It may be beautiful, but everybody knows marriage isn’t easy.

Who pays the bills? Who works or stays home? Who unloads the dishwasher?

So what about gay marriage? Gay partnerships?

Yesterday, California was ringing with gay wedding bells, on its first full day of legal gay marriage. But gay marriage is not new anymore. Civil unions and long-term gay commitments have been around even longer.

So how does it work, day to day, down in the weeds, when it’s not “his and hers” but “his and his” or “hers and hers”?

This hour, On Point: Gay marriage, and how it actually works.

- Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Esther Rothblum, professor of women’s studies at San Diego State University and co-author of a new study on same-sex couples in Vermont.

Nanette Gartrell, professor of psychiatry at University of California at San Francisco. She has been researching lesbian families for 22 years.

Joe Kort, a practicing psychotherapist who runs gay men’s therapy and sexuality groups. He is author of “10 Smart Things Gay Men Can Do To Improve Their Lives.”

Tags: California, gay marriage, politics