Promoting Marriage Equality in the Media

Originally published in Loving More Magazine issue #30, John Ullman gives tips to poly people on how to be media savvy, but much of this advice can be applied to the broad rights of consenting adults to love, sex, and marriage. Being media savvy can do wonders to advance these rights.

Polys are a marginalized minority. We are, on occasion, subject to prejudice, misunderstanding, ridicule, and, albeit rarely, legal abuse. Our multi-partner unions do not receive the benefits and respect of the law or society that monogamous unions have. Our best defense is to tell our truth. We need to get our story to the public as often, as loud, and, especially, as clear as possible. To do this, we need to understand how the media works and put considerable effort into presenting poly to the media.

This article is not designed to tell you what to say about poly. That is your first job when you are contemplating giving a media interview or going on a show. You will have a limited amount of time or ink. Even if you are interviewed for twenty minutes, it is likely that only 20 seconds or a few sentences will make it into the final show or article. It is important to sort through all the things you might say and settle on two or three most important points. Much of this article is concerned with the art of crafting your message and practicing how to deliver it.

I strongly recommend reading the whole thing.