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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. |
One of the most effective ways to educate large numbers of people regarding the freedom to marry is with public events that highlight the issues at stake. The gay pride parades and rallies held nationwide every year provide an excellent showcase. For a very modest investment of time and materials, you can have a strong, issue-oriented presence — one that commands the attention of parade goers and the broadcast media.
For the 1996 parade in Seattle, Steve Bryant, then co-director for Partners Task Force for Gay & Lesbian Couples, suggested that marriage-minded marchers carry placards — each sign stating a category of laws affected by legal marriage status. Both the Legal Marriage Alliance of Washington and the Lesbian Gay Immigration Rights Task Force/Seattle [now known as Immigration Equality] carried numerous signs of this nature. This very visible presence helped focus news coverage of Seattle’s Pride Day on legal marriage. Here are some examples of the signs: See our article Marriage Benefits List for a full rundown of sign options. Because the issue is legal marriage and not ceremonial, we recommend not staging mock (or real) weddings or similar ceremonies. As same-sex couples, we are not prevented from holding ceremonies. (See our Where to get a Religious Blessing for a long list of religious denominations that will officiate ceremonies.) We are, however, currently denied access to the state-regulated contract of legal marriage. This is the point that needs to be made.
The “Positive Role Models” sign takes the moral high ground. And that is truly the ground we stand on. Our families do benefit society and supporting our families is critical to the preservation of a free and healthy society. We all suffer from the withholding of legal marriage — a basic human right. It is only fair that all Americans should be treated equally.
“The Pledge of Allegiance says ‘… with liberty and justice for all.’
Photographs © 2003, Demian Images may not be reprinted without permission.
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