Military Stories Project
Non-Monogamy, Chosen Family, and Military Service
Military Stories Project
OPEN is launching the Military Stories Project to better understand how military policies, culture, and legal frameworks affect service members, veterans, military spouses, and their families, including ENM partners.
For generations, military families have built strong networks of support that often extend beyond traditional household structures. Yet many service members and veterans who practice consensual non-monogamy, rely on chosen family, or maintain other forms of relationship diversity continue to face stigma, discrimination, and legal uncertainty.
One area of particular concern is Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Historically, provisions related to adultery and extramarital sexual conduct have created uncertainty and fear for some military members whose relationships fall outside conventional expectations, even when those relationships are fully consensual and known to all parties involved.
OPEN believes that relationship diversity deserves visibility, dignity, and protection. Through this project, we hope to better understand how military policies and cultural attitudes affect service members and their families and work toward relationship equality for the non-monogamous.
Your stories can:
Inform future advocacy and public education efforts.
Support research and policy development.
Educate by highlighting the experiences of military-affiliated people in relationship-diverse communities.
Advance conversations about chosen family recognition and equitable treatment.
Build a stronger understanding of how military policies affect family stability, readiness, and well-being.
Whether your experience was positive, negative, or somewhere in between, your story matters.