Were you born gay or did you choose it? The lesbian dating site Pink Sofa recently conducted a poll and out of more than 5,000 respondents, more than 60% believe they were born lesbian or bisexual. Only six percent believe their environment caused them to be gay. What do you think?

Read More:

• Is Being Gay a Choice?
• What does science have to say? What causes homosexuality?

The question I get emailed the most is people wondering, "Am I a lesbian?" The second most common email is people sending me a list of behaviors from their co-worker, classmate or friend and they want me to answer the question, "Is she interested in me?" Of course this is not a question I can answer. Only the other person can answer that. But there certainly are clues you can look for. Is she interested in you? Let's find out!
_{© Dalia Drulia}

Dear Lesbian Life:
I am a 31 year old first generation heterosexual (but bi-friendly) Mexican woman. I grew up here in Venice California and I currently live with my boyfriend. I am a choir director and music teacher at two different Catholic parishes. I am very surprised that Proposition 8 passed and I am so touched with the peaceful protests that have been happening. Especially the one at the Mormon temple, it's about time someone stirred up their bubble!

I am curious to know if the gay community has ever proposed making civil unions equal to marriage, or to create a new "word" for their "marriages." I seem to find that many religious people are hung up on the actual word, and not the union, or so they say.

Dear Straight Ally,

Thanks for your support and for writing in. Actually, you bring up a really good question. I will do my best to answer it.

Why don’t we just call marriage something else, like civil union or domestic partnership? That’s a very good idea and some gay and lesbian people do support that. But I don’t and here’s why.

Even if we did create a federal civil union that had all the rights of marriage, that would not be enough. Why? Because we would be creating a separate class of citizenship.

In fact, a study from the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission found that even with the same rights, civil unions are not equal to marriage. The report found civil unions "perpetuate unacceptable second-class legal status." ...keep reading...
_{©Audra Albrecht}

Tough economic times doesn't mean you need to forgo romancing your girl. Last night my partner and I went on a date. We hit up a high end restaurant's happy hour for inexpensive food and discounted drinks. Then stopped for desert at a wonderful new chocolate store. For an evening out on the town, we only spent $40. We could have done it even cheaper without alcohol. But money wasn't really the point. The point was getting out of the house and spending quality time together, and taking the time to reconnect. Making time for dates and romance is very important no matter how long you've been in a relationship. Here are some more tips for long time lesbian relationship success.

• Fall Date Ideas

_{© Photo by Mia}