Two news bits about gay couples. First comes the New York Times article reporting that gay couples are more satisfied with their relationships than straight couples:

After Vermont legalized same-sex civil unions in 2000, researchers surveyed nearly 1,000 couples, including same-sex couples and their heterosexual married siblings. The focus was on how the relationships were affected by common causes of marital strife like housework, sex and money.

Notably, same-sex relationships, whether between men or women, were far more egalitarian than heterosexual ones. In heterosexual couples, women did far more of the housework; men were more likely to have the financial responsibility; and men were more likely to initiate sex, while women were more likely to refuse it or to start a conversation about problems in the relationship. With same-sex couples, of course, none of these dichotomies were possible, and the partners tended to share the burdens far more equally.

While the gay and lesbian couples had about the same rate of conflict as the heterosexual ones, they appeared to have more relationship satisfaction, suggesting that the inequality of opposite-sex relationships can take a toll.

The second one is in "Bonk", Mary Roach's book about sex. In it, she wrote about a Master & Johnson study suggesting that gay couples have better sex. The study is a bit dated, as she explains:

First, that study is over 30 years old. Second, the most important thing in improving sex is to talk about it. Heteros have made a good deal of progress in talking about sex, but as a group, homosexuals were more at ease with everything about sex.

That was in the 70s. It would be interesting to find out if this is still the case. My personal opinion is that the younger gays are more up-tight about sex than the older ones from earlier years, but still more open about it than straight people.

And I wonder if there is one of the reasons the gay relationships are more satisfying is that the sex is better...