Lesbian couples’ management of public-private dialectical contradictions Elizabeth A. Suter University of Denver Karla Mason Bergen College of Saint Mary Karen L. Daas St. Mary’s University Wesley T. Durham University of Southern Indiana ABSTRACT This study explores the processes by which a group of lesbian women report managing public-private dialectical contradic- tions at the external border between their relationship as a couple and networks, social norms, and laws. Specifically, 18 dyads and 2 individuals, all of whom had been in a committed relationship for at least 1 year, were interviewed about the rituals that are part of their relationship. Transcripts of the interviews were analyzed using grounded theory. Participants reported using the dialectic response strategies of integration and segmentation to manage the inclusion-seclusion and revelation-concealment dimensions of the public-private contraction. KEY WORDS: communication theory • couples • dialectics • grounded theory • homosexuality • lesbianism • nonreligious rites • social networks • social norms Journal of Social and Personal Relationships Copyright © 2006 SAGE Publications (www.sagepublications.com),Vol. 23(3): 349–365. DOI: 10.1177/0265407506064201 This research was partially funded by a Grant-in-Aid received by the first author from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Research Council. An earlier version of this article was presented to the National Communication Association, Miami Beach, FL, November 2003. All correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Elizabeth A. Suter, Department of Human Communication Studies, University of Denver, 2000 E. Asbury Ave., Denver, CO 80208, USA [e-mail: esuter@du.edu]. Valerie Manusov was the Action Editor on this article.