Are Gay Couples Different Than Straight Ones?

Every member of the LGBT community has come across the question (or worse, the assumption) at some point: Are gay couples different from straight ones? Today, I'm armed with video evidence in the form of BuzzFeed's "The Weird Things Gay Couples Do," as well as a wealth of personal experience, to tell you that — surprise! — the answer is a resounding, "Nope." LGBT couples are just as adorable, weird, cranky, loving, and obnoxious on social media as all the straight couples out there. Haters to the left, if you please.

BuzzFeed's video features two men performing all the totally weird, super out-there things that gay couples do: Cooing over their dog, bickering about where to eat, farting in bed, and so much more. Those crazy gay people and their gay-people ways.

Wait. What's that you say? That sounds just like a heterosexual couple? Why, you're right, of course — those are things that het couples do, too. There are some slight variations, of course; as someone who dates both men and women, I can personally affirm, for example, that clothing choices become a significantly more fraught subject when you're in a same-sex relationship. There's nothing worse than showing up to a date with a lady and realizing that you're wearing the exact same outfit, even if it does give you the chance to compare shopping habits. Luckily, if you live together all you have to do is make the other person change, although choosing the loser of that particular skirmish is a whole new can of worms.

Similarly, deciding who foots the bill is way easier when you're on a heterosexual date; nobody ever realizes how much they rely on the typical gender-based dating script until suddenly you're left awkwardly trying to figure out who gets to treat whom on the first date. Don't even get me started on who gets to pay on anniversaries, because that involves an epic, Professor X-versus-Magneto-style battle of wills that's up to you and your partner. My last girlfriend and I spent more time covertly trying to steal the check from each other on our anniversary dinner than we actually did staring into each other's eyes and making all the progressive middle-aged women at the next table over coo about how cute we were.

In the major scheme of things, though, these are pretty minor differences — and it's important to note that they owe their existence to societal gender norms, rather than to any actual basic differences in LGBT people. So there you have it! LGBT couples really are the same as any other. Want to know the secret? It's because LGBT people are just like everyone else. Crazy, right?

Check out the video below:

Images: BuzzFeed Yellow/YouTube (2)