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.


Partners Task Force for Gay & Lesbian Couples
Demian, director    206-935-1206    demian@buddybuddy.com    Seattle, WA    Founded 1986

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U.S. Federal Laws for the Legally Married
The U.S. General Accounting Office Does the Numbers
© October 23, 2005, Demian


Although the marriage contract is governed by state law, the federal government uses marital status as the qualification for more than 1,049 federally regulated rights and responsibilities.

The so-called “Defense of Marriage Act” changes the role of the federal government to also define legal marriage, a state right under the U.S. Constitution, and block same-sex couples from full citizenship, should any state decide to offer legal marriage.

The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) was asked by congressional members to compile a list of U.S. federal laws which are affected by marital status. The results of their first study was completed on January 31, 1997.

The GAO subsequently did a second search for the federal laws that are triggered by legal marriage. In December 31, 2003, it identified a total of 1,138 federal statutory provisions classified to the United States Code in which marital status is a factor in determining or receiving benefits, rights, and privileges.

      List of Federal Marriage Laws - 2003

      List of Federal Marriage Laws - 1997

Partners Task Force also compiled a list in 2003 of federal regulations by searching various government databases:

      Partners List of
      U.S. Federal Regulations Triggered by Legal Marriage - 2003


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