 I Wonder How Many Straight Couples Could Survive knowing that marriage has only a 50% success rate as it is, I wonder how many could survive with this kind of added stress ....
Homophobic Attacks Lead Gay Couple To Split
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff Posted: April 15, 2008 - 5:00 pm ET
(Edinburgh) Dreams of domestic bliss following their civil partnership have been shattered for a Scots gay couple following a series of homophobic attacks, allegedly by their neighbors.
Bryan Morgan and Richard Brown have filed to have their partnership terminated. Morgan says that the pressures from the constant attacks were just too much.
"Every time we went out young thugs would abuse us because of our sexuality and once we were set upon and attacked by three neds. It got worse after I moved to another house, in Irvine. For two months I was calling the police out about three times a night," he recently told The Mail newspaper.
"Gangs of up to 15 youths were outside shouting abuse, throwing bricks and trying to break my door down."
Morgan and Brown were among the first Scottish gay couples to have a civil partnership when the law went into effect a year-and-a-half ago.
Entering into a relationship and living with someone has its own pressures, but the verbal and physical abuse the couple suffered was just to much for Morgan and Brown's relationship to survive.
They moved from their home in Saltcoats and then drifted apart.
"In retrospect we did rush into things. There were other issues but the homophobic attacks had a massive influence on our splitting up," Morgan said.
He filed for the dissolution of the partnership, but Brown's whereabouts are unknown and Morgan has been unable to serve him with papers.
Just as with a divorce from a marriage, the dissolution of a civil partnership must be approved by a judge.
"At the moment Richard has legal rights over me and vice versa. I just want that terminated," said Morgan, who is in a new relationship.
When the split becomes official it will be only the second time a Scots same-sex couple has ended their relationship.
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Conservatism: Self-centered mean-spiritedness fueled by ignorance and misguided self-importance.
Bigotry is a social disease.
Legalized same-sex marriage almost certainly benefits those same-sex couples who choose to marry, as well as the children being raised in those homes. - David Blankenhorn is president of the New York-based Institute for American Values and the author of "The Future of Marriage."
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