Adapting the Marriage Checkup for Gender, Romantic, and Sexual Minority Relationships: Responses From 18 LGBTQ Partners Completing a Pilot Program

Abstract

Eighteen lesbian, gay, and transgender partners (gender, romantic, and sexual minority, acronym GRSM, for this article) responded to two questions about their experience with the Marriage Checkup (MC): (1) the helpfulness of the checkup and (2) what they would like added to the checkup. Participants included six lesbians, six gay males, and six individuals in relationships where at least one partner identified as gender diverse. On the helpfulness of the checkup, the Likert scale offered three choices: helpful, a mix of helpful and not helpful, and not helpful. Of 18 participants, 17 chose “helpful.” One participant chose “a mix of helpful and not helpful.” Regarding what to add to the MC topics, top responses were “defining and managing roles,” “coping with discrimination and prejudice,” and “handling relationship disclosures.” In responses to open-ended questions, participants explored both topics in more depth. Two topics emerged to add to the MC: aging and adding additional time.