Such sad news: Paula Ettelbrick died last week.  She was a good friend to AtMP.  Everyone in our community should learn about her wise work.  Please take a few moments to read some of the widespread coverage, and join our heartfelt condolences to her family.

Last Sunday, the New York Times featured an op-ed by long-time AtMP member Freddie O’Connell.  Today’s Times quotes AtMP Board Chair Ann Schranz. And did you see bell hooks’s fabulous quotation about the importance of alternatives to marriage vs. “marriage equality” in the print edition of Ms. Magazine?  It’s worth the cover price!  Here’s another… Read more.

AtMP was founded in 1998. I was hired in 2005. You could say that AtMP has passed through its organizational childhood and adolescence, and is now ready for a new leader to take it into adulthood. Please help us find the perfect person by sharing this job posting widely. If you’re thinking of applying, please… Read more.

Recent research on families made up of people who do not share blood or legal ties supports AtMP’s belief that society should recognize the importance of diverse relationships.  Dawn Braithwaite at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln finds that “people who have voluntary family see them as different from close or best friends in that they are… Read more.

Many thanks to John for pointing out this poll that links opinions about interracial marriage with opinions about political candidates. (Click through to see the difference between Palin and Romney fans.) We asked voters on this poll whether they think interracial marriage should be legal or illegal- 46% of Mississippi Republicans said it should be… Read more.

Yesterday the Census Bureau announced it had beaten the deadline to provide redistricting data to all 50 states.  Politicians around the country will soon be looking at new district boundaries.  Marital status is recognized as a very strong predictor of voting patterns, so legislators facing redistricting should be very interested in how many unmarried people… Read more.

USA TODAY reports that suicide “rates among GI’s who are single or divorced double when they go to war, [but] the rate among married soldiers does not increase…” “One of the big things we’re interested in now is digging into this marriage thing and saying, ‘What is it you get, by being married? And how… Read more.

If civil unions for all seemed like a solid trend, then New Hampshire just reversed its course.  According to The Telegraph, a bill (HB 569) had been proposed to “replace same-sex marriage with domestic unions for all adult partners, be they heterosexual or homosexual couples.” Easton Republican Rep. Gregory Sorg said there is no political… Read more.

Job-based health benefits for unmarried people are under attack all over the country.*  Most recently, the Michigan State Senate resolved to take away health benefits from the unmarried families of state employees, including the staff at public universities.  This would be an especially painful setback because Michigan’s rules are more inclusive than many other states’:… Read more.

A quip about marketing to single people caught my eye this morning, in a light-hearted article about housewares: “A visitor from another planet… might have the following impressions. These Earth people love coffee and little brightly colored, high-tech coffee makers, but perhaps they all live alone, for they seem obsessed with something called “single-serve units.””… Read more.