Same-sex marriage: a
mental health issue
By Student Writer
Gary Moskowitz with Matt Itelson
From SF State NEWS
from the Web, April 19, 2006
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Photo of Professor Gilbert Herdt |
Laws that prevent same-sex couples
from marrying cause the couples to devalue their relationships, feel
discriminated against, and experience high levels of stress, human sexuality
studies Professor Gilbert Herdt has found.
Herdt's recent report, titled "I
Do, But I Can't" (Adobe Reader required), is the first peer-reviewed study
to combine all related research on "marriage denial" and analyze its impact on
the mental health of gay and lesbian couples.
The authors analyzed 150 heterosexual relationship studies conducted in the past
30 years. The report also presents findings from previous reports on
sexual identity, citizenship, psychological well being, relationship ambiguity
and human rights, among other topics. It was published in the March issue
of Sexuality Resource and Social Policy, a journal of SFSU’s National Sexuality
Resource Center.
"I hope this study helps the public understand the role marriage denial plays in
the lives of gay and lesbian couples," said Herdt, who is director of the Human
Sexuality Studies Program and National Sexuality Resource Center. Herdt
wrote the article with Robert Kertzner, a practicing psychiatrist and adjunct
associate research scientist at Columbia University.
Herdt and Kertzner spent nine months conducting a social science and
psychological analysis of the 150 relationship studies. They concluded
that there appears to be a high rate of stress-related disorders in the gay and
lesbian community due to the absence of marriage. Many suffer from what
experts call "minority stress," the psychological effects of constant
discrimination against a minority or marginalized group. When people are
discriminated against for years and years, Herdt said, they experience trauma
and develop exaggerated stress reactions to that trauma.
A "huge avalanche of research" shows that married heterosexuals are healthier
physically and mentally, and it's only logical to assume that gays and lesbians
who are married would experience the same, Herdt said.
"There is a call now for equality in marriage and social rights," Herdt said.
"This study can help."
The authors conclude that policy makers should acknowledge that same-sex couples
experience psychological and social harm when they are denied the right to
marry, and change laws that prohibit same-sex couples from marrying.
The study was supported by the San Francisco-based Walter & Evelyn Haas Jr.
Fund.
-- Student Writer Gary Moskowitz with Matt Itelson
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