As a law professor in New York City, I spend a lot of time thinking about the legal status of alternative families. My dissertation from my graduate student days focused on mixed race, and how laws prohibiting interracial marriage contributed to the legal nonexistence of racially mixed people and families. Since that time, I have written a number of articles on state uses of marriage to grant privileges on favored groups. For most of American history, marriage laws have essentially denied the existence of interracial and gay families, even though they have always existed in their "illegitimate" form.

Growing up in a conservative state, I decided at a very early age that I wanted to do more than get married at 22, have a wife, and work to support a family. Part of the reason I entered academia was to be able to work on topics that interested me individually, and to be around strong women who liked to read and discuss. I have my mother, aunts, and grandmothers from the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma to thank for this, as they provided strong examples of working women and equal partnerships.

I joined AtMP in January 2009, two months after inviting Nicky Grist to come speak to my class about unmarried cohabitating couples. I am now serving as Treasurer and enthusiastic fundraiser. We hosted our first fundraiser at our apartment, and I look forward to having more.