having laid the groundwork, subsequent chapters cover the processes of the relationship estrangement that occurs within marriage, and various "causes" of divorce including legal definitions, psychological correlates, and marital complaints. The effect of divorce on physical and mental health and the implications of age and other life events on the ability to adjust are described. Parents' initial perceptions of the impact of divorce on their children are reported, as are changes in their perceptions over time. Other topics include economic factors, social support systems, and life after divorce. Finally, analyses are presented that illustrate what factors are associated with better and worse adjustment to divorce for blacks and whites, and men and women, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Adding immeasurably to our understanding about the causes and consequences of divorce, this volume will be valued by clinicians who work with the divorced, community psychologists, child and family development scholars, and and sociologists interested in family and health. Well written and clearly organized, it also serves as a classroom text for students in these fields.

A leading Washington journalist argues that gay marriage is the best way to preserve and protect society's most essential institution Two people meet and fall in love. They get married, they become upstanding members of their community, they care for each other when one falls ill, they grow old together. What's wrong with this picture? Nothing, says Jonathan Rauch, and that's the point. If the two people are of the same sex, why should this chain of events be any less desirable? Marriage is more than a bond between individuals; it also links them to the community at large. Excluding some people from the prospect of marriage not only is harmful to them, but is also corrosive of the institution itself. The controversy over gay marriage has reached a critical point in American political life as liberals and conservatives have begun to mobilize around this issue, pro and con. But no one has come forward with a compelling, comprehensive, and readable case for gay marriage-until now. Jonathan Rauch, one of our most original and incisive social commentators, has written a clear and honest manifesto explaining why gay marriage is important-even crucial-to the health of marriage in America today. Rauch grounds his argument in commonsense, mainstream values and confronting the social conservatives on their own turf. Gay marriage, he shows, is a "win-win-win" for strengthening the bonds that tie us together and for remaining true to our national heritage of fairness and humaneness toward all.

Sometimes, grace gets messy. Caleb Kaltenbach was raised by LGBT parents, marched in gay pride parades as a youngster, and experienced firsthand the hatred and bitterness of some Christians toward his family. But then Caleb surprised everyone, including himself, by becoming a Christian…and a pastor. Very few issues in Christianity are as divisive as the acceptance of the LGBT community in the church. As a pastor and as a person with beloved family members living a gay lifestyle, Caleb had to face this issue with courage and grace. Messy Grace shows us that Jesus’s command to “love your neighbor as yourself” doesn’t have an exception clause for a gay “neighbor”—or for that matter, any other “neighbor” we might find it hard to relate to. Jesus was able to love these people and yet still hold on to his beliefs. So can you. Even when it’s messy. “Messy Grace is an important contribution to the conversation about sexual identity for churches and leaders. Caleb's story is surprising and unique, and he weaves it together compellingly. He states his views clearly, leaves room for disagreement, and champions love no matter where you are in this conversation.” —Jud Wilhite, Sr. Pastor, Central Christian Church

Packed with research, insights, and illuminating (and often funny) examples from Paris’s own divorce experience, this book is a “practical and reassuring guide to parting well.” —Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project Engaging and revolutionary, filled with wit, searing honesty, and intimate interviews, Splitopia is a call for a saner, more civil kind of divorce. As Paris reveals, divorce has improved dramatically in recent decades due to changes in laws and family structures, advances in psychology and child development, and a new understanding of the importance of the father. Positive psychology expert and author of Happier, Tal Ben-Shahar, writes that Paris’s “personal insights, stories, and research” create “a smart and interesting guide that can be extremely helpful for those going through divorce.” Reading this book can be the difference between an expensive, ugly battle and a decent divorce, between children sucked under by conflict or happy, healthy kids. This is “a compelling case that it’s high time for a new definition of Happily Ever After—for everyone” (Brigid Schulte, author of Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time).

Legal gay marriage is still a relatively new phenomenon. As gay men who are now able to get married, we find ourselves in a bit of a quandary: for many male couples, sex is a lot more important for us than it is for heterosexuals. Two married men often have a stronger desire for sex - wanting more of it and with a wider variety of partners - than married opposite-sex couples. How does this work within the structure of a monogamous marriage? Is an open relationship a better structure for gay marriage? Assuming that gay marriages will emulate heterosexual marriages is neither a valid nor a helpful assumption. But, as gay men, where does that leave us? There are currently no “rule books” for how a marriage between two men could or should work. While there are lots of books about how to plan your gay wedding, there are virtually none that address what to do after the honeymoon is over (literally and figuratively). This book fills that void. It offers married gay couples (and gay men considering marriage) an easy-to-follow, practical framework that they can use to help create, adjust and structure their marriages. Using helpful examples and first-hand quotes throughout, Openly-gay psychotherapist Michael Dale Kimmel offers a roadmap for gay men who want to be married but have questions and concerns about monogamy and monotony.

A comprehensive guide to marriage—perks, consequences, and everything in between—aimed at the LGBTQ+ community, from a leading gay rights lawyer. Not long ago, same-sex couples had to jump through endless hoops to make their relationships even close to legal. Happily, those days are over. But here’s the rub: many gay and lesbian couples, accustomed to living off-grid, are so thrilled to have the benefits of marriage that they jump into it without fully considering the consequences. In Before I Do, leading gay rights attorney Elizabeth F. Schwartz spells out the range of practical considerations any couple should address before tying the knot. She explains the rights married couples have—and those they do not. With cameos from some of the most prominent LGBTQ+ professionals, Schwartz explores all of the implications of marriage from name changes and getting a license to taxes, insurance, Social Security, and much more. Chapters on estate planning, pre- and post-nuptial agreements, and organizing finances make Before I Do a crucial handbook for anyone considering marriage—because, as Schwartz explains, just because you can get married does not mean you should. “During my thirty years of covering the gay beat for the Miami Herald, never did I imagine the need for a marriage guide for LGBT couples. Yet today nothing is more urgent. Before I Do guides all couples, gay and otherwise, about the responsibilities of marriage. Ignore it at your peril.” —Steve Rothaus, The Miami Herald

A big book of manners for the more than 15 million lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the United States and Canada and the people who love them, work with them, and live with them. Written by Steven Petrow, the go-to authority on the subject—he’s the same-sex wedding expert at The New York Times and a columnist for The Huffington Post, Yahoo’s Shine, GayWeddings.com, and the “Q” Syndicate (with distribution to more than 100 LGBT newspapers and websites)—this is the definitive book of LGBT etiquette. Encyclopedic in its approach, filled with practical wisdom, lively wit, and much insight, Steven Petrow’s Complete Gay & Lesbian Manners covers everything: from coming out to being out in the workplace; from dealing with the joy and complexity of same-sex weddings and commitment ceremonies (including how to propose and write meaningful vows) to handling the legal paperwork every couple needs. There’s a chapter on sex etiquette, and another on the challenges and opportunities of raising a family, plus sections on travel, bullying, entertaining, meeting new friends, introducing your partner to your family, a primer on gay pride, and so much more. Throughout there are hundreds of questions—some posed by LGBT folk, and others by straight people: What do the mothers of two brides wear to a lesbian wedding? What do you say to an anti-gay joke? How do you answer “Who’s the father?” when there are two mothers? Manners, yes, but with a twist. **In recognition of Quality, Excellence, and Design, this ebook has been granted a QED seal of approval from Digital Book World.**

This isn’t a romance of easy solutions. It’s a love story between two men who should never have come together. In Andrew’s world, nothing much happens. His days with his wife and son are content, if not passionate. The new neighbors are about to change all that Nathan is looking forward to the arrival of his new baby and his first teaching job. Then he meets Andrew, and his world turns upside down. Tension morphs into passion and it’s obvious to everyone, however hard they try to hide it. Even from each other. But Andrew and Nathan love their families too. Making decisions is never easy and in a small cul-de-sac, the two men have hard choices to make. Do they follow their hearts or their responsibilities? CW: Cheating