524 - From Worried to Empowered: Taking Action for Relationship Rights with Experts Diana Adams and Brett Chamberlain
Welcome back Diana and Brett!
We are so excited to welcome back Diana Adams and Brett Chamberlain back to the show to talk about relationship rights and advocacy.
Diana Adams (they/them) is an international legal leader in advocacy for queer family forms beyond the romantic dyad. Diana is the Executive Director of Chosen Family Law Center, a nonprofit advocating for diverse family structures, & runs a boutique law firm providing mediation services nationwide for those hoping to negotiate intentional or polyamorous families. Diana’s TED talk ‘Why US Laws Must Expand Beyond the Nuclear Family’ explains their expansive vision of family. Find them on all socials @DianaAdamsEsq.
Brett Chamberlin (he/him) is a social impact organizer with over a decade of leadership experience building a more just and joyous future. He is the founder and Executive Director of OPEN, the Organization for Polyamory and Ethical Non-monogamy. Prior to launching OPEN, Brett worked in the environmental movement as the Director of Community Engagement at The Story of Stuff Project and the co-founder of the Post Landfill Action Network. He lives in the California Bay Area.
LGBTQIA+ rights and protections
In the first part of this episode, we chat about LGBTQIA+ rights and protections, covering the following topics and questions:
We want to be cognizant of the fact that things are constantly in flux and changing and evolving on a daily basis. We are recording this episode in early March 2025. As of right now, where are we when it comes to LGBTQ rights, civil liberties, etc? What is being taken away, and what is currently being threatened?
Gender affirming care is being threatened even in extremely liberal states and cities. What legal recourse do people have at this point to make sure they get the care they need? Are there places or organizations people can turn to if they are facing discrimination under these new laws, or from people emboldened by Trump’s executive orders?
What can queer and trans people personally do at this moment in order to protect themselves?
What can LGBTQIA+ people be doing to prioritize their mental wellbeing during this unprecedented time?
Legislation
In the second part, Diana and Brett go into detail about specific legislative efforts:
Diana, you have had a huge hand in trying to make New York City a sanctuary city for LGBTQIA+ people. What is the progress on that, and what will this initiative do?
Brett, what sort of legislative actions is OPEN working towards during this time? Have the actions of this new administration slowed that progress or made the work that you are doing more challenging?
What sorts of resources are you planning to provide for non-monogamous people and families? Are those resources different due to the political climate we are currently in?
Non-monogamous people don’t have a huge amount of legal rights as it is, but should they be worried about additional rights being taken away just because of their relationship identities? What can they do to protect themselves?
Listener questions
We also crowdsourced some questions from our listeners to pose to Brett and Diana:
In what ways do you think the current presidential administration will affect efforts to legally legitimize non-monogamous unions and safeguard alternative families?
Can you address the intersections between the issues LGBTQIA+ people are facing right now and race?
Given that no-fault divorce is potentially on the chopping block, I’d love to hear about alternatives to marriage in terms of creating security and access to the privileges that married people enjoy.
Could the government break HIPAA and start looking at people's medical records in order to find stealth trans people? What would have to happen to make that legal?
Check out the legislative toolkit from OPEN for ways to help further local legislation in your area: harvard.turtl.co/story/polyamory-legislative-toolkit.
Download the 5 calls app to contact your representatives and hold them accountable: https://5calls.org/.