When Love Lasts Forever: Male Couples Celebrate Commitment

This book is an excellent compilation of stories about gay men who have been in long term relationships. The stories are poignant, and the experience is broad and thought-provoking

Did you hear the one about two gay men who met in 1952 and have been happily together ever since? Did you hear the one about two men in Theological School in 1977 who didn't realize the other was gay until one evening when...? In this collection, those stories appear among 14 first-person accounts of male couples who met, spontaneously connected and have stayed together over the long-haul (anywhere from 10 to 47 years). Filled with tales of what drew these men together in the first place and what has kept them devoted, the collection makes its point about the possibilities of gay male commitment without any rhetoric or badgering. Stereotypes of all sorts fall apart in the face of the everyday realities of these men's stories -- including the one that gay men never age, since each story is accompanied by a photograph of the couple near the beginning of their relationship and one from the present day. To his credit, editor Merle Yost has gathered varied accounts that range over a wide spectrum of family origin, age and educational and economic levels. By the way, the book is beautifully produced and a pleasure to hold as the tales of love and devotion unfold.