Gay marriages – should they be open or monogamous? How do you and your partner decide what works for you, and what are some things to consider?
Legal gay marriage is still a relatively new phenomenon, and gay men who are now able to marry often find themselves having to come to terms with the roles they play in the marriage, how to handle differences that come up, and how to address sexual issues between them.
Psychotherapist and author, Michael Dale Kimmel will release his latest book, The Gay Man’s Guide to Open and Monogamous Marriage in June 2017. It’s a handbook for gay couples that provides an easy-to-follow, practical framework for helping create, adjust, and structure their marriages.
Regarding roles and sexual drives, Kimmel explains that 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 do these differences work within the structure of a monogamous marriage? Is an open relationship a better structure for gay marriage?
READ – 5 Myths About Gay Monogamy
Assuming that gay marriages will emulate heterosexual marriages is neither a valid nor a helpful assumption, according to Kimmel. And 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 a gay wedding, there are virtually none that address what to do after the honeymoon is over (literally and figuratively).
The Gay Man’s Guide fills that void. It offers married gay couples (and gay men considering marriage) easy-to-follow, practical advice that they can use to define and fine-tune their marriages. Using helpful examples and first-hand quotes throughout, Kimmel offers a roadmap for gay men who want to be married but have questions and concerns about monogamy and monotony.
“I wanted to create a handbook for gay couples that find themselves struggling with the evolution in their relationships from being lovers and partners to becoming a married couple,” said Kimmel. “The Gay Man’s Guide helps gay couples define their unique roles within the marriage and outlines how they can accommodate each other’s needs and desires without sacrificing their sense of who they are as individuals.”
Little Gay Blog – What inspired you to write The Gay Man’s Guide to Open and Monogamous Marriage?
Michael – When I was a young gay boy, I dreamed of the prince who would carry me away on his horse, make me happy and take care of me forever. Reality appeared shortly after, and I realized that I was going to have to be that prince if I ever wanted my dream to come true.
I never, as a young gay boy, imagined that I would be able to legally marry that prince someday. And here we are, now, with marriage to that prince not only possible, but very real: what do we want to do with this opportunity, now that we’ve finally got it? That’s the question that motivated this book.
Legal gay marriage is a relatively new phenomenon. What are some of the issues that gay men are facing now that they have the option to marry?
For centuries, heterosexual people have defined marriage. Now, as two men considering getting married, we don’t have to do it “their” way any longer. This is a cause for rejoicing! So why aren’t we more excited? Because, it’s quite daunting to re-invent a cultural institution like marriage. It’s much easier to just follow what other people have done.
This book is an invitation – a radical invitation – to not settle. Instead, the book asks readers to really examine and investigate the idea and institution of marriage and come up with their own version of what works for them and their partners.
How are gay marriages different from heterosexual marriages? In what ways are they the same?
In many important ways, marriage between two men is dramatically different from heterosexual marriage. It’s a double testosterone marriage. We will probably not handle sex the same as our heterosexual or lesbian counterparts: we are likely to desire more of it and with a wider variety of partners.
Many of our relationships start off monogamous. However, it is my experience that about half of them – over time – do not remain so. Many gay relationships – married or not – begin to “open up” after the first few years (I call it, “The Three Year Itch”).
Our marriages are probably the same in that we share challenges such as: loving someone as imperfect as we are, weathering financial and emotional storms, challenges of aging, not losing our identity in our relationships and working hard to stay interested in someone that we’ve seen burp, fart, and load the dishwasher in a way that drives us crazy.
Is an open marriage often a good choice for gay married couples, or do you find that monogamy can be a better option? What should couples look for when trying to decide which option to choose?
An open marriage is a pretty high-maintenance experience. Both partners are inviting new people and personalities into their lives, and jealousy and insecurity often come along for the ride. On the other hand, many gay men in monogamous marriages find that – over time – sexual monogamy doesn’t work well for them. They want to go through life with one man they “love” but need to have other men that they have sex with. And many gay marriages go through both “closed” and “open” periods (this is much more common than many think).
In this book, we follow two married couples: Tomas and Larry, representing a harmonious open marriage, and Ethan and Jake, representing a fulfilling monogamous marriage. Each couple will experience the joys and difficulties of their double testosterone marriage, giving readers a wide range of options and possibilities for their own marriages.
Many gay couples struggle with other issues besides whether to be sexually open or monogamous in their marriage. What are some of the other common issues you see in your practice when working with gay couples?
Over the years, I have observed that relationships between two men typically have more conflict and competition, in ways that opposite sex and lesbian relationships do not. Is it biological or cultural? As men, we are trained to compete with each other; we are trained to win, to want to be the best. This is how we’ve been socialized, isn’t it?
And yet, more-and-more often, I meet young men who don’t make all those traditional assumptions about what a man “is” and who we “should” be. I wrote a chapter about redefining gender roles, because we have an amazing opportunity to determine who we are, as two men married to each other. How do we divvy up the household tasks? How do we decide who is the more nurturing one? The more aggressive one? The more career-oriented one? The more childcare-oriented one?
Moving from a partnership to being married can often be as difficult for gay men as it is for opposite-sex couples. What advice do you have for those who are finding the transition to marriage difficult?
Having common goals, good communication skills (being able to talk about almost anything) and some degree of “structure” both partners can fall back on, make the transition easier. Creating a marriage is like designing a house: wouldn’t two partners decide what are the elements/features that each want in their house? What is important to both partners? For some guys, the kitchen may be really important, for others, it may be low on the priority list.
I encourage gay couples to look at their marriages in the same way: what elements of the marriage are most important to each? In the book I call this “designing your marriage” and, ironically, very few couples – gay or straight – are ever encouraged to do this. It’s a great way for gay couples to communicate about what matters to each of person in the relationship, while the partners – mutually – create a structure/framework for a happy, fulfilling marriage.
Do you plan to write more books on gay marriage and relationships in the future and, if so, what can you tell us about them?
I get my ideas for my books and columns both from my clients and participants in the workshops I facilitate. I’ve already begun two more books: one will focus on successfully aging in the gay community (a topic that often terrifies gay men) and the other on psychology, spirituality and humor for gay men (humor and spirituality are such underutilized resources).
Michael Dale Kimmel
Michael Dale Kimmel, CBT, MSW, LCSW is an openly gay psychotherapist in private practice with a long history of creating and facilitating innovative workshops for the gay community.
He writes the Life Beyond Therapy column for: Gay San Diego, The Erie Gay News, The Gayzette and The Letter. He has been a consultant on gay-related issues for Southern California news programs over the past decade and, in recent years, has written for publications including: Buzz, Lavender Lens, LGBT Weekly, The Bottom Line, The Gay and Lesbian Times; Counselingmen.com; Expression Magazine; Gay News Network; Gayfriendlytherapists.com; Pink News; Positivearticles.com; Pulp; Rage; Sarah Lawrence College Magazine and SDGLN.com (San Diego Gay and Lesbian News).
The Gay Man’s Guide to Open and Monogamous Marriage is now available.
For more information, check out Michael’s website.
You can also follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter.