Timing of a First Romantic Union Among Sexual Minority Young Adults

Cohabitation and mar riage are crit i cal mile stones dur ing the tran si tion to adulthood; however, there is limited research on the timing of young adults' first samesex unions. There is some evidence that same-sex unions may be delayed, particularly for men. Further, formation of both same- and different-sex dating relationships, common among sexual minority young adults, may also extend to cohabitation and marriage. We used the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to predict the timing of a first romantic union, defined as a cohabitation or marriage, among sexual minor ity young adults. We then dis tin guished between women and men and the tim ing of a different-sex versus a same-sex union. Compared with heterosexual young adults, les bian and gay young adults entered a union at later ages (driven by men), whereas bisex ual young adults entered a union at youn ger ages (driven by women). Lesbian and gay young adults who entered a first union with a same-sex partner did so at later ages than those who entered a first union with a different-sex partner. Results suggest that patterns of sexual minority dating relationship formation might extend to unions.