July 15 is DAY OF VISIBILITY for poly and other forms of non-monogamy. The OPEN org is coordinating.

UPDATE JULY 18:  The Day of Visibility for Non-monogamy last Saturday, July 15, seems to have been a big success and the start of an annual event backed by a capable organization on the way up.

Afterward, OPEN's executive director Brett Chamberlin wrote to participants and endorsers,

Thank you! The inaugural Day of Visibility for Non-monogamy was a resounding success. Your commitment to raising awareness and fostering understanding of non-monogamous relationships was deeply felt. Together we reached countless people around the world with a message of acceptance and inclusion.

Thousands of people gathered for in-person celebrations in over a dozen cities worldwide or opened up about their non-monogamous identities online. This was a huge step forward for awareness of non-monogamous families and relationships, representing a strong foundation we will continue to build on year over year.

The OPEN coalition plans an after-action debriefing for activists over Zoom next Wednesday, July 26. "This will give us an opportunity to share our takeaways, collect feedback, and talk about how we can build on this momentum together."  Contact OPEN to join the group or for information.

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Count me impressed. The OPEN nonprofit, the Organization for Polyamory and Ethical Non-monogamy, started last year. Now it has put together a coalition of at least 40 non-monogamy education and advocacy groups, event organizers, podcasters, bloggers, businesses, and other leaders in our increasingly diverse movement to get behind a single, unified project: the Day of Visibility for Non-Monogamy, this Saturday, July 15.

These people know how to do stuff. OPEN seems more capable and professional than any such group in the movement's last couple decades. It helped enable PLAC, the Polyamory Legal Advocacy Coalition, to pass the first polyamory nondiscrimination ordinances in Somerville, Mass. last April. It is helping similar poly-rights efforts press forward in other progressive US cities. It ran a social-media campaign to push Facebook to let users choose a multi-relationship category for themselves, an effort that the New York Times covered as a result of OPEN's skills with the media. More recently OPEN hired Heath Schechinger, co-founder of the American Psychological Association's Division 44 Committee on Consensual Non-Monogamy, to develop a Consensual Non-Monogamy Policy Project for it. As Schechinger wrote to The Polyamory Foundation, which funded OPEN hiring him, 

The CNM Policy Project targets two essential areas to advance polyamory recognition and rights. In the healthcare sphere, I will spearhead efforts to propose a resolution in support of consensual non-monogamy within the American Psychological Association (APA). ... I will also advocate for policy support in other healthcare organizations, such as the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association.

In the municipal domain, I will concentrate on stewarding [others'] efforts for non-discrimination ordinances that protect polyamorous families and relationships in municipalities across the United States. This will include activities such as engaging with community leaders and advocacy groups to raise awareness of polyamory rights and helping draft inclusive ordinances.

OPEN's organizers put diversity and inclusion front and center since the start. Its board of directors consists of longtime activists William Winters (president), Luna Ray, Heath Schechinger, and Gabrielle Smith, as well as attorney Aaron Harkins.

The commitment to wide representation extends to an unusually wide range of CNM forms. Last month executive director Brett Chamberlin met in Texas with a conference of swinger-community business and event leaders to make common cause across the legendary cultural divide between the swing and poly communities. Chamberlin believes that big-tent numbers will bring strength. Last Thursday he emphasized to a Zoom meeting of Day of Visibility endorsers that "non-monogamy exists everywhere, across all demographic groups" and that it "looks different for everyone.

"We shouldn't have to hide, we shouldn't have to live in fear."

OPEN's goal, he told attendees, is to "enable horizontally owned movement activity to spread year by year."

From a recent email from OPEN to Day of Visibility activists and supporters:

Here's an update on what we have planned:

●  We just published a Communications Toolkit

 [with lots of suggested graphics and text] to help organizations, content creators, and others create Day of Visibility content. Use the hashtag #NonmonogamyVisibility and tag @openloveorg so we can share!

●  We're offering two free Peer Support Sessions for folks opening up about their identity. The sessions will be Friday July 14 at 6pm PST and Sunday July 16 at 3pm PST; RSVP at www.dayofvisibility.com. Note: we only encourage you to open up if it's safe for you to do so! Read more about "Safety and Coming Out" in this resource from our friends at Chosen Family Law Center.

●  In-person events! Check out the list below or sign up to host your own event (it's not too late – and we can help!)

Boston, MA, US – Picnic on Boston Common (RSVP for location)
Cleveland, OH, US – Meetup at Edgewater Park, 2pm (RSVP with host |  RSVP on Bloom)
Los Angeles, CA, US – Picnic in the Park at Glassell Park Recreation Area, 3pm-5pm (RSVP on Bloom)
London, England, UK – Picnic at Victoria Park, 3pm-8pm (RSVP with host | RSVP on Bloom)
Louisville, KY, US – Picnic at Cherokee Park, 10am-1pm (RSVP with host | RSVP on Bloom)
New Haven, CT, US – Pub Night (21+) at Trinity Bar, 7pm-11pm (RSVP with host | RSVP on Bloom)
Oahu, HI, US – Picnic at Kapiʻolani Regional Park, 1pm-4pm (RSVP with host | RSVP on Bloom)
Oakland, CA, US – Picnic and rally at Lake Merritt Amphitheater, 1pm-4pm (RSVP on Facebook | RSVP on Bloom)
Santa Cruz, CA, US – Beach Party at Natural Bridges State Beach, 11am-3pm (RSVP on Bloom)
Seattle, WA, US – Polyamory Field Day at Magnuson Park, 4pm-8pm *Sunday July 16* (RSVP on Bloom)

[ The list of local events has nearly doubled since that email. ]

●  Got more ideas? Cooking up something special you want to share? Join our new Community Discord and find your way to the Day of Visibility channels! You can also reach out to us  at dayofvisibility@open-love.org. 

We also wanted to celebrate all the fabulous organizations and allies that have signed on to participate in the Day of Visibility. It's not too late to sign on! Add your name or organization here and you'll be joining the following endorsers: Asexual Visibility and Education Network, Bloom Community, Bonobo Network, CANDID, Casa Galenia, Center for Positive Sexuality, Chosen Family Law Center, Evergreen Hearts, Front Porch Swingers Podcast, GLMA: Health Professionals Advance LGBTQ+ Equality, Hump Day Quickies podcast, JOYclub, Multiamory Podcast, National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, Naughty Events, The Nonbinary Polihistor, Normalizing Non-monogamy Podcast, #open: Polyamorous & ENM Dating, "Open: A Journey Through Love" Documentary, Open Relating, The Pineapple Express Podcast, Playing With Fire Podcast, PolyActive, Poly Alt Parenting, Poly Pop Culture, The Polyamory Foundation, Queer Polyam Boston, Radical Relating, The Root: Birth, Babies, and Beyond, Sheff Consulting, Ready for Polyamory Podcast, Relationship Diversity Podcast, Soaring Heart Center, Stacey McLarty Attorney – Chosen Family Law TX, The Swing Nation Podcast, Swinger Society, and Woodhull Sexual Freedom Foundation. Plus more individual endorsers at www.dayofvisibility.com. This movement is mighty .

We can't wait to celebrate with you all.

For a more open and loving world,
The OPEN team

Like I said, consider me impressed.

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Update: From another email they just sent to hosts and supporters, full of resources for spreading the word:

We are 8 days out from the first inaugural Day of Visibility for Non-monogamy and couldn't be more excited! We have a few resources and reminders for you all, and as always are available any time for questions via this email address:  <dayofvisibility@open-love.org>. 

(1) Get out the word! This is the week to really push and get the word out! Digital organizing is essential for making ourselves visible and reducing stigma. Post on your social media now, next week, and day-of. Send reminders to your email lists, and encourage your communities to spread the word to their contacts and email lists! The Communications Toolkit has been updated to include graphics unique to the Day of Visibility that you can pull and adapt for your purposes. Feel free to include your own logo and use them on your social media and print materials.

• Use the hashtag #nonmonogamyvisibility

• Tag us on Threads, Instagram, and Twitter at @openloveorg 

(2) If you're hosting an in-person event, you can use the local press release template; if you're an endorser, you can use our national press release template (US and Canada). We've also included instructions on how to identify local news sources, adapt the template, and send to publicize your event. This is just a template -- please duplicate the document and adapt it for your purposes by dropping in your own quotes!

(3) Final call for print materials! We have two brochures available: a Non-monogamy 101 brochure and 'Why we need to normalize non-monogamy' brochure, as well as stickers with the OPEN logo. Please let us know by Monday 7/10 how many of each asset you'd like to receive in the mail, along with an address for sending. 

(4) We'll be hosting two peer support sessions to support people around the process of opening up around their identities. Folks can sign up here on the Day of Visibility landing page. This page also includes resources on safety and coming out as non-monogamous. 

(5) If it feels consistent with your group's own advocacy approach, please feel free to direct folks to join OPEN's mailing list and to donate to OPEN.

Finally, if you want more context for the goals, structure, and details of the event, we put together a concise overview here.

Thank you all SO much for all you're doing to bring this historic event to life. We can't wait to see all the stories, photos, and love pouring in next weekend!

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