2009 20-3 The Challenges of Gay/Lesbian Couple Relationships Development in Taiwan and Their Coping Strategies

Wen-Yi Shieh
Shih Chien University

Due to the traditional cultural values that focus only on heterosexual couple relationships in Taiwan, there is a great lack of research on gay/lesbian couple relationships. This study attempts to gain a basic understanding of how gay/lesbian couples in Taiwan maintain their relationships while facing different challenges such as stigmatization. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 gay couples and 10 lesbian couples. It was found that they faced not only problems in their relationships but also problems related to the law, society, family, and personal issues. The complexity of those influences created great challenges for them. In order to decrease the negative impacts of such challenges, the couples in this study developed their own ways of coping, which included: (1) they would use self-created ceremonies to demonstrate their commitment to the relationship and to draw their boundaries as a couple; furthermore they tried to extend the concept of “family and relatives” in order to create their own social support system; (2) their relationship became more than just couple relationship but also as family relationship and friendship; this in turn would help them to satisfy their unmet needs and to create more connections between partners; (3) they would try not to disclose their identity as gays/lesbians and sometimes use geographical distance, avoiding closer relationships with heterosexual friends and colleagues, or using lies to cover their gay/lesbian couple relationships.

Keywords
couple relationship, coping strategies, gay/lesbian couple, same-sex couple

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