ST: Mothers, talk to your kids about the birds and the bees

By Radha Basu, Senior Correspondent

The Sunday Times

May 10, 2009

Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover was every parent’s dream. A Boy Scout, he scored good grades at school, loved football and helped out at the local church.

Yet, after dinner on April 6, the Massachusetts boy wrapped an extension cord around his neck and killed himself. He was 11.

Ten days later, on April 16, Jaheem Herrera from Georgia hanged himself with a fabric belt, hours after returning home with glowing grades. He too was 11.

Both families say that relentless taunts by schoolmates who called them ‘gay’ drove the boys to their deaths. The schools have not denied their allegations.

Same-sex couples tend to go along, get along

Source: Newhouse News Service
18 May 2008

Same-Sex Couples Tend To Go Along, Get Along

By JULIE SULLIVAN

Watching Silda Wall Spitzer and Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan try to reconcile their idea of “room service” with their husbands’, you might wonder whether same-sex couples are better off. More understanding of each other’s needs and nature. Less conflicted about the whole monogamy-means-monogamy concept. Happier, even.

Isn’t the problem between men and women — forgive me, dear — men and women? Well, yes and yes. Same-sex couples are more honest about monogamy and sex, researchers say. They’re also more mature, considerate and fairer to each other than heterosexual couples. They’re funnier and more affectionate when they argue. Less controlling. They don’t take everything so personally.

Her World: Meet her best guy friend

Meet her best guy friend

Melanie and her best friend, Kelvin, since they were teenagers have the same tastes. They go for movies and meals together, shopping and gush over the same designer bags too.

Melanie always had casual boyfriends, but trouble brew when she started seeing Jeremy, an army sergeant, regularly.

She told Her World: “People always mistake Kelvin and I for a couple when the three of us go out together.

Gottman Institute’s 12-year study of gay & lesbian couples

Source: The Gottman Institute
Undated, but seems to be from 2004

12-year study of Gay & Lesbian Couples

Gay and Lesbian Couples Research: A case of similarities of same-sex and cross-sex couples, differences between gay and lesbian couples

Using state-of-the-art methods while studying 21 gay and 21 lesbian couples, Dr. John Gottman (University of Washington) and Dr. Robert Levenson (University of California at Berkeley) have learned what makes same-sex relationships succeed or fail.

One key result: Overall, relationship satisfaction and quality are about the same across all couple types (straight, gay, lesbian) that Dr. Gottman has studied. This result supports prior research by Lawrence Kurdek and Pepper Schwartz: They find that gay and lesbian relationships are comparable to straight relationships in many ways.

Break-up of two maids’ stormy affair ended in one’s suicide

Source: The Straits Times
3 July 2007

Break-up of two maids’ stormy affair ended in one’s suicide

Back in April 2005, two Filipina maids here entered into a lesbian relationship and promised undying love to each other.

By the middle of the following year, the vow was doomed: One of them had found a boyfriend and wanted to call things off.

A final fight between them in a Bedok South block of flats ended with one of them falling 18 floors to her death on June 30 last year.

On Tuesday, the death of Miss Sharon Villanel Pino was ruled a suicide.