BY: DIANA ADAMS, ESQ. & TARA BOGNAR, ESQ. Relationships between more than two people were ruled lawful in Canada – unless such a relationship is formalized with a commitment ceremony or relationship contract. Even those who attend a ceremony or assist with a contract sanctioning a relationship between more than two people could face criminal… Read more.

Book Review:  Is Marriage for White People? How the African American Marriage Decline Affects Everyone by Ralph Richards Banks BY: KATHLEEN S. PETERS Is Marriage for White People? How the African American Marriage Decline Affects Everyone provides a historical and sociological analysis of the declining marriage rates in the African American community. The first book… Read more.

BY: JESS GAFKOWITZ Since 2010, I’ve been eagerly tracking the status of the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, a bill that if passed into law, would benefit the lives of thousands of people. Over 120,000 foster children in the U.S. are waiting to be adopted. However, some folks are being kept from fulfilling their… Read more.

June was a great month for AtMP! Four members were published in the NY Times in an ongoing discussion of same-sex marriage. On June 23, Katherine M. Franke’s op-ed, “Marriage is A Mixed Blessing” was published. In the article, Franke voices her concerns about the pressure for same-sex couples to marry. She wonders whether these… Read more.

Book Review: Unhitched by Judith Stacey BY: STEPHANIE S. For those of whom “ethnography” is a scary word (as a former student of anthropology myself, it at once is and isn’t), consider Judith Stacey’s new Unhitched instead, a series of poignant, insightful, funny and sometimes instructive stories. I have longed for a reference book that… Read more.

You may have heard our Executive Director, Nicky Grist, has accepted a job at the Urban League, which means that we must say farewell. Nicky has worked tirelessly for AtMP since 2005.  In that time, she has done great work addressing inequality in federal marriage programs and healthcare coverage for unmarried people.  Nicky’s work helped to… Read more.

Book Review: Touching the Trees by Jennifer McBride BY: KATHLEEN S. PETERS In Jennifer McBride’s first novel, Touching the Trees, she recounts numerous moments in her life that led to reflection, fear, pain, love, transition, or peace. Written as a series of loosely connected memories and short stories, McBride takes the reader through the early… Read more.

Ever wonder what to say when some ‘helpful’ person asks awkward questions like “When are you going to get married?” “Don’t you want kids?” “Aren’t you worried about who will make medical decisions for you?” AtMP members have come up with lots of fun, creative retorts, including “When are you going to get divorced?” “Why… Read more.

We’re looking forward to the release of Dr. Bella DePaulo’s next book by Double Door, Singlism: What it Is, Why it Matters, and How to Stop It, a collection of writings on singlism. The essays are intended to both inspire readers and instruct how to tackle this all too common form of prejudice. One of… Read more.

BY: DIANA ADAMS, ESQ. and JESS GAFKOWITZ Should the government be able to criminalize your relationship style? Could being non-monogamous be a crime? Presently a major trial in Canada asks this question with a challenge to Section 293 of Canada’s Criminal Code, which criminalizes polygamy but also any form of multiple person relationship. While the… Read more.