Self-help Articles

by Gail S. Bernstein, Ph.D.

What an interesting question! The problem, of course, is that you're looking for a population that is in hiding and is therefore very difficult to find. That's why your best sources of information will probably be people who were but are no longer heterosexually married.

You can either look for them directly or look for literature about them. (You asked about women who are heterosexually married but know they have a same-gender orientation: I'm going to use nonsexist language in my because most of my suggestions will turn up information on both lesbian and gay research).

You may want to review the results of Steven Bryant and Demian's study of gay and lesbian couples in the U.S. Twenty-seven per cent of their female respondents and 19% of their male respondents had been heterosexually married in the past. Their data were published in the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, Volume 1.

You may also find Larry Kurdek's work interesting. He's a social psychologist at Wright State University and has been doing research on couples for many years. I have a personal interest in his work because my life partner and I have been subjects in his research for a long time. Life isn't complete without the yearly packet of forms she complains about before we complete them :-).

I suggest you look at our SelfhelpMagazine.com Resources department and follow some of the links we have to lesbian, gay and bisexual sites. The Queer Resource Directory, for example, is always an excellent starting place. You may also want to post a request for sources of information in one or more of the relevant newsgroups, such as soc.women.lesbian-and-bi, bit.listserv.gaynet and soc.bi. They can help with your lesbian and gay research.

If you're so inclined, please leave your suggestions below in the comment box.

About the Author:

Gail S. Bernstein, Ph.D. is an author and psychologist. She has a psychotherapy practice in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Bernstein speaks and writes about gay, lesbian and bisexual people for both general and professional audiences, and is the author of the audiotape, NOT HETEROSEXUAL: An Educational Program About Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual People.