families – OpeningUp.net

Buy The Polyamorists Next Door today!

Dr. Eli Sheff's new book, The Polyamorists Next Door: Inside Multiple-Partner Relationships and Families, has been released -- and I encourage you to buy it today. Doing so can help it become a top seller in its category, which can lead to a less expensive paperback version and hopefully more mainstream recognition.

Eli Sheff is an important voice in the poly world. She was a guest on my radio show, Sex Out Loud, and has been on panels about polyamory, an expert on TV shows discussing polyamory, and a frequent source of quotes for mainstream articles exploring non-monogamy.

Sheff is one of the premiere experts on children in polyamorous families, and so The Polyamorists Next Door is a fascinating and important look at families:

In colorful and moving details, this book explores how polyamorous relationships come to be, grow and change, manage the ins and outs of daily family life, and cope with the challenges they face both within their families and from society at large. Using polyamorists own words, Dr. Elisabeth Sheff examines polyamorous households and reveals their advantages, disadvantages, and the daily lives of those living in them.

. . . This book provides information that will be useful for professionals with polyamorous clients, educators who wish to understand or teach about polyamory, and especially people who wish to better understand polyamory themselves or explain it to their potential partners, adult children, or in-laws.

Go buy The Polyamorists Next Door today to help push it to the top of its category -- where it belongs!

Share your family with Family Matters

The Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance has launched its much-anticipated Family Matters project! Ricci Levy, Woodhull's Executive Director, announced the launch of the project during her opening remarks at the Sexual Freedom Summit in Washington, DC. The website's mission statement says it all, and says it beautifully:

Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance's Family Matters project is dedicated to advancing, respecting and protecting the fundamental human right to family by eliminating discrimination based on family structure and relationship choices. This project will raise public awareness of family diversity through the sharing of stories and research using social media, provide education about human rights at conferences and public events, and facilitate collaboration with other organizations to draft and promote model policies and legislation preventing discrimination based on family form.

Family in 2012 takes many forms. Some families are legally recognized and socially respected. Others are not. All families face challenges and all families matter.

If you would like to share your family for inclusion in the Family Matters project, submit your information on their site.

[SSEXBBOX] seeks family photos of all kinds

Queer publication [SSEXBBOX] Magazine is working on a unique photo series called the "Family Portrait Project." Their call for submissions made me think of all the various poly configurations out there:

Based on the idea of classical family portraits the [SSEXBBOX] team is looking to put together an international photo series that highlights the new evolutionary paradigm of relationship dynamics. We would like you and your "family" to take a photograph and briefly explain to us how y'all relate to one another.

Need more inspiration? Think American Gothic, traditional wedding photographs, family reunion photographs, quinceanera photographs, Paris is Burning: House of Xtravaganza and House of Ninja, Flintstones meet the Jetsons, and the Cosbys in a blender with a splash of queer fairy energy, ice, and a dash of creativity.

Submitted photographs must be 300dpi and should be accompanied by a brief description of 30 words or less. Submissions and questions can be sent to magazine [at] ssexbbox [dot] com. The deadline is August 15, 2011.

[SSEXBBOX] can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.