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Archive Version of
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. |
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The Tasmanian registration status was established in 2004. It is the first Australian state to offer a registration status for same-sex couples and other “caring” relationships. By offering a domestic partnership registration status, instead of legal marriage, the Australian state of Tasmania created an apartheid, with one set of laws pertaining to opposite-sex couples, and another for same-sex couples. [See Marrying Apartheid] While this status offers an improved range of protections for same-sex couples who live in Tasmania, it contains many gaps. While the Relationships Act recognizes a range of “significant relationships,” including those between a person and a long-term care giver, or elderly friends who live together, no “caring” relationships have been registered. The Tasmanian “Relationships” status is recognized in Great Britain, which has its own registration status. Gay sex was illegal in Tasmania until 1997, when the anti-sodomy law was repealed (earlier reports placed the law change in 1994). For the privilege of gaining access to the less-than-equal status, a couple needs to fork over a fee of $200. As of January 15, 2006, a mere 58 couples registered. Only one male couple un-registered. As of April 4, 2006, 63 couples have registered.
The Relationships Act provides for recognition and registration of two types of relationships: significant and caring.
For a vast survey, please see our:
Legal Marriage Report: Global Status of Legal Marriage Return to: Domestic Partnership Benefits
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© 2022, Demian None of the pages on this Web site may be reproduced by any form of reproduction without permission from Partners, with the exception of copies for personal, student, and non-commercial use. Please do not copy this article to any Web site. Links to this page are welcome. |