During the conceptualization of the dissertation, my committee discussed how many years would be considered long-term. The consensus is if two romantic partners are together for more than two years, they are in a long-term relationship. When I started building the proposal, I also noted the same length of time for the middle-aged gay male romantic partners.

Then in the first or second round of revision, how we defined “long-term” turned into an active discussion. While two years seem reasonable for straight and most definitely monogamous couples, are they still reasonable in the context of a gay male non-monogamous couple? It is only an one year difference, but can we say one-year is long-term for gay couples, regardless whether they are monogamous or non-monogamous?

My committee ultimately settled that one year is acceptable for long-term in gay male romantic relationships. In my dissertation study, I stated that the inclusion criteria or eligible participants will be middle-aged adult gay men in partnered relationships that have been roughly one year or otherwise longer-term CNM relationships. If you know any gay couples who have been in a long-term, or at least one-year or more, please feel free to point them this way. My dissertation recruitment is still ongoing. Thank you!