First Civil-Union Couple Parting Ways (in Vermont)

[Tab]

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. - A lesbian couple who entered into the nation's first same-sex civil union are splitting up amid allegations of violent behavior.

Carolyn Conrad, 35, asked a court in October to end her relationship with Kathleen Peterson, 46.

Conrad also obtained a restraining order Wednesday against her partner, saying Peterson punched a hole in the wall during an argument and threatened to harm a friend.

"All I want to say is that the civil union was a big source of pride for me, and now it's not," Peterson said.

...

Bari Shamas, a member of the Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force, said gay relationships are prone to the same difficulties as heterosexual marriages.

"There's no proof that our relationships are any better than heterosexual relationships," Shamas said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051215/ap_on_re_us/vermont_civil_union

[enki23]

1. that sorta sucks

but then, trailblazers often don't seem made for stable relationships.

[William769]

2. Just goes to show, we all have the same problems

I wish the both of them the best of luck whatever they end up doing.

[Faygo Kid]

3. See? It is just like hetero marriage.

Married people do all kinds of things, saintly good and appallingly bad. It's called human nature, and it's not confined to hetersexuals. Sorry about their breakup, but it's too bad when any marriage doesn't work. If violence is involved, though, time to boogie.

[Lisa]

4. I think one of the first same-sex couples to get married in Canada ...

... has also split up -- but the right to divorce was also part of the new law, as I recall.

[bluestateguy]

5. A divorce rate of a little more than 1%.

By the end of 2004, a total of 7,549 same-sex couples had entered civil unions in Vermont, the first state to offer gay couples nearly all the rights and privileges of marriage. There have been 78 dissolutions.

Looks to me like Vermont's gays can teach a thing or two to heterosexuals about the sanctity of marriage.

[dback]

6. There are no such things as lesbian breakups...

...there is only thermonuclear war, then eternal friendship forever after. :)

(Sorry, can't claim credit for it--I think Alison Bechtel of "Dykes to Watch Out For" wrote that one.)

[mondo joe]

7. LOL - it's so true. I know quite a few hetero and gay male

couples who are just baffled by that phenomenon.

[Inland]

8. But did they blame the breakup on heterosexual marriage? nt