LGBTQ marriages were legalized throughout all 50 states by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015. Since then, gay and lesbian couples have been entitled to marriage equality with their heterosexual peers.
With marriage equality, of course, comes divorce equality. However, there’s been an interesting trend that seems to be pretty much the same no matter where you happen to live in the world: Female couples are much more likely to divorce than male couples.
Lesbian marriages aren’t inherently unstable
The desire for marriage equality may have eclipsed the reality that marriage simply isn’t for everyone. Some lesbian women who married shortly after the Obergefell v. Hodges decision ended up divorced when they realized that their desire to marry stemmed from the fact that they wanted the recognition of their right to do so more than they really wanted to be married.
There’s also another factor that may be driving the disparity between lesbian divorces and gay male divorces: Women are, generally speaking, far more likely to act on their dissatisfaction with an unhappy marriage than men.
In heterosexual marriages, women initiate around 70% of all divorces. No longer constrained by social expectations, women are less likely to “stick it out” despite a partner’s infidelity, abuse, alcoholism, emotional immaturity, shiftlessness and other problems than men are. In a lesbian marriage, that drastically increases the odds of a split if the relationship starts to sour.
Whatever the reason for your divorce, you don’t owe anyone any explanations. You deserve to be happy. Experienced legal guidance can help you find an equitable path forward on your own.