Recent media appearances

Published Op-eds by AtMP authors

Recent media appearances:

March 3, 2010: 'Successful LA singles!' got a taste of AtMP's command of statistics as well as our sense of romance at Singular City. Want to know more about our prescriptions for getting and keeping health insurance regardless of marriage?  Click here to download a free fact sheet (hint: print it out and give it to your boss!)

March 2, 2010: Chicagoans met Executive Director Nicky Grist and AtMP member Tom Giesler, among other singles and unmarried partners, in the Red Eye.  For over a decade, survey responses have shaped AtMP's advocacy on behalf of all unmarried people.  Take a minute to tell us your story!

March 1, 2010: Readers of LiveStrong, if you're looking for more detailed, practical and accurate information about cohabitation, you've come to the right place!  Explore the Living Together section for general information, then browse Facts and Fun for more specifics.  Wondering why so much media is biased against unmarried people?  Check out our assessment of the marriage movement.

February 17, 2010: Readers of The Faster Times are curious about the contrast between "A Little Bit Married" (a new book on relationships) and "Unmarried to Each Other: The Essential Guide to Living Together as an Unmarried Couple," by the founders of the Alternatives to Marriage Project. You'll find lots of updated information about living together here, and much more!

February 11, 2010: Readers in Vancouver, Canada are excited that the Winter Olympics are coming to town, and that satisfied singles are well represented in the WestEnder's issue on modern love.

January 3, 2010: Readers of the Boston Globe met Jay, Tom, Valerie and other AtMP members who discuss the realities of polyamory.  

December 18, 2009: Readers of the Work and Family Blog learned about proposals, including ours, to make health insurance and "family" leave more fair to unmarried people.  Read our backgrounders on how to achieve truly universal health care here, and follow ongoing health care campaigns and analysis on the Unmarried Blog.  

December 16, 2009: South Carolina's local newspapers quoted AtMP's perspective on common law marriage.  Tell us what you think: Should SC stop recognizing new common law marriages?  If you're curious about common law, check out our popular fact sheet.

November 4, 2009: Readers of Care2 met Meaghan Lamarre, the chair of AtMP's Board of Directors, through her first-person account of testifying on Washington D.C.'s proposal to recognize same-sex marriages and end domestic partnerships. Now you can watch her testify on YouTube!

November 2, 2009: Readers of Huffington Post and Psychology Today are among the first people to ever see a personal interview with AtMP's somewhat shy executive director, Nicky Grist.

October 8, 2009: Readers of Savage Love: Are you boycotting marriage until same-sex marriage is legal everywhere?  Or are you critical of marriage as a cultural institution?  Maybe you're ok with marriage as a religious/social idea but want it separate from law, economics and politics?  Everyone's welcome here!

September 28, 2009: Readers of the Washington Times read about AtMP's site as "a bounty of positive advice, resources and suggestions about living together" and about living single too in an article by staff writer Cheryl Wetzstein. 

September 18, 2009: Readers of the Chicago Sun-Times met AtMP members Tom Giesler, Yasmin Nair, Bella DePaulo and Tom Coleman in an article we helped put together about the beginning of Unmarried and Single Americans Week.

August 2, 2009: Readers of Free Inquiry learned about AtMP through editor Tom Flynn's commentary on behalf of "social-change activists [who] wanted nothing to do with traditional matrimony."

July 26, 2009: Happy National Parents' Day! And thanks to the National Council for Research on Women for featuring a guest post by an AtMP intern on its Parents' Day blog.

June 22, 2009: Milwaulkee Journal-Sentinel highlights AtMP's critique of government-funded marriage programs while dissecting one such program's church-based outreach.  And kudos to Rev. Schwalenberg for his broad-minded and on-point comments in the article.

April 17, 2009: Welcome to Examiners! You read about one AtMP member's embrace of single parenting. Read more about being an unmarried parent here.

April 1, 2009: Yakima (WA) Herald; article about senior citizens in a different-sex couple who are suing for domestic partner health benefits quotes AtMP's executive director.  Learn more about domestic partner benefits here.

February 28, 2009: In an Advocate.com article, AtMP's Nicky Grist is one of "three key people" opining on marriage equality.

February 18, 2009: Readers of USA Today; what do you think: Should government tell people when to get married? Should government and society privilege marriage over all other relationships? Join the conversation on our blog!

December 4, 2008: Congratulations to New York Times columnist Gail Collins for shining a big light on singlism, a term coined by Dr. Bella DePaulo (an AtMP member) to describe the social stigma and legal discrimination facing single people, including Homeland Security Secretary-designate Janet Napolitano. Commenting on the Times column, AtMP executive director Nicky Grist concludes "It is time to recognize that being single is not just a phase, and singlism is not a joke."

October 5, 2008: Viewers of Reason TV saw a free-wheeling interview with AtMP's Nicky Grist that touched on everything from health care to DOMA to popular trends. Click here to watch it online.

September 21, 2008: Readers of the San Francisco Chronicle discovered that every person quoted in "Celebrating the single-minded life" is a member of AtMP? We're a great bunch - join us today!  

September 19, 2008: Listeners of Toronto's CFRB radio heard AtMP's Nicky Grist talk about Unmarried and Single Americans Week. 

July 29, 2008: Listeners of Canada's CBC Radio met many AtMP members - including board member Jo Van Every and fave researcher Dr. Bella DePaulo - talking about challenging singles sterotypes.  Missed the show? You can download and listen now!

January 23, 2008: Readers from all parts of the globe met several AtMP members in an article about Empowered Single Men that is circulating over the Associated Press wire.  

December 2, 2007: Readers of the Sunday New York Times saw AtMP's letter to the editor: Clearly, government should get out of the marriage business. The Op-Ed essay Taking Marriage Private by our colleague Stephanie Coontz generated a lot of debate - tell us what you think!   

October 3, 2007: Viewers of CNN's Headline News watched AtMP's Nicky Grist congratulate pregnant celebrity Halle Berry and her unmarried partner Gabriel Aubry. The truth about unmarried parenting is that their baby will be just fine!

September 21, 2007: Listeners of Wisconsin Public Radio heard local callers discussing their unmarried experiences, state laws and national priorities with AtMP's executive director Nicky Grist.

September 19, 2007: A CNN.com article quoted AtMP board member Julie Bluhm and researcher Alison Hatch, who was just elected to AtMP's board last week!

September 17, 2007: In the Huffington Post Bella DePaulo shared the stage with AtMP director Nicky Grist at the kick-off party for USA Week in Los Angeles.

June 15, 2007: AtMP is being seen a lot lately; in Next NC, the Rocky Mountain Chronicle and Florida Today.

February 15, 2007: An msn.com article quotes AtMP member Michael C. as well as AtMP executive director Nicky Grist in an article about "unmarriage". Read it here.

January 20, 2007: The New York Times published AtMP's response to conservative columnist David Brooks. Read it here.

Op-Eds by AtMP

Boosting "Marriageability" -- A Tool for Family Diversity Activists? by Dorian Solot
Is "marriageability" such a bad word? Maybe not, if it attracts funding to improve the quality of people's lives.

Don't Leave Domestic Partners in the Cold, by Marshall Miller & Dorian Solot
The Boston Metro, May 14, 2004
Just before same-sex marriage was legalized in Massachusetts, some employers in the state announced they planned to withdraw their domestic partner benefits plans. We explained why that would be a mistake.

Legitimizing Unmarried Parents, by Dorian Solot & Marshall Miller
The Washington Times, May 6, 2001
Our response to a series of hostile articles and editorials in The Washington Times about "illegitimate births."

Cohabitation Law Anachronism, by Sarah Wright
The Wilmington Star-News (North Carolina), April 2, 2004
North Carolina has one of the country's only remaining laws making cohabitation illegal. This op-ed calls attention to the way it puts families in danger, telling the story a young couple and their child at risk of being torn apart.

What Has Changed Since '38? by Sarah Wright
The Fargo Forum (North Dakota), April 13, 2003
This article by an AtMP board member calls for North Dakota to take its antiquated anti-cohabitation law off the books.

UVM Off-Base in Requiring Civil Unions for Benefits, by Marshall Miller & Dorian Solot
In Newsweekly, October 25, 2000
Commentary on the University of Vermont's decision to require employees to register civil unions in order to be eligible for domestic partner benefits.

Research Says Unmarried Bliss Is Possible, by Dorian Solot & Marshall Miller
Arizona Daily Star, August 24, 1999
A response to a piece written by a Heritage Foundation intern.

Law an Invasion of Privacy, by Dorian Solot & Marshall Miller
Deming, New Mexico Headlight, December 1998
In eight states, laws making cohabitation illegal are still on the books. While most of the time they're ignored, New Mexico's law (which has since been repealed) spelled trouble for one man because of a judge who unfairly threatened not to release him on bond because he and his girlfriend lived together. This op-ed called for an end to the law.

Why Not Benefits for Unmarried Couples? , by Dorian Solot & Marshall Miller
The Boston Globe, August 5, 1998 In the summer of 1998, Massachusetts Acting Governor Paul Cellucci vetoed domestic partner benefits because they were inclusive of male-female couples.

Articles Responding to the Marriage Movement

Marriage-Only Forces Don't Help Today's Families , by Dorian Solot & Marshall Miller
This articles appeared in the October 1999 issue of Sojourner: The Women's Forum, and provides an analysis of the National Marriage Project and the work of its founders, David Popenoe and Barbara Dafoe Whitehead.