The rural household is part of a nonmonogamous movement that some say is going mainstream. By Richard Chin. But Bryan, a full-time farmer and a part-time Unitarian pastor and seminary professor, describes Deron and Joshua as his two husbands.
Bryan, 52, is white, a former teacher who grew up Baptist in Missouri. Deron, 38, is Black and originally from the Bahamas.
He works as an industrial and commercial HVAC foreman and has been legally married to Bryan for 11 years. Joshua who plans to change his last name to Demeritte is a year-old restoration company project manager. Joshua has been in a committed relationship with Bryan for five years.
He and Deron consider themselves as brother husbands. Their spread includes three barns, a field of corn, four small vineyards, an apple orchard, a couple of geese and 72 juvenile Heritage chickens that will earn their keep laying eggs for market. There are other farmers of color. And other gay farmers.
Recently, mainstream publications such as the New York Times have been writing about nonmonogamy and polyamory in ways that make it seem fashionable. Increasingly, you can express a preference for a nonmonogamous relationship on dating websites. Closer to home, the local nonmonogamy group called MNPoly reports its membership has grown to more than 4, members, up from about 1, in early Louis Park.
