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. |
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. Since March 1995, Partners has placed extensive information on the Internet. More than 20 years of interviewing same-sex couples, news gathering, and survey research have shaped our ideology. These ideas are promoted through Partners’ electronic communications, publications, video productions, and frequent contact with the nation’s media. While the primary contacts to Partners, via phone and e-mail, has been couples, Partners has also been frequently contacted by counselors, clergy, business personnel staff, reporters, researchers, students, and government officials. Founded in 1986, Partners Task Force has primarily been the work of its founder/directors, Demian, who has a doctorate in education, and Steve Bryant. Steve and Demian are nationally recognized for their activism and educational work. They have frequently addressed same-sex couples’ issues on radio, television, as well as in the gay and mainstream press. Steve left Partners Task Force in 2002, and Demian continues as director. Demian has been active in gay liberation politics since the early 70s.
Several surveys conducted during the 90s concluded that more than 60 percent of the gay community was in a relationship. In spite of this constituency, 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 Partners Newsletter for Gay and Lesbian Couples was created. The monthly journal evolved into the bimonthly Partners Magazine. After seven years, the periodical was discontinued and Partners focused on publishing special issues and videos.
In 1988, recognizing the lack of current, scientific data on same-sex couples, Partners conducted the first major national study of same-sex couples in a decade. Among the fascinating, myth-busting results from the survey:
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. 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. The original original VHS tape is out-of-print. The Right to Marry now a 69-minute DVD.
For information, images and 7-minute excerpt please see: The Right to Marry.
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:
All contents © 2022, Demian
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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. |