Straight Spouses of Gays and Lesbians Advocate Same-Sex Marriage

09/14/09 AP:

''We are the unacknowledged victims of the victims of homophobia,'' said Amity Pierce Buxton, the founder of the Straight Spouse Network, a New Jersey-based support and advocacy group with 52 U.S. chapters. ''When gays and lesbians feel they have to get married to be accepted and to have kids, that hurts not only gays and lesbians, but straight spouses and kids'' ... Buxton, whose 1991 book, ''The Other Side of the Closet,'' is considered the definitive work on the topic, estimates there are as many as 2 million gay men and lesbians in the United States are or have been in heterosexual marriages. About seven out of every 10 involve women married to gay men, she said.