LOVING MORE® non-profit is all too familiar with Governor Mark Sanford’s challenging situation.  We are an organization that helps and supports people in finding ethical, mutually agreed-upon ways for loving more than one person in honest multi-partnered relationships. We help partners consciously negotiate their relationship styles and agreements, whether monogamy or polyamory, with ethics and integrity.
 
Loving More Executive Director Robyn Trask issued the following statement. 
 
" My heart goes out to Mr. Sanford, his wife and kids and to his lover in Argentina.  In my job I am contacted by people from all walks of life going through similar challenges of loving more than one.   It is painful and heart-wrenching for all involved.  We live in a culture that is in denial of the fact that many people are capable of, and do find themselves, loving more than one person, and we laden them with guilt for loving.  People  recalling Gov. Sanford's case a "sex scandal," but if you listen to Mr. Sanford and read his words, it is obvious this not about sex but about love and connection; it would be better described as a love scandal.  Is he a hypocrite? Yes, but he is also human.  The real scandal is denying the impossibility for some of monogamy.  What would happen if in our culture, ethical, agreed-upon polyamory were as acceptable as monogamy??
 
Politics aside, this is a man in crisis because we as a society have decided there is only one right way to have a loving relationship.  We ignore the statistics and heart ache that say otherwise and even the Bible.  Many of our greatest leaders have followed this trend in the past from John F Kennedy to FDR. Isn’t it good for people especially our leaders to be loving people and have a big hear?  Isn’t this why many go into politics, and isn’t it natural that many of these people can truly love more than one person?” 
 
 One of our members, Michael Rios, said it well in a comment he made about the story in the Washington Post. 
 
“I'm no fan of Sanford, nor the hypocrites of either party, but the real story here is that monogamy is *not* the right choice for a lot of people.  Even with such strong convictions and so much to lose, these "family values" types keep stepping out of line.  They aren't *that* weak-- a weak person couldn't have gotten to where they are.
 
It would be a lot better for the children, and for the spouses, if non-monogamous types (which by any measure seem to be a majority), whether politicians or not, could acknowledge who and what they really are.  Sanford fell in love with one woman while married to another.  In Biblical times, this would not be a problem -- polygamy was practiced by many of the foremost Biblical figures.
 
A sexist institution of that sort would not be acceptable to most folks today, of course.  But there are millions of Americans of both genders who have found a way to be honest and responsible while loving more than one romantic partner.  The practice of this is called "polyamory".  When many people first encounter this idea, they realize that their style of loving is not immoral, disturbed, or inferior.  Many of these people have been living this way for decades, having long-term stable relationships, raising children, and being responsible members of society.  Of course, most of them have to keep this hidden, for fear of being attacked or having their children taken away.
 
I keep waiting for some politician to have the guts to say (as a number of European politicians have done), “Yes, I love both of them, and intend to keep both of them in my life.” ”
 
Loving More is aware of one politician who did just that, Colorado Governor Roy Romer in 1998.  When questioned about his relationship with former aide B. J. Thornberry he admitted to a 16 year relationship.  Denying that it was an affair, Governor Romer explained that he had a close and complex relationship with Thornberry, he further clarified that his family and wife were aware of the relationship all along and that it would continue.  Romer defined to the press that marital fidelity was about “openness” and “trust”.  Although there was some shock at his statements, it is interesting to note that when he acknowledged the relationship openly the press quickly lost interest. 
 
With these latest developments, involving a high level politician who has a long standing rhetoric of “traditional family values”, Loving More is even further committed to educating people from all walks of life about open, honest loving alternatives to monogamy.  There is no one-size-fits-all model of relationship. 
 
Our Director Robyn Trask asks, ““When will we all wake up to these realities, or are we as a nation too addicted to scandal and drama to allow people to be real and human , and to talk about the need for wider loving arrangements that can -- if there is understanding and free agreement all around -- work?”



About Loving More®
 
Loving More Non-Profit Corporation
PO Box 1658
Loveland, CO 80539
303-543-7540
www.lovemore.com
 
Board of Directors/Staff
Robyn Trask, Managing Director and Editor
Jesus V Garcia, IT Director/Board Member
Anita Wagner, Board of Directors Member
 
Loving More Mission
To educate people about and support polyamory as a valid
choice in loving relationships and family lifestyle.
 
What we believe
Loving relationships and healthy families can come in many beautiful and valid forms.  How people choose to experience relationships and love is an individual and personal choice.  Through education about polyamory and other relationship or love styles, we hope to allow people the freedom to be open and honest about their personal love and relationship choices. To love without fear of the prejudice or hardships that being non-traditional can bring is what our vision is.  Through education, publicity and research, we intend to open the door to freedom and safety for those who choose polyamory as individuals and as families.
 
Loving More® is a national not for profit corporation, educational website, online community, and magazine dedicated to support and education of polyamory and polyamorous issues, supporting the polyamorous community both nationally and internationally for more than twenty two years.  We are in the process of applying for 501c(3) status making us a non-profit charitable organization. 
 
The Loving More Website offers information on polyamory including terminology, FAQ, links, professional listings and is a portal through our links to local, national and international groups/organizations about or related to polyamorous issues.  Our community connections site is a forum for people to find support and connection through Loving More membership gaining access to chats, profiles, blogs and other features on a site dedicated to polyamory. 
 
Loving More Magazine started out as PEP Talk (Polyamory Education Primer) and in 1994 became Loving More Magazine.  It is the oldest magazine in the world dedicated exclusively to responsible multi-partner relationships.  The magazine features articles from people who are deeply involved in the polyamorous relationship style and focuses on issues such as jealousy, compersion, communication, family, sexuality and social stigma.  Each issue includes polyamory resource listings, book and video reviews, a calendar of events, and advice column.
 
For over 22 years the Loving More® organization has sponsored an annual polyamory conference retreats.  The educational efforts have now grown to include two Hotel conferences known as Poly Living on the East and West Coast, the annual Loving More Retreat being held in upstate New York, the Loving Choices one day seminars around the country, as well as sponsoring classes and workshops, support groups and running an online bookstore.

About Robyn Trask
 
Name:  Robyn Trask
Position:  Executive Director and Editor, Loving More Non-Profit and Magazine®
Born:  May 2, 1964 in Houston, Texas
Email: robyn@lovemore.com
 
Robyn Trask resides in Loveland Colorado on a small 11 acre ranch with her partner Jesus Garcia, three children, two horses, three cats and one dog.  Robyn was never monogamous by nature but it was not until age 24 she came to terms with being polyamorous or non-monogamous.  She was in a polyamorous open marriage for 15 years.  Currently she has three partners; Jesus V Garcia, her primary partner and partner with Loving More as well as sitting on the Board, and two long distance partners one of whom she has been in a 24 year relationship.
 
Robyn Trask took the reins of Loving More Magazine® in October 2004.   She has worked tirelessly for the past four years to increase public awareness and education about polyamory.  Polyamory is a viable alternative to current social norms of strict monogamy.  She was the president and founder of the Victorian Manor, a wedding chapel and catering business in Katy Texas, from 1988 to 1993.  She opened Robyn Trask Photography in 1990 and did portrait and wedding photography professionally until 2002 when she opened New Visions Center for Personal and Spiritual Growth before taking over Loving More.    
 
Media appearances include the following:
 
Television
Baisden After Dark 2008
The Montel Williams Show 2007
Tyra Banks Show 2006
CBN News on The 700 Club 2005
 
Radio
Special Guest on Michael Baisden’s Radio Show 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
Polyamory Weekly 2008
Culture Shocks with Barry Lynn 2007
The Santita Jackson Show 2007
Steve Douglas Radio Show 2006
Alan Colmes Radio Show 2006
KOA Talk Radio Denver 2006
The John McMullen Radio Show 2005
 
News Paper and Online News Media
Momlogic.com 2008
The Hartford Courant 2008
Boulder Daily Camera 2006
Mountain Xpress 2006
Chicago Sun Time 2006
Baltimore Sun 2005
The Denver Post 2005
Oakland Tribune 2005
Bi-Magazine 2005
The Daily Kansan 2005


Additionally, she was the keynote for the 2007 Florida Poly Retreat, a featured speaker at the 2005 and 2006 Poly Living Conference, 2005 Lady Fest Out West, The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality’s 2006 West Conference, guest lecturer at the University of Colorado Boulder and is currently in negotiation to act as a consultant for an upcoming Polyamory Documentary.
 
In her spare time, Trask enjoys traveling, anthropology, astrology, hiking, riding horses and relaxing with her family.