I am sorry to report that this is not satire.
The Minnesota Star Tribune published a glowing article about a story containing an impressive level of word salad.
"A gay, multi-ethnic, farming family is part of Minnesota's emerging polyamorous community"
This article is all about three dudes who are in a "polyamorous" relationship: Bryan and Deron Demeritte and Joshua Rodriguez.
Nicole Neri/For the Minnesota Star Tribune
Joshua has been with Bryan for five years, calling Deron his "brother husband." They also have different skin colors - so intersectional!
The white guy, Bryan, is not only a farmer but also a part-time Unitarian pastor and seminary professor - because of course!
In the language of the nonmonogamous community, they're 'nesting partners' in a polyamorous 'V' relationship, with Bryan as the 'hinge.' That means Bryan has a physical and romantic relationship with Deron and Joshua, but Deron and Joshua don't have that sort of relationship with each other.
Deron says he and Joshua are "like brothers, almost."
The Minnesota Star Tribune uses about 1,450 words to describe the beautiful, unorthodox life the three men have built together. It covers everything from their five-bedroom ranch house to how they spend their days working their three barns, corn fields, vineyards, apple orchard, and taking care of their chickens and geese.
They're just regular people like you and me, don't you see! The newspaper explains that this type of polygamous lifestyle isn't all the rage, pointing to The New York Times, The New Yorker, and the Wall Street Journal for publishing articles supporting "nonmonogamy" in "ways that make it seem fashionable."
Minnesota's local MNPoly group has been hosting its annual shindig, MNPolyCon, for five years now. Its membership has quadrupled from about 1,000 in early 2020 to over 4,000 today.
Looks like Minnesotans are really embracing the motto: The more, the merrier!
About a third of all American adults say open marriages — where both spouses agree that they can date or have sex with other people — are somewhat or completely acceptable, according to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey. And half of adults under 30 say open marriages are acceptable, according to the survey.
But older adults were also well-represented at the one-day MNPolyCon held July 20 at St. Louis Park's Lenox Community Center.
Take Alan Wilson, a 73-year-old from Brooklyn Park, for example.
He says he has been happily married for 41 years while engaging in various other relationships. These include "play partners," who range from friends with benefits and long-term companions to the sporadic "comet relationships" that pass through his life now and then. He claims nonmonogamy "makes my life more fulfilling."
What's even sadder is that the rising costs of housing are one of the things pulling him (and others) towards nonmonogamy.
Wilson suggests that with multiple partners in the mix, there are more hands on deck to share financial responsibilities and help with raising kids.
You just can't afford a three- or four-bedroom place unless you have more incomes.
Deviant sexual norms on the rise since 2020, partially due to the economy? Thanks, Biden!
The article also features Ray Grant, a Minneapolis resident who is in a "very open relationship" with his "nesting partner," Richard Lyons.
Grant's biggest challenges are scheduling and "energy management."
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