HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONSHIP DEFINED Homosexual Relationship or Same Sex Relationship is a relationship between two persons of the same sex

and can take many forms, from romantic and sexual, to non-romantic close relationships. The term is mainly associated with homosexual people. In their essential psychological respects, these relationships are regarded as equivalent to oppositesex relationships.[1] The term same-sex relationship is not strictly related to the sexual orientation of the participants. Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_relationship

HOMOSEXUALITY DEFINED

- the quality or state of being homosexual ; erotic activity with another of the same sex
Source : http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homosexuality

DISSCUSSION: People being involved in Same Sex Relationship or Homosexual Relationship is somehow not new to us. These are common to our society. Too common that others condemn them too much. But do we really care that much to these people? Do we really know their lives too well? By this discussion lets get to know them more.This kind of relationship, although different from what our society usually see, are experiencing also similar issues a typical man and woman relationship are experiencing. However there are also unique issues that this kind of relationship are facing including discrimination, being openly gay, marriage (and the right to marry), spirituality, and children. Being openly gay can be difficult, especially when gay men or women can lose their family over their decision to come out. It is equally difficult given our social climate, where it is still stigmatized. In addition, our government has not recognized gay individuals or couples people with rights or civil liberties such as marriage or even insurance. In any relationship, there is discussion of whether or not to marry. In a gay relationship, there are more obstacles, such as whether or not they can legally marry. Also, if a couple travels to a state where gay marriage is legalized, they return home to have none of these rights granted.

This brings up the issue of remaining married. Some couples have to pick up their lives and move to keep their legal relationship status, which is something a straight individual rarely has to think of just to be married.Many couples struggle with religion and cultural diversity. For example, it is well known that the Bible sees homosexuality as a "sin." Some gay individuals struggle with religion and their sexual orientation. When in a religious relationship, being together can consistently be seen as a label of sin. Some individuals will also consider converting faiths to one which will accept them. It can be difficult to manage families, culture, and religion when two individuals combine these strong aspects of their lives. Being gay does not mean two individuals cannot have the desire to have children or the opportunity to have children. Gay parents have to fight an uphill battle against prejudice and stereotypes merely to have children or have a family of their own. In many places, it is illegal to adopt children or serve as foster parents. Artificial insemination, surrogacy, overseas adoptions, and artificial insemination procedures are all options. Gay couples also must manage social prejudice. Kissing or holding hands in public can cause a stir. Our government and society has not recognized gay individuals or couples as equal rights' citizens. Source: http://www.examiner.com/article/gay-relationship-series-common-issues-gay-relationships According to an article in the website : courtpsychologist.com , Although men in our society are socialized to value independence, assertiveness, emotional stoicism, leadership, and achievement (Ossana, 2000; Levant, 1995), gay men (and lesbians) are substantially less conforming to prescribed gender roles in childhood, so gay men can range from stereotypically male to androgynous to feminine in mannerisms, needs, habits, and preferences. Kurdek (1987) found the self-concepts of gay men included more tenderness, compassion, and warmth of expression than those of heterosexual men, but equivalent amounts of assertiveness and leadership. Still, the challenges facing gay men in relationships can largely stem from the necessity of each partner dealing with his own male socialization and that of his lover. The most troublesome themes are: 1. Independence/dependence (autonomy) Gay relationships often involve two men who are each more comfortable with independence than dependence, more comfortable with individual initiative than with sharing, more selfish than

unselfisheach more comfortable with looking out for his own interests. While this similarity has some advantages, especially at first, in the longer run it can make more difficult the necessary deepening of intimacy, interdependence, and emotional and spiritual connection. 2. Competition (aggression) Men are hard-wired and socialized for aggression and pushing for their self-centered agendas. They see competition, pointed teasing, and winning as good and non-destructive. They more often use cutting off, denial, and compartmentalization as defenses against losing control. Gay men can find these qualities reverberating in their relationships. On the other hand, some gay men have experienced such harsh aggression in childhood that they have abandoned or suppressed this aspect of their own natures and have difficulty handling or interpreting correctly the aggressiveness of their partner. Learning to seek win-win or taking turns strategies is crucial, as is learning when and how to cut off emotional escalation. 3. Dominance/submission (leadership) Men seek and enjoy leadership, and they value being trusted to do the right thing. They have been socialized to view submission, giving in, as weak. Further, they typically lead toward what is their own best interest, not the interests of the group, and they assume the other person is doing the same. On the other hand, men often have had the experience of team sports, which includes power-sharing. Becoming comfortable with co-leadership is crucial to gay relationships, and it is much more to be sought than allowing the relationship to devolve into a rigid, predictable dominance-submission dynamic.

4. Sex (lust) Heterosexual and gay men can engage in sex too quickly and frequently in a relationshipboth to satisfy erotic needs and to feel accepted and important. When this happens, they bond only at the sexual level, making deeper commitment and connection more difficult and less a priority. Men can also use sex to gloss over hurts and fears which really require deeper, more vulnerable discussion. On the receiving end, men may not be comfortable being treated as a sexual object, even temporarily, and they may be more uncomfortable taking than giving. 5. Emotional privacy (pride) Men can tend to keep hurt feelings to themselves, because revealing them, and the fact of the hurt itself, are considered weak. Men can also have more difficulty apologizing and admitting fault or selfishness. Compartmentalizing and stoicism on both parts can slow the development of trust and intimacy in a gay relationship. Men have been socialized to seek and expect in love relationships the complementary qualities and responses of women, and while a gay mans partner may have a more developed feminine side, still he is likely to be more a mirror image of the man than a complementary lover. Gay men may be caught off balance by their lovers independence, competition for leadership and control, discomfort with receiving, aggression in conflicts, sexual assertiveness, and lack of openness and vulnerability. Also, most gay men have grown up in families where they witnessed how a woman loves and copes with a male partner, for better or worse, but not how a man loves and copes with a man. This means that most gay men in relationships are pioneers in a way, mutually finding their way with each other together. Finally, our society is less tolerant of cross-gender behavior for boys than for girls, so that gay boys have typically had less opportunity at finding a comfortable identity and social

persona. And in our society, being gay and being male have been seen as antithetical, leaving gay boys to feel literally in a no mans land. Being a gay man in our society means being a pioneer, and finding healthy gay role models and mentors is as important as finding support from heterosexual friends and loved ones. Lesbian Relationships Kurdek (1987) found that the self-concepts of lesbians include more instrumentality (focus, assertiveness) than those of heterosexual women but equal amounts of expressiveness, so that gay women are likely to be less conforming to gender roles and more androgynous and to be varied in their manner, habits, and preferences. Yet in many aspects they are hard-wired and socialized as women, and they have been exposed to more traditional female role-models in relationships. They have seen how men love and cope with women, for better or worse, but not how women deal with women romantically. Women in our culture are socialized to suppress and deny anger and criticism, to seek and value intimacy and commitment in relationships, to put a higher priority on meeting others needs, to be sensitive, nurturing, and unselfish, and to be nonaggressive and noncompetitive. While gay men may have to work through issues such as competition and sexual primacy early in their relationships, lesbians may tend toward enmeshment or fusion, where the emphasis is on closeness to the point of blurring individual boundaries. Krestan and Bepko (1980) have speculated that, in the face of societal oppression, lesbians in a relationship can form a two against the world stance. While gay men may experience relationships breaking up too quickly before a deeper connection has been achieved, lesbians can sometimes find themselves lost, trapped, or suffocating in a relationship where safety or mutual reassurance take priority over individual expression and fulfillment shared with each other. Working through issues around independence/dependence (autonomy) is crucial for lesbian as well as gay male couples. Lesbians may subordinate the sexual aspect of their relationship to the aspects of safety,

peace, and cooperation, particularly if one or both partners have been sexually abused or traumatized. Lesbian couples have sex less often than gay male couples and heterosexual couples, regardless of relationship duration. However, 75% of lesbians express preference for a monogamous relationship, and lesbians report equal or greater sexual satisfaction compared with heterosexual women. As Ossana (2000) has stated, ...lesbians may place primary value on emotional relatedness when choosing a partner, which may subsequently lead to problems with boundary maintenance and sexual desire. Gay men, on the other hand, may emphasize sexual attractiveness when choosing a partner, which may subsequently contribute to problems with emotional intimacy. Overall, gays and lesbians are assessed as average to above average on psychological tests of personality and psychopathology, and thus are generally psychologically healthy individuals. All intimate relationships, however, require adjustment, learning, and accommodation, and those of gays and lesbians present special challenges while offering unique opportunities for understanding and validation. Source : http://www.courtpsychologist.com/pdf/gaylesbian_relationships.pdf

HOUSE BILL 2352 An Act Amending and Expanding the Coverage of Article 333 ,Chapter One Title Eleven of Act No. 3815 ,Otherwise Known As The Revised Penal Code and Repealing Article 334 Chapter One, Title Eleven of Act No. 3815,Otherwise Known As the Revised Penal Code and ,And For Other Purposes With this proposed bill of Albay Congressman Edcel Lagman, aggrieved spouses can now take legal action against the guilty spouse who committed same-sex adultery/concubinage. In an interview, Lagman stated th The commandment Thou shall not commit adultery' which according to Lagman carries a moral imperative not only for men and women but also for the

LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community and develop gender equality," Lagman said in filing what he called "My Husband's Lover Bill," named after a famous tv series. House Bill 2352 seeks to amend Article 333 of the Revised Penal Code (Crimes AgainstChastity) by broadening the scope of what constitutes adultery.Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. therein, expressed backing for the bill, saying this will bring "equal rights and equal responsibilities between the genders.According to Lagman, there is no crime committed under the present law if a married woman engages in a sexual activity with another woman, or a married man engages in sexual activity with another man and that The law as it now stands only provides a cause of action against men and women who carry on extra marital affairs with full knowledge that their lovers are married. With the amendments, there can now be a cause of action for gay and/or lesbian lovers. If this bill passes, legal recourse can now be had by an aggrieved spouse against her husband's gay lover and/or his wife's lesbian lover," Lagman added. Lagman, a lawyer, said he had been consulted by clients who were left without legal action for their erring husbands and wives because there is no law that punishes such extra-marital relationships.The current law on adultery punishes a married woman who has intercourse with a man other than her husband, while a married man who engages in sexual activity with a woman other than his wife may be charged with concubinage.Lagman said the bill will also empower the LGBT community.Lawyer Ariel Inton Jr., a former Quezon City councilor, who heads a group of lawyers advocating the rights of LGBT community, expressed support for the measure. Various women's groups are also backing the bill, according to Lagman.

http://cdnimages.abs-cbnnews.com/graphics/MHL.pdf http://www.interaksyon.com/article/68202/albay-congressman-files-my-husbands-lover-bill