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. |
Deserving Marriage Testifying for Same-sex Couples by John G. Wilkinson © 2000, John G. Wilkinson
Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the House, my name is John Wilkinson. I represent the Legal Marriage Alliance of Washington. Our organization formed to encourage citizen discussion about same-sex marriage. We believe that individuals who are prepared to devote the love, commitment, and sacrifice necessary to build families, deserve the right to legal marriage. The institution of civil marriage recognizes and rewards the value of committed relationships to individuals and to society at large. Civil marriage carries with it both rights and responsibilities — not only between the married partners, but between the married partners and society. As such, marriage should not be denied to same-sex couples. The Legal Marriage Alliance supports families, and recognizes that families build our communities. House Bill 2262, however, is an attack on families. For no reason other than outright intolerance, it seeks to deny the recognition of marriage licenses to a whole class of Washington citizens — citizens who are working hard to build strong families, in some cases to raise children, and to contribute to their society. H.B. 2262 would discriminate against same-sex families who are contributing economic growth and social stability to our state. I ask you to reject H.B. 2262. As pointed out by prior testimony, the consequences of the bill would be disruptive and expensive to the state and to the private sector. But worst of all, H.B. 2262 does not even do what it claims to do. Same-sex marriage is already unrecognized by the laws of Washington; the passage or failure of this bill will not change that. What the bill does do is to codify intolerance. As a man in a 25-year-long committed relationship, I find the language of this bill especially offensive, by its blatant attempt to equate my loving, committed relationship with the criminal behaviors of incest and bigamy. We should be encouraging the discussion about civil marriage, not using expanded state power to stifle it. We should be delighted to find agreement that families are important; that society and individuals do benefit from the commitment and responsibility of long-term relationships. Please reject this divisive, expensive, harmful bill. Thank you.
John G. Wilkinson
January 31, 1996
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