Archive Version of
Partners Task Force for Gay and Lesbian Couples
Founded 1986. Online 1995-2022


Go here for a brief article on Partners History.
Demian, Sweet Corn Productions, demian@buddybuddy.com

Partners Task Force for Gay & Lesbian Couples
Demian, director    206-935-1206    demian@buddybuddy.com    Seattle, WA    Founded 1986

Notable
Events
Legal Marriage
Essays
Legal Marriage
Data
Ceremonial
Marriage
Domestic
Partnership
Legal
Necessities
Relationship
Tips
Immigration Couples
Chronicles
Parenting
Inspiration Orientation
Basics
Surveys Resource
Lists
Citation
Information
Welcome
(About)
Your Host Copyright
Policy
Link
Policies
Search
Site

Partners History

by Demian
© June 20, 2024, Demian



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.

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

Authors Who Allowed Us to Print Their Articles
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


  Unsolicited Awards Presented to this Web Site

Four Star Rating
from
Magellan
January 1996

Rainbow Award
from
Rainbow Awards
September 1996
December 1996

Freedom Award
from Shaw & Janes’
freedom.co.uk
March 1996

Best 1,001 Web Sites
listed by PC
Computing Magazine

December 1996


Best of the Internet
for Gays & Lesbians!

from
J. Stahl
May 1996

Editor’s Choice
selected by
Chatelaine Connects
Online Magazine

January 1997

Internet Excellence
from
Gay Lesbian Bisexual
Transgender Disabled
Veterans of America

May 1997

Best of the Web
from
Lesbianmoms &
Gaydads United

September 1997


Pride Award
from
Alternatives Pride
Emporium

February 1998

Very Best
Content on the Web

selected by
The Password
June 1998

Gay & Lesbian
Key Resource

from
Links2Go
July 1998

Pic of the Day
from
GayPage Award
July 28, 1998


Black Claw Award
for Service

from
International Guild of
Gay Webmasters

October 1998

Pride Pal Award
from
Pride Pal
January 1999

Members’ Choice
from
Equality Project
February 1999

Featured on Award
from
NeatLinks
March 1999


Editor’s Choice
selected by
Chatelaine Connects
Online Magazine
Family Surf Sites

July 1999

Featured Site
in the “Family Science:
Relationships” section
from
Study Web
September 1999

Cyber Pick
Alternative Family
Web site

December 1999
Alternative Family
Magazine

March/April 2000

Britannica Internet
Guide Award

“One of the Best
on the Internet”
selected by
Britannica Internet
January 2000


Award of Excellence
selected by
GLBT Grafix Shop
October 2000

Award for Excellence
in design & content
from Gay-Days
October 2000
September 2003

Power in Pride
Award

from
PrideAward
September 2003

Extreme Gay
Web Award

“easy navigation, quick loading,
a plus for the gay community”

September 2003


Diamond Web
Award

from
MyGayWeb
October 2003

5 Star
Goodwill Gold Award

from the
Bi Men Network
August 2004

Award of Excellence
“One of the best educational
resources on the Web”

from
StudySphere
June 2006

4 Star Rating
“For Educational Value”

“Huge amount of information
… well organized”

from
Schoolzone
January 2009


  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?

Return to: Partners: Table of Contents

© 2024, 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.