Welcome to Partners Task Force for Gay & Lesbian Couples © 2007, Partners Our Mission A Short History Awards Presented to this Web Site Publications in which Our Writings have Appeared How You Can Help •  Our Mission Partners Task Force for Gay & Lesbian Couples An international resource for same-sex couples, Partners is dedicated to the proposition that all families deserve equal treatment. Partners supports the diverse community of committed gay and lesbian partners through a variety of media. The Partners Web site contains more than 400 essays, surveys, legal articles and resources on legal marriage, ceremonies, domestic partner benefits, relationship tips, parenting, and immigration. •  A Short History Founded in 1986, Partners provides information, support, and advocacy for same-sex couples and those who serve them. Gay and lesbian couples are families who need and deserve the same rights and privileges accorded opposite-sex married couples. To that end, the Task Force asserts the right of same-sex couples to marry and to be recognized as domestic partners due equal benefits and treatment. For decades, the gay and lesbian community paid little attention to its coupled members. Our media and organizations were largely singles-oriented. Family issues were considered the exclusive political turf of right-wing preachers. It was within this context that we created Partners Newsletter for Gay and Lesbian Couples. The journal evolved into the quarterly Partners Magazine. After seven years, the periodical was discontinued and Partners focused on publishing special issues and videos. In 1988, recognizing the lack of information on same-sex couples, we conducted the first major national study of same-sex couples in a decade. [See the Survey Report.] Among the fascinating, myth-busting results: Fully 71 percent of the couples had experienced some form of discrimination as a couple. Parents and the church were the least supportive elements in their lives. An academic presentation of key findings from this survey appears in a couples-oriented issue of the Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services (Vol. 1, #2, 1994) and in Social Services for Gay and Lesbian Couples (Lawrence Kurdick, ed., 1994), both from Haworth Press. Full results are available only from Partners. [See Orders Page.] In 1996, Partners produced The Right to Marry, a video documentary based on the dire need for equality that was revealed by our national survey. This was the first documentary about the struggle for legal marriage in the U.S. The video featured interviews with Rev. Mel White, Evan Wolfson, Phyllis Burke Richard Mohr, Kevin Cathcart, Faygele benMiriam, Benjamin Cable-McCarthy, and Susan Reardon. It is available as a 7 min. excerpt on Demian’s Film & Video Projects archive DVD. The original original 72-min. video is now out-of-print. Since March 1995, the task force has placed extensive information on the Internet. Anyone with net access and a Web browser can view the Web site [www.buddybuddy.com] and download more than 400 articles of resources and data on same-sex couples. More than 20 years of interviewing same-sex couples, news gathering, and survey research have shaped the ideology of the Task Force. These ideas are promoted through the Task Force’s electronic communications, publications, video productions, and frequent contact with the nation’s media. The Task Force has primarily been the work of its founder/directors, Steve Bryant and Demian, who has a doctorate in education. Steve and Demian are nationally recognized for their activism and educational work. They frequently addressed same-sex couples’ issues on radio, television, and in the gay and mainstream press. Steve left the group in 2002, and Demian continues as director. •  Awards Presented to this Web Site Four Star Rating from Magellan January 1996 Rainbow Award September 1996 & December 1996 Freedom Award from Shaw & Janes’ freedom.co.uk March 1996 Best 1,001 Web Sites listed by PC Computing Magazine December 1996 Best of the Internet for Gays & Lesbians! from J. Stahl May 1996 Editor’s Choice selected by Chatelaine Connects Online Magazine January 1997 Internet Excellence Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Disabled Veterans of America May 1997 Best of the Web Lesbianmoms & Gaydads United September 1997 Pride Award Alternatives Pride Emporium February 1998 Very Best Content on the Web selected by The Password June 1998 Gay & Lesbian Key Resource Links2Go July 1998 Pic of the Day GayPage Award July 28, 1998 Black Claw Award for Service International Guild of Gay Webmasters October 1998 Pride Pal Award Pride Pal January 1999 Members’ Choice Equality Project February 1999 Featured on NeatLinks March 1999 Editor’s Choice selected by Chatelaine Connects Online Magazine Family Surf Sites July 1999 Featured Site Study Web “Family Science: Relationships” section September 1999 Cyber Pick Alternative Family Web site December 1999 Alternative Family Magazine March/April 2000 Britannica Internet Guide Award selected One of the Best on the Internet January 2000 Award of Excellence selected by GLBT Grafix Shop October 2000 Award for Excellence in design & content from Gay-Days October 2000 September 2003 Power in Pride Award from PrideAward September 2003 Extreme Gay Web Award “easy navigation, quick loading, a plus for the gay community” September 2003 Diamond Web Award from MyGayWeb October 2003 5 Star Goodwill Gold Award from the Bi Men Network August 2004 Award of Excellence “One of the best educational resources on the Web” from StudySphere June 2006 •  Publications in which Our Writings have Appeared Partners Task Force has been extensively quoted on issues such as legal marriage and domestic partner benefits in many newspapers (NY Newsday, Seattle Times, etc.) and journals (Personnel Journal, etc.). Our articles and lists have been reprinted in numerous journals (“Employee Benefits Practices” from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, “Domestic Partner Benefits: An employer’s guide” from the Thompson Publishing Group). Besides being cited in scores of books, magazine, research articles, and Web sites, Steve Bryant and Demian have contributed original articles to the following: America’s Diverse Cultures edited by Jane Adams, August 2004; Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 4050 Westmark Drive, Box 1840, Dubuque, Iowa 52004; 563-589-1146; fx 563-589-1038       Article: Most Compelling Reasons for Legal Marriage by Demian Family and Friends Magazine, February 2000; A&P Publications, 1332 Whitewater, Memphis, TN 38117; 901-682-2669       Article: Legal Precautions, page 49 Hero Magazine, issue #3, 1999; Hero Magazine, 8581 Santa Monica Blvd., #430, West Hollywood, CA, 90069; 800-464-9229       Article: Marrying Aparteid, page 42 SIECUS Report, April 1998 (vol. 26, #4); SIECUS Report, 130 West 42nd St., #350, New York, NY 10036-7802; 212-819-9770 x314       Article: Terms of Same-Sex Endearment:       Language has the power to define the dream of equality, page 10 GoodLife: Mastering the art of everyday living, Utne Reader, edited by Helen Coredes, Jay Walljasper (1997), Utne Reader, 1624 Harmon Place, Minneapolis, MN 55403; 800-880-8863       Article: Marriages that Dare Not Speak Their Name, page 31 Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, Vol. 1, #2, Lawrence Kurdick, ed. (1994); Haworth Press, 10 Alice St., Binghamton, NY 13904-1580; 800-342-9678       Article: Relationship Characteristics of American Gay and Lesbian Couples:       Findings from a National Survey, page 101       [Full results are available only from Partners. See Orders Page] Social Services for Gay and Lesbian Couples, Lawrence Kurdick, ed. (1994); Haworth Press, 10 Alice St., Binghamton, NY 13904-1580; 800-342-9678.       Article: Relationship Characteristics of American Gay and Lesbian Couples:       Findings from a National Survey, page 101       [Full results are available only from Partners. See Orders Page.] Lesbian and Gay Marriage: Private commitments, public ceremonies, edited by Suzanne Sherman (1992), Temple University Press, Philadelphia PA 19122       Article on Steve Bryant and Demian’s relationship and politics, page 72 OutLook, National Lesbian & Gay Quarterly, #5 Summer, (1989); (journal now defunct), San Francisco, CA       Article: Questions for Couples: the results, page 86 Utne Reader, #42 — The Case Against Divorce (Nov/Dec, 1990); Utne Reader, 1624 Harmon Place, Minneapolis, MN 55403; 800-880-8863       Article: Are You Two Still Together? 1991 New Age Sourcebook, (1991); New Age Journal, 342 Western Ave, Brighton, MA 02135; 617-787-2005       Article: Coping in a Straight World, page 24 •  How You Can Help Please help us continue this effort, as well as to generate new projects. Here is how you can assist us: Donate to Partners Purchase from the Sweet Corn Shop All contents © 2007, Demian The Sweet Corn Shop    Products that affirm self-esteem and social equality.    A smart variety of Bumper Stickers and Buttons    for political impact, plus Mugs and Teddy Bears.    Purchases help support Partners’ efforts.