Max and Jason: Still Up | February 12, 2009 | Comment on this video (17)

Sexual Civil Rights Lawyer

StillPointPictures
Diana Adams is a committed polyamorist, a Brooklyn lawyer and a sexual civil rights activist. In this pod, by vc2 producers Still Point Pictures, we'll see Diana juggle her multiple committed polyamorous relationships, go with her to court where she defends the rights of alternative families and see how she is defining new sexual norms at Poly Pride Week.
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    Max and Jason: Still Up,   On Current TV,   Sex and Love,   Law,   4 more
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    Sex and Love,  On Current TV,  Law,  Family,  6 more
  3. credits:
    StillPointPictures Producer, bstein Producer, JT Editor, more
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17 comments // Sexual Civil Rights Lawyer // Video

  • Leifur_Thor
  • CainOTrump
    • +1
      CainOTrump  

    • I am a new Poly trail blazer and I have a business site where people can advertise directly to the poly community such as the lawyer in this video. It is www.PolyBulletin.com and is connected to my larger poly site for poly people. It is good to see more business people going public with poly in light. For the guy who commented before me and others, www.PolyNetworking.com is a place to not only learn and network all things poly, but a place where we can all grow together. I also have a Poly Date Line, but you need to learn more about it before you plunge into to waters.

    • 3 years ago
  • Leifur_Thor
  • derwind
    • 0
      derwind  

    • I'm jealous.... Can I get one lover please? I'm glad she's offering workshops... Now she can teach me how to work it.

    • 4 years ago
  • t1
  • puma74
    • 0
      puma74  

    • What happens when your sex life diminishes and your energy winds down and you can't keep up with all the lovers? I guess I'm confused. This great if this is what you are into, but I guess I just don't understand. Is there one you like more than the other, do you trust one of them more than the other, is there one you know you can confide in... Do you have "quality time (wink wink) with both or at different times? Can you define this, or does each person define it themselves with their partners...

    • 4 years ago
  • Pan_theFrog
    • 0
      Pan_theFrog  
    • puma74:

      What happens if you are in a relationship with just one person and your sex life diminishes and your energy winds down and you can't keep up with your lover? Do you suddenly stop loving each other, or is the relationship about more then just sex?

      In Poly it is about more then just sex.

      As to what happens in the bedroom, well that is decided by the people sharing the bedroom. In Poly it seems to all boil down to communication, trust, and honesty. Or to put it another way, if I can't trust and communicate with you, or I can't trust and communicate with the people you have a relationship with, then we are not likely to have a relationship.

      And to those who think it is easy... you know how hard it is to find someone to have a great relationship with? Now imagine that you need to find someone both of you can get along with. Now imagine throwing in a person all 3 of you can get along with...

      At the same time, is it worth it? You know how happy being in love makes you? Multiply it.

    • 4 years ago
  • fuckoffgenX89
  • fr3dlight
    • 0
      fr3dlight  

    • I'm speechless. Awesome. Many kudos to Diane for being a generous person, and working with others to understand polyamorous relationships.

      I think I'll go check out that website now. Thanks!!

    • 4 years ago
  • dianaadams
  • dianaadams
    • 0
      dianaadams  
    • Image

    • This is Diana Adams from the video! Thanks everyone for your feedback and support! A few questions to answer....

      First, polyamory means 'many loves', and involves being non-monogamous with full honesty about it to your partners (as opposed to cheating) and lots of communication. There are lots of configurations of poly arrangements; I just happen to be bisexual but not all poly folks are. It's certainly complicated and not right for many people BUT what I think is most essential is that people have choice about what kinds of relationships that want to be in.

      Two-person monogamous marriage is not right for everyone and should be a CHOICE and not a default.
      If people who aren't suited for marriage had other options, this would reduce our divorce rate, personal dissatisfaction and infidelity. If there were other legal options for creating economic dependency relationships, that would help make sure that people who are NOT traditionally married aren't disadvantaged by losing out on health insurance, tax benefits, child custody, property benefits, etc that our government only grants to married couples.

      That's where being a SEXUAL CIVIL RIGHTS LAWYER comes in. I represent people who are polyamorous or kinky or lesbian/gay/bi/trans in child custody cases throughout New York State, helping make sure that they don't lose their kids because of it. In 1999, a woman talked about being poly on MTV, and her child was taken away from her! Many people with alternative sexualities can be great parents, and if it takes a village to raise a child, perhaps having three or more loving devoted parents at home can sometimes be wonderful for a child!

      I believe that whatever your family looks like, and whatever your sexuality, if you are an honest, loving person who respects the needs of others, you deserve to be able to live out your wildest dreams AND still be a great parent and create an amazing family support structure and government shouldn't get in your way by enforcing two-person marriage as the only legal family option.

      Check out my website for more information, links, and resources: www.feministoutlaw.com. Thanks!

    • 4 years ago
  • majaparla
    • 0
      majaparla  
    • dianaadams:

      I just found out about Diana, and I now totally have a crush on her.

      I'm contemplating law school and had almost abandoned the idea (forsaking it for a gender & sexuality studies degree or perhaps international relations, thinking it could be a cop-out option even if i DID pursue something revolutionary with it), and thanks to Diana, I think I've seen the light of what I can do with a law degree that *really* makes a difference.

      Massachusetts is doing relatively well (with some hiccups) with lesbian/gay marriage, and we are well poised for some more radical reforms.

      Diana, expect a call from me sometime soon. :-)

      And btw - i found the link to this page when I googled MTV's True LIfe: Polyamory.

    • 3 years ago
  • Stradius
    • 0
      Stradius  

    • I'm not against polyamory in fact I can see the value of it, especially in our crazy non-stop schedule and interrupt driven world...

      Everyone needs companionship at some point (some more than others) and if they can't count on it in their home they'll look for ways to fill it in either by going elsewhere or bringing it home.

      Also, it seems to me that if there was enough companionship to go around in the first place people wouldn't have created ways to get what they need outside of the traditional structures: extramarital affairs, prostitution, enslavement, et cetera. Polyamory seems like a more reasonable way to solve these problems.

    • 4 years ago
  • barkway
    • 0
      barkway  

    • After watching that piece, I'm confused. What is the difference between "polyamorous" and "bi-sexual?"

      I also didn't see much in the piece about exactly what she does as a lawyer for the polyamorous when it comes to "family" because she didn't have any children and neither did any of the people in the piece.

    • 4 years ago
  • achromatic
    • 0
      achromatic  
    • barkway:

      you can be bi-sexual and monogamous or your can be hetero or homosexual and polyamorous. Polyamorous just means multiple lovers and bi is being attracted to males and females. That lady just happens to be both. My guess as to her legal work is that it's about custody and all that when people do have children and are in a polyamorous situation, or the legalities of like property rights and civil unions and matters of that sort.

    • 4 years ago
  • AchillesM
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