Ok, so don't literally carry a big stick, maybe just a metaphorical one.

If you haven't been around the internet over the course of the past month, you've missed at least five pieces of media related to polyamory. That, in turn, has produced a fair amount of response across the web from various sources. While some of the press has been negative, it's the comments that inevitably get me more riled up. And some of them aren't even negative comments.

So here's a plea: please - PLEASE - if you're going to respond to someone in favor of polyamory, open marriages, or any other alternative relationship style, do it will intelligence. It hurts our cause more than you might think to write what comes to mind first as a reaction to someone else. Intelligence, logic, reason, and well-thought prose makes for a better foundation to stand on than argumentative responses. One of the hardest things for me is taking things in stride, and I know that it's only going to get worse now that I'm out to the community at large. People will forever disagree with someone or some thing. Why? Because it's in our nature. But to defend your beliefs intelligently without the self-righteous tone of "my way is better than your way" is the best way for people to listen to you - or at least leave you alone because they can't dissect your argument.

Oh, and here's the media:
Jenny Block on AOL
Terisa Greenan on KOMO - 7/22/2009
Poly in Newsweek - 7/29/2009
Op-ed in Wall Street Times - 8/3/2009
FindLaw article on Polyamory and its legality - 8/3/2009
ComingOutPoly on TMJ4 - 7/17/2009
OnMilwaukee.com op-ed response to TMJ4 - 7/31/2009