Partners Task Force for Gay & Lesbian Couples is dedicated to the proposition that all families deserve equal treatment. Gay and lesbian couples are families who need, and deserve, the same rights and privileges accorded opposite-sex married couples.
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Founding Participating Authors Unsolicited Awards Presented to this Web Site Publications in Partners’ Articles Appear |
| Founding |
Life partners Steve Bryant and Demian originally founded Partners as a monthly newsletter in 1986.
By late 1990, it was reformatted into a bi-monthly magazine. In 1995, the print publication was foregone for publishing Partners as a Web site.
In 1988, Steve and Demian released their Partners National Survey of Lesbian & Gay Couples. the first major U.S. survey on same-sex couples in a decade.
In 1996, Demian directed “The Right to Marry”, a video documentary based on the dire need for equality that was made clear by our survey’s data. 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 of Partners since 2013. He stopped updating most of Partners articles in 2022, in order to finish his “Operating Manual for Same-Sex Couples: Navigating the rules, rites & rights”, which is now available on Amazon.
The Manual is based on the Partners Survey, his scores of couples interviews, 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.
He is now working on “Photo Stories by Demian”; book(s), based on his more than six decades as a photographer and author.
| Participating Authors |
Individuals
Neil Abercrombie, Representative
Michael Alvear
M.V Lee Badgett, Ph.D., Socioeconomic presenter
Rhett D. Baird, Rev.
William O. Beeman, professor
John Borneman, anthropology professor
Barbara Boxer, Senator
Keith A. Bradkowski - Federal Hearing Testimony
Bobbe J. Bridge, Justice
Steve Bryant, author, publisher
Ginger Bucklin
John Burbidge, former co-coordinator, Lesbian
& Gay Immigration Rights Task Force/Seattle
Peter S. Cahn, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, U. Oklahoma
Chris Caldwell
Kevin S.C. Chang, Judge, First Circuit Court, Hawaii
Amanda Cherrin, National Organization for Women
Alan J. Cohen, Ithaca Mayor
Dani Cone
Stephanie Coontz, historian professor
Dean Corren, Vermont Rep. - authored the pro-marriage bill
Robert Warren Cromey, Rector
Andrew Cuomo, New York State Governor
Steve Dasbach, Libertarian Party Chair
Demian, author, movie maker, publisher
Chris Dueñas, legal historian
William N. Eskridge, Jr.
Mary E. Fairhurst, Justice
Ed Fallon, Iowa Representative
Sam Farr, Representative
Russell D. Feingold, Senator
Dianne Feinstein, Senator
Tim Fisher
Barney Frank, Representative
Gretchen Freeman Cappio
Judy Gold
Josh A. Goldfoot, Socioeconomic presenter
Richard Goldstein, Village Voice Executive Editor
E.J. Graff
Chris Gregoire, Washington State Governor
Martin L. Haines, retired Burlington County assignment judge
Robert B. Hanson, Judge
Laurie Kain Hart, anthropology professor
Charles C. Haynes, senior scholar, First Amendment Center
Mitzi Henderson, PFLAG past-president
Frederick C. Hertz, attorney
Stephen J. Hyland, Esq.
Judith S. Kaye, Chief Judge
Thomas M. Keane Jr., Boston City Councilmember
Robert J. Kerrey, Senator
Kate Kendell, director National Center for Lesbian Rights
Edward M. Kennedy, Senator
John Kerry, Senator
Sheila Jackson Lee, Representative
Patrick Letellier
Ellen Lewin, anthropologist
John Lewis, Georgia Representative
Mildred Loving (On 40th Anniversary of Loving vs. Virginia.)
Mike Lowry, Washington State Governor
April Martin, Ph.D.
Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada
Gail Mathabane
Jim McDermott, Representative
Larry McFarland, M.Ed., L.C.M.H.C.
Mike McGinn, Mayor of Seattle
Ernie Merchant
David Mixner, political advisor
Richard D. Mohr, professor
Carol Moseley-Braun, Senator
Bob Moser - Southern Poverty Law Center, Intelligence Report
Ed Murray, Washington State Senator
Patty Murray, (WA-D) U.S. Senator
Bill Myers
Jerrold Nadler, Representative
Patricia Novotny, legal surveys
Barack Obama, U.S. president, Presidential Proclamation
Jamie Pedersen, Washington State Representative
Nancy Pelosi, Representative
Jim Prentice, Member of Parliament, Canada
Deb Price, reporter
Larry R. Peterson, Ph.D.
Louise Rafkin
Glen Retief
Kathleen Ritter, Ph.D.
Lynn Rivers, Representative
Philip de Rochambeau, Reverend Dr.
Eric Rofes, professor
Gabriel Rotello, reporter
Charles S. Robb, Senator
Jerry Sanders, San Diego Mayor
Michael Shernoff, MSW
Gwynne L. Skinner, legal surveys
Raymond A. Smith
Lavi S. Soloway, Former national coordinator,
Immigration Equality
Michael F. Stample, Ph.D., MFT
Andrew Sullivan, author
Keith W. Swain, psychology professor
Anthony Terndrup, Ph.D.
Rick Tompkins, 1996 Libertarian Candidate for President
Michael S. Wald, Professor
Patricia Nell Warren, author (The Front Runner)
John G. Wilkinson, co-creator of
Legal Marriage Alliance of Washington
Roger Winters, director of Legal Marriage Alliance of Washington
Evan Wolfson, lawyer, director, The Marriage Project
Senator Ron Wyden, Senator
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain
Organizations
ACLU, with intro by Rosie O’Donnell
ACLU, with intro by Shay Bilchik, president,
and CEO, Child Welfare League of America
ACLU, Florida
African National Congress
Alliance of Baptists
American Anthropological Association
American Psychological Association
Border -- Connections
Clergy for Fairness (open letters to Congress)
Hawai’i Council of Churches.
Indiana Civil Liberties Union
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs
National Organization for Women
People For the American Way
Quaker Support for Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
Religious Coalition for Equality - Washington
Religious Declaration on Marriage Equality -Connecticut
San Diego County Democratic Party Central Committee
Southern Poverty Law Center,
Intelligence Report: 30 Year Anti-Gay Movement
Unitarian Universalist
United Church, Ottawa, largest Protestant
Canadian denomination
U.S. Ministers (refuse to officiate until all can marry)
United States Congressional Budget Office, reports
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| Unsolicited Awards Presented to this Web Site |
Four Star Rating |
Rainbow Award |
Freedom Award |
Best 1,001 Web Sites |
Best of the Internet |
Editor’s Choice |
Internet Excellence |
Best of the Web |
Pride Award |
Very Best |
Gay & Lesbian |
Pic of the Day |
Black Claw Award |
Pride Pal Award |
Members’ Choice |
Featured on Award |
Editor’s Choice |
Featured Site |
Cyber Pick |
Britannica Internet |
Award of Excellence |
Award for Excellence |
Power in Pride |
Extreme Gay |
Diamond Web |
5 Star |
Award of Excellence |
4 Star Rating |
| Publications in Which Our Writings Appear |
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:
- 1991 New Age Sourcebook, (1991); New Age Journal, 342 Western Ave, Brighton, MA 02135; 617-787-2005
Article: Coping in a Straight World (page 24)
- America’s Diverse Cultures edited by Jane Adams, August 2004; Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 4050 Westmark Drive, Box 1840, Dubuque, Iowa 52004; 563-589-1146; fx 563-589-1038
Article: Most Compelling Reasons for Legal Marriage by Demian (page 81)
- Domestic Partner Benefits: An Employer’s Guide by Joseph S. Adams and Todd A. Solomon (2000), Thompson Publishing Group, 1725 K St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006, thompson.com
Sample Contracts: “Declaration of Marriage or Domestic Partnership,
and “Declaration of Termination of Marriage or Domestic Partnership”
(page 25).
- Employee Benefits: Practices (fourth quarter 1994), Article “Domestic Partner Benefits: Employer Considerations” by Melody A. Carlsen, CEBS, International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, Box 69, Brookfield, WI, 53008; 414-786-6700
Partners Task Force provided an extensive list of employers who offer
same-sex partner benefits; including private businesses, colleges,
governments, and unions (Appendix page 9).
- Family and Friends Magazine, February 2000; A&P Publications, 1332 Whitewater, Memphis, TN 38117; 901-682-2669
Article: Legal Precautions to Protect Your Relationship (page 49)
- GoodLife: Mastering the art of everyday living, Utne Reader, edited by Helen Coredes, Jay Walljasper (1997), Utne Reader, 1624 Harmon Place, Minneapolis, MN 55403; 800-880-8863
Article: Marriages that Dare Not Speak Their Name (page 31)
- Hero Magazine, issue #3, 1999; Hero Magazine, 8581 Santa Monica Blvd., #430, West Hollywood, CA, 90069; 800-464-9229
Article: Marrying Apartheid (page 42)
- Human Behavior in the Social Environment: A Multidimensional Perspective (June 26, 2009) by Jose Ashford, Craig LeCroy; Cengage Learning
Article: Focus on Multiculturalism: When Lesbian and Gay Couples Break Up (page 524)
- Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, Vol. 1, #2, Lawrence Kurdick, ed. (1994); Haworth Press, 10 Alice St., Binghamton, NY 13904-1580; 800-342-9678
Article: Relationship Characteristics of American Gay and Lesbian Couples:
Findings from a National Survey (page 101)
(Full survey results are available only from Partners Task Force.)
- Lesbian and Gay Marriage: Private commitments, public ceremonies, edited by Suzanne Sherman (1992), Temple University Press, Philadelphia PA 19122
Article: Stevie Bryant and Demian, Seattle, WA Article by Steve Bryant
and Demian on their relationship and politics (page 72)
- OutLook, National Lesbian & Gay Quarterly, #5 Summer, (1989); (journal now defunct), San Francisco, CA
Article: Questions for Couples: the results (page 86)
- Real Change (July 18, 2012)
Article: Yes on R-74 is a Vote for Marriage Equality by Demian
(Opinion page)
- SIECUS Report, April 1998 (vol. 26, #4); SIECUS Report, 130 West 42nd St., #350, New York, NY 10036-7802; 212-819-9770 x314
Article: Terms of Same-Sex Endearment:
Language has the power to define the dream of equality (page 10)
- Social Services for Gay and Lesbian Couples, Lawrence Kurdick, ed. (1994); Haworth Press, 10 Alice St., Binghamton, NY 13904-1580; 800-342-9678.
Article: Relationship Characteristics of American Gay and Lesbian Couples:
Findings from a National Survey (page 101)
(Full survey results are available only from Partners Task Force.)
- Utne Reader #42 — The Case Against Divorce (Nov/Dec, 1990); Utne Reader, 1624 Harmon Place, Minneapolis, MN 55403; 800-880-8863
Article: Are You Two Still Together?