The designers of GEDCOM did not allow for the possibility of same sex relationships. That does not mean that same sex relationship information cannot be stored in a Gedcom file. The GEDCOM specification is designed to allow extensions by application developers. However, the problem with these 'application extensions' is that because they are not defined in the GEDCOM spec, other applications may not recognise them. That said, some extensions to GEDCOM may become well-known over time, and may be taken up by different genealogy applications, in which case they may effectively become de facto standards themselves. Also, even if same sex relationships were supported in the GEDCOM spec, it would not follow from this that every genealogy application that supports GEDCOM would be able to make use of same sex relationship information. Genealogy applications are expected to ignore any GEDCOM data that they do not support (which is why it is always desirable to know not just whether an application supports GEDCOM, but how much of it they support).
When you export to a Gedcom file in Family Historian, you are given 4 choices in the export options dialog as regards how to handle same sex relationships. The choices and their meanings are described in the table below. When trying to decide which option to use, bear in mind that if you are exporting a Gedcom file for import into a genealogical program which does not support same sex relationships, that program will not recognise the same sex relationships, whatever option you choose. Also - as we have seen, genealogy applications are supposed to simply ignore any parts of a Gedcom file that they cannot load for any reason. So whatever option you choose, the worst that should happen is that some other genealogy application might, when it loads the Gedcom file you exported, fail to recognise that certain individuals have a same sex relationship.
| Include in Asymmetric Format (Recommended) |
The exported file will contain same sex relationships (if any)
recorded in a format which will be accepted by Family Historian
from version 4 onwards, and also by some of the other more
commonly-used genealogy applications, such as Family Tree Maker
- which is why it is recommended. Advantages: Same sex relationships are included. Will load without errors, and the same sex relationships will be recognised, by some of the more commonly-used genealogy applications. Family Historian (version 4 onwards) will also load and recognise same sex relationships recorded in this way. Disadvantages: Many genealogy applications will not recognise the same sex relationships and will treat them as errors. In this format, same sex partners are not treated the same way (see note). Note for GEDCOM experts: This method of recording same sex information, does not conform precisely to the GEDCOM spec. The GEDCOM spec only allows for one HUSB (husband) and one WIFE tag in any Family record. The approach used here is to maintain this requirement, but to drop the requirement that a HUSB tag can only be used to link to a male, and WIFE tag can only be used to link to a female. Instead, a 'WIFE' can now be male, and a 'HUSB' can now be female. So, in a same sex relationship with two men, one of the men must be tagged as 'WIFE'. In a same sex relationship with two women, one of the women must be tagged as 'HUSB'. |
|---|---|
| Include in Symmetric Format |
The exported file will contain same sex relationships (if any) recorded in a way that treats both partners the same way in a same sex relationship. This format is used by Family Historian internally. You are recommended to use this option only if you know that
the exported Gedcom file is intended for use with a genealogy
program which you happen to know uses this approach. Although,
as stated, Family Historian uses this approach internally, it
isn't actually necessary to use this approach when exporting, if
you are planning to give your file to a Family Historian user,
as Family Historian (from version 4 onwards) will accept all of
the various formats. Advantages: Same sex relationships are included. Will load without errors, and the same sex relationships will be recognised, by Family Historian from version 4 onwards. In the future, may also be accepted by other genealogy applications if this approach becomes a de facto standard. In this format, unlike the Asymmetric format, same sex partners are treated the same way (see note below). Disadvantages: Versions of Family Historian earlier than version 4 will not recognise the same sex relationships, and will treat any recorded same sex relationships as errors. Other genealogy applications may do likewise. Note for GEDCOM experts: This approach also does not conform precisely to the GEDCOM spec. Nevertheless it represents a natural evolution from it, and may in the future become more widely used. The GEDCOM spec only allows for one HUSB (husband) and one WIFE tag in any Family record. The Symmetric approach is to modify this requirement, to allow two HUSB tags, or two WIFE tags, as valid alternatives, in a Family record. It then remains the case that only males can be linked with a HUSB tag, and only females can be linked with a WIFE tag. |
| Include in Strict Gedcom Format |
This option allows same sex relationships to be included in a
Gedcom file, and encoded in a way that conforms strictly to the
GEDCOM 5.5.1 specification. Advantages: Conforms exactly to the GEDCOM spec, and same sex relationships are included. Will load without errors in all versions of Family Historian, and the same sex relationships will be recognised by Family Historian from version 4 onwards. Disadvantages: Versions of Family Historian earlier than version 4 will not recognise the same sex relationships, and it is likely that other genealogy programs also won't recognise them. Note for GEDCOM experts: To implement this option while sticking precisely to the GEDCOM spec, Family Historian uses special tags called "User-Defined Tags", prefixed by an underscore character, for the second spouse in same sex Family records. These tags are valid and allowed for in the GEDCOM spec. But there is a strong likelihood that applications other than Family Historian will not recognise them. |
| Exclude |
All same sex relationships will be removed from the exported file. If you have a Family record with children, say, and a same sex couple as parents, the second parent will be unlinked from the Family record; but the first parent, and the children, will all remain linked. So the change is as small as possible. Advantages: Conforms exactly to the GEDCOM spec Disadvantages: Same sex relationship information has been excluded from the Gedcom file. |