Cat Cora to Receive Alumna of the Year Award at CIA

Cat Cora, the Food Network’s “Iron Chef,” will be honored tonight as “Alumna of the Year” by her alma mater, the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at the CIA Leadership Awards (“Augie Awards”) in New York City.

Cat and her partner Jennifer welcomed their fourth son last July, with Cat giving birth to him not long after Jennifer gave birth to their third son last April.

In the past two years, Cat has also opened CCQ barbeque restaurant in Costa Mesa, CA and Kouzzina at Walt Disney World, and helped raise funds for Haitian relief through Chefs for Humanity, a charitable organization she founded. She also continues on Iron Chef America and as executive chef of Bon Appétit magazine.

I want to know if she ever sleeps.

Congratulations, Cat!

LGBT Parenting Roundup

• First, something not specific to parenting but that affects LGBT families with and without children: The Bilerico Project and many other blogs are holding a blogswarm today asking readers to contact Speaker Nancy Pelosi at 202-225-4965 and request that she move the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to a floor vote. Further details are here.
• One Florida legislator in the House and one in the Senate introduced legislation to overturn the state’s ban on adoption by gay men and lesbians. The House legislation was added as an amendment to a bill that would make it illegal for adoption agencies to ask prospective parents about firearms in the household. The amendment was then withdrawn as being irrelevant to the main bill. The measure in the Senate was withdrawn as well. The next day, Rep. Mary Brandenburg (D-West Palm Beach) filed another bill to remove the ban.
• The Berkeley Unified School District in California adopted the Welcoming Schools Guide, developed by the HRC Foundation Family Project, as official district curriculum. Here’s a video of the Guide being introduced at at school board meeting; here’s my coverage from a few years ago when the Guide was first launched as a pilot program. LesbianDad, who lives in the district, offers her own insights on this development. It’s a great curriculum, and a great step for creating a welcoming environment for all children.
• Not new news, except that it just came to my attention: lesbian mom Nickie Antonio is running for state rep. in Ohio’s District 13.
• I mentioned last week the bill that has passed the Arizona House, giving married couples preference over unmarried ones in the adoption of children. Michael Jones at Change.org has more on the legislators behind this thinly veiled anti-gay law.
• In another update from earlier news, the couple whose child was kicked out of Catholic preschool because they are lesbians have given a statement to the press. Worth a read.
• If you’re doing a second-parent adoption, be sure to read Nancy Polikoff’s post, “Understanding the Adoption Tax Credit for Second-Parent Adoptions.”

Census Form Ignores Non-Biological, Non-Adoptive Parents

I posted yesterday about the Census, and in replying to a comment I was reminded of a conversation we had here about a year ago regarding the Census and non-biological parents. I’m dusting it off, incorporating some of the comments, and posting it again, since those of us in the U.S. are receiving our Census forms this week.

If you’re a non-biological, non-adoptive parent, please let us know in the comments how you’re completing the form!

Let’s say you’re a couple with kids. One of you is a biological parent and the other is non-biological. Imagine you live in a place where a non-biological parent cannot do a second-parent adoption, or in a place that allows a non-biological parent to go on the child’s birth certificate without needing an adoption. Doing an adoption as well is a good idea for when you travel, but let’s say you haven’t done this yet—or have, but don’t consider yourself an “adoptive” parent to the child you planned with your partner from the start.

The Census questions ask about the first person in the household. For each additional person, they ask, “How is this person related to Person 1? Mark ONE box.” How would you mark this if you are the non-biological parent, answering the question about your child: Read the rest of this post »

Making Sense of the Census

I received my U.S. Census form yesterday, and assume many of you did as well. I encourage you all to fill them out and return them promptly.

Oh, but why, you ask, when we still have our tax forms, kids’ summer camp registrations, and field trip permission forms to complete? Read the rest of this post »

Prop 8 and Playdates

(I wrote this for my Mombian newspaper column back in January, but since both sides in the Prop 8 trial have recently filed their final briefs and Judge Vaughn Walker may soon schedule closing arguments, I thought it was worth posting here now. )

I agree with Robin Wirthlin.

The Massachusetts Mormon mother and I might not seem to have a lot in common. She and her husband were featured in a 2008 video for California’s “Yes On 8” campaign in which she explains that she was shocked when her son told her his second-grade class had read the picture book King & King, about a prince who marries another prince.

She was so shocked, in fact, that she and her husband sued the school district, saying that the school’s attempt to “indoctrinate” their children violated their constitutional rights as parents. They did not win their case, despite an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court (which the court refused to hear).

Still, they did not hesitate to make a video for Yes On 8 (used later by Stand for Marriage Maine) in which they say that their second-grader was too young “to learn about homosexuality.”

I’ve been thinking of the video because the defense in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger Prop 8 trial played it for the court last week. They were attempting to get Yale professor George Chauncey to admit that parents should be able to exempt their children from learning in school about same-sex marriage. Chauncey, to his credit, stated that married same-sex couples are a fact of life in Massachusetts. If parents don’t want their kids to hear about that in public school, he said, they should put them in private school.

How, then, could I possibly agree with Robin Wirthlin? Read the rest of this post »

Weekly Political Roundup

• U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) introduced a bill to amend the Fair Housing Act to ban housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
• The commissioners of Kissimmee, Florida voted to allow city employees to cover their unmarried domestic partners under the city’s health and dental insurance plan.
• The Oklahoma state Senate approved an amendment to opt out of federal hate crimes protections for LGBT people. The measure now heads to the House for consideration. (Oklahoma, you may recall, had a law prohibiting the state from recognizing adoptions by same-sex couples from other states and countries, until a federal judge struck it down in 2006.) Read the rest of this post »

“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 101

Helen and I bring you the Nature Edition of our vlog this week, with a look at what we’ve been doing outdoors with our son as the weather turns slightly warmer. This leads us to a discussion of science, education policy, and what happens when life imitates video games.

(If the embedded video above doesn’t work for you, try it at Dailymotion.)

Brought to you in partnership with After Ellen.

This Is What Happens When Kids Learn About Same-Sex Marriage

Confused? Traumatized? Not a bit.

[Update: It seems the video's owner has made it private. I'm not going to try and find another copy; if he wants privacy, I'll respect that.]

(Via Truth Wins Out.)

LGBT Parenting Roundup

Schools and Youth

• The ACLU and and Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition are advocating on behalf of a Mississippi high school student who wants to go to the prom with her girlfriend. School officials have said she may not arrive with her girlfriend or wear a tux, and must leave if other students become “uncomfortable.”
• A Catholic preschool in Boulder, Colorado has told a lesbian couple their child cannot return to the school next year because their sexual orientation is against Catholic teaching and school policy.
• The Washington State senate passed an LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying bill. It now goes to Gov. Christine Gregoire, who has said she will sign it. Read the rest of this post »

Can Same-Sex Parents Get a Break on College Financial Aid?

Same-sex parents are used to the routine of crossing out “Mother” or “Father” on various forms and writing in whatever applies to our family. What happens, however, when this is asked on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, used by most colleges and universities to determine a student’s contribution towards the cost of his/her education? Can we fill in the form literally and thus not count one parent’s earnings (meaning potentially more aid)?

That’s the question my spouse Helen asked over at her blog. I’ll let you pop over there for her thoughts on the subject.