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| Summer 2004 |
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Alternatives to Marriage Project Update - Summer 2004
IN THIS ISSUE: Announcing AtMP's Double Dare Campaign
You'll be hearing more about our Double Dare Campaign in the upcoming months. We double dare you to add fireworks to the campaign's launch
by: Thank you for daring to make a difference! AtMP Unveils New, Improved Website If you haven't paid a visit to http://www.unmarried.org recently, you're in for a treat! Our new design makes it easier to find what you're looking for and features Hot Topics sections like Cohabitation, GLBT issues, Marriagefree, and Common-Law Marriage. Let us know what you think! The website is still a work in progress, so check back for more features (including interactive messageboards) in the near future. A million thanks to board member Meaghan Lamarre and volunteer Janice Wallace-Robinson for their massive investment of volunteer time and talent to create this new site. AtMP Celebrates Same-Sex Marriage in Massachusetts Congratulations to the Alternatives to Marriage Project members in Massachusetts who gained the right to choose whether or not to marry! Many people ask what AtMP's position is on same-sex marriage -- you can read our May 17th press release and position statement here. Also read in #4 below about our work to preserve domestic partner benefits in Massachusetts, and in #5 about our new group for LGBT people who don't want to marry. AtMP Leads Movement to Preserve Domestic Partner Benefits AtMP celebrated when the state of Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage last month. When employers in the state announced plans to withdraw their domestic partner benefits plans, however, we jumped to action. Employers rationalized that now that all their employees had the right to marry, they no longer needed to provide health care benefits for domestic partners.
In response, AtMP has: Stay tuned! There's more to come from AtMP on this important issue. If it affects your life or you'd like to help, let us know! Announcing New LGBT Marriagefree Yahoo Group As legal (and potentially legal) same-sex marriages have been taking place around the country, AtMP has heard increasing frustration from some LGBT people. While nearly all LGBT people celebrate having the right to choose whether to get married, those who prefer not to, are frustrated by sudden pressure to marry, or challenge the LGBT movement's increasing tendency to privilege marriage above other forms of relationships may find their perspective missing from the conversation. That's why we're pleased to announce "LGBT Marriagefree," a new Yahoo group (discussion listserv) for LGBT/queer people (and supporters) who choose not to marry or want to question the institution. To subscribe, send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it AtMP-Talk, AtMP's long-standing general discussion listserv, has also had lots of conversation lately about LGBT marriagefree topics. To subscribe to it, go here.
Twin Cities
New York City
Around the Country If you live nearby and would like to help organize or get involved, contact us with "[name of city] chapter" in the subject line. Interested in starting a local AtMP chapter in your area? If you have some time and energy, we can send you a Chapter Organizer Kit with ideas, materials, and assistance! Contact us to learn more. 2004 Edition of Legal Guide for Unmarried Couples Available AtMP gives Living Together: A Legal Guide for Unmarried Couples our highest recommendation. Written in an accessible style, this book teaches everything you need to know and may not want to pay a lawyer to ask. Topics covered include renting and buying a home, parenting issues, wills and estate planning, sample living together agreements for a variety of situations, medical decisions and hospital visitation, joint accounts, sharing income, and countless other legal issues. If you buy your edition from the Alternatives to Marriage Project, the profits support our work for fairness for unmarried people and their families. Media mail shipping is free, or you can pay for faster shipping. Visit the AtMP bookstore.
CNN Features AtMP, Member Couple
Newsweek, Boston Globe, LA Times, Others Feature AtMP Members
AtMP Op-Ed Condemns North Carolina's Anti-Cohabitation Law
Other AtMP media appearances in the last quarter included: Opinion: Fear of Friendship, by Dave White Are deeply loyal friendships a threat to the institution of marriage? Some marriage-promoters act that way, argues Dave White in his op-ed "Fear of Friendship." Find out why, according to White,loyal friendships might be competition for traditionally gendered family values and laissez faire economics. Profile: Children's Book Writer Todd Parr, by Karen Sosnoski Missing some of the rituals and books from her conservative upbringing, Karen Sosnoski is happy to have found the alternative-family friendly ritual of sharing Todd Parr's progressive children's books with her daughter and partner. Learn more about this children's book author in Sosnoski's profile of him. Meet an AtMP Board Member: Ashton Applewhite In this first in a series of introductions to members of AtMP's board of directors, discover how Ashton Applewhite, author of Cutting Loose: Why Women Who End Their Marriages Do So Well overcame her fear of becoming the cliché "weeping divorce on the solitary barstool" to find a satisfying life beyond marriage as a successful writer, mother, partner, and AtMP board member, one who gives "the virtuecrats a run for their money." Read about her here. Interested in applying to join the board? See our page of information for prospective board members. Newsletter Editor: Karen Sosnoski Articles written by individuals are the opinions of the authors, and not necessarily the opinions of the Alternatives to Marriage Project. |
We dare you -- no, we double dare you! AtMP needs
your help in our most ambitious project yet: a campaign to double everything about ourselves so we can achieve twice as much. We want to double
our number of donors, the size of each donor's gift, the size of our budget ($29,000 in 2003), and the size of our staff (1),
so that we can reach double the number of people and make twice as much of an impact on the
world!
