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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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Laws that are triggered by legal marriage vary by state. The federal system also has many more laws that are activated by a legal marriage. These laws are often made specifically to protect families in times of crisis or change. Same-sex couples form families identical to opposite-sex couples. There is no logical reason, nor is there any rational state interest, to deny same-sex families the protection that legal marriage provides. This is why so many state courts have found in favor of offering legal marriage to same-sex couples.
Some opponents of legal marriage claim that tradition must be upheld. However, they only cite recent traditions and not other traditions that contradict their case. Legal marriage is a civil contract that is made between an adult couple and the state. It is not a “sacred” or “holy” institution. A marriage license does not require any church or state blessing to be valid. In fact, the U.S. Constitution forbids any religion from ruling the laws of the country. This is known as the concept of “separation of church and state.” No church should ever have the power to say who is allowed to have a civil marriage.
It is worth noting that many churches and temples offer marriage ceremonies, and support legal marriage for same-sex couples.
Massachusetts is the first U.S. state to offer legal marriage to same-sex couples. Currently, all other states, and the federal system, forbid legal marriage to same-sex couples.
The following list gives a sample of the numbers of laws that are triggered by legal marriage, and represent the number of family protections that are denied same-sex couples.
Additions are welcome. Please include citations and source locations.
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