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Partners Task Force for Gay and Lesbian Couples Online from 1995-2022 Demian and Steve Bryant originally founded Partners as a monthly newsletter in 1986. By late 1990 it was reformatted into a bi-monthly magazine. Print publication was halted by 1995 when Demian published Partners as a Web site, which greatly expanded readership. In 1988, the Partners National Survey of Lesbian & Gay Couples report was published; the first major U.S. survey on same-sex couples in a decade. In 1996, Demian produced The Right to Marry, a video documentary based on the dire need for equality that was made clear by the data from the survey mentioned above. The video featured interviews with Rev. Mel White, Evan Wolfson, Phyllis Burke, Richard Mohr, Kevin Cathcart, Faygele benMiriam, Benjamin Cable-McCarthy, Susan Reardon, Frances Fuchs, Tina Podlodowski, and Chelle Mileur. Demian has been the sole operator during the last two decades of Partners. Demian stopped work on Partners Task Force in order to realize his other time-consuming projects, which include publishing the book “Operating Manual for Same-Sex Couples: Navigating the rules, rites & rights” - which is now available on Amazon. The book is based on the Partners Survey mentioned above, his interviews of scores of couples, and 36 years of writing hundreds of articles about same-sex couples. It’s also been informed by his personal experience in a 20-year, same-sex relationship. Demian’s other project is to publish his “Photo Stories by Demian” books based on his more than six decades as a photographer and writer. |
Of all the political efforts for equality, those that involve the rights of gay men and lesbians carry an extra burden. This extra weight is the anti-gay hatred which thrives in America. It is due, in large measure, to the ongoing efforts of the Catholic, Mormon and Evangelical Churches. Since the 1980s, these groups, and other right-wing, political organizations, have poured multi-millions into fighting our right to be custodians of children, to be domestic partners, and to protect our relationships with legal marriage recognition. Instead of recognizing our people and the families we form, these organizations see only sex. Instead of supporting our children and next of kin, they make false claims about our morality, and spread fear claiming we molest children. (Statistically, the majority of molestation is perpetrated by heterosexual men.) The struggle for access to legal marriage brings anti-gay rhetoric to the fore. We often find that while we talk about rights and responsibilities equality and fairness, anti-gay forces talk about morals and protecting the sanctity of institutions. The doctrines of equality and fairness does not stand a chance against the notion that we are — in their eyes — an abomination. So, it makes lots of sense to gather up those church groups which do not hold us in such low esteem, ask them to join in countering the “moral imperialists,” and start talking the language of spiritual equality.
The following practical tips and strategies for running a campaign are based on the evaluative report by Jonathan Duffy and Sally Steenland titled “The Faithful Divide Over Wedding Vows: A Profile of Michigan’s 2004 Battle Over Marriage Equality.” Their report was published by the Center for American Progress on May 2009. [Center for American Progress, 1333 H St. NW, Washington, DC 20005; 202-682-1611, fax 202-682-1867, - americanprogress.org site not responding]
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