Coloring-Page Picks

There are a ton of kids’ coloring pages on the Web. Google “coloring pages” and you’ll get enough to use up an entire box of 64 colors (or 96, or whatever they’re up to these days.) The quantity can be overwhelming, so here’s a roundup of some topic-specific pages I particularly like.

• The Official FDNY Fire Safety Activity Coloring Book. A 20-page PDF packed with tips and activities. Appropriate for LGBT families—no references to “your mom and dad,” like some fire-safety books I’ve seen. (One image of several on page 15 shows a woman, man, and two kids, but it’s very small. You could white-out the man’s tie or pretend it’s the butcher of the couple, if it bothers you.)
• NASA Color and Learn: Space Shuttle: a 12-page booklet that includes a connect-the-dots page as well as coloring sheets. Pre-school or elementary school.
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association: Many activity booklets on various marine topics and sites across the U. S. Aimed a little older than most of the other pages here— elementary or middle school.
• National Geographic Kids Print ‘N’ Go Coloring Book: Head shots of wild animals.
• Many states offer coloring pages of state icons, destinations, or products. Here are ones for California (PDF; from the Farm Service Agency), Connecticut, and New York. Try Googling state-name coloring pages where “state-name” is the name of your state, for others.

National Union of Teachers Calls for Pre-School LGBT Awareness

In the U. K., the National Union of Teachers (NUT) says teachers should challenge gender stereotyping and intolerant language as early as preschool. Pinknews.co.uk quotes the NUT’s report:

Research shows that children as young as five begin to display disapproval of peers’ role-inconsistent behaviours and are self-critical when judging how they would feel if they were playing with role-inconsistent toys. . . .

In the case of homophobia, the use of the word ‘gay’ is prevalent in primary schools and young boys who are perceived to not conform to masculine stereotypes are at risk of bullying, isolation and social exclusion.

It is too late to wait until primary school to challenge prejudice and intolerant abusive language.

The NUT also calls on schools to teach children about different family structures, such as same-sex or adoptive parents.

Pinknews.co.uk also reports that the UK’s main LGBT advocacy group, Stonewall, and Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, recently produced a DVD entitled Spell It Out, aimed at combatting homophobia in schools. They are distributing the DVD to teachers in all London’s secondary schools. It’s a good idea, assuming the teachers find time to watch it. Still, every little bit helps. Kudos to Stonewall, Mayor Livingstone, and the NUT. The earlier we can attack prejudice, the better.

Hormone Supplements May Carry Breast-Cancer Risks

New findings add to the evidence that certain hormone supplements, particularly those combining
estrogen and testosterone, increase women’s risk of breast cancer, strokes, and heart attacks. This week’s Archives of Internal Medicine reports on a study that found post-menopausal women who took such pills more than doubled their risk of breast cancer, even taking other breast-cancer risk factors into account. The most common pill the women took was Estratest, which appears on a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy group’s “Worst Pills” list because of breast-cancer risk. Something to discuss with your health-care provider, if you are taking or considering hormone supplements.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie: Free Musical in NYC

I usually steer clear of posting about strictly local activities, but New York City gets enough visitors that I though this might be of more general interest.

Let’s hear it for sponteneity. My partner read a review of the new, free, summer theater production of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie in Saturday’s New York Times, and Sunday we found ourselves heading south towards the Big Apple. The show, a musical adaptation of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and seven other children’s stories, seemed like the perfect first show for our three-year-old son. Indeed it was. The music was catchy, the stories both familiar and new, and the energy high. Tickets are first-come, first-served, but well worth it if you don’t mind standing in line for 15-20 minutes. (Distribution begins an hour before each performance.) Best of all, they’re free, a price that belies the excellence of the lyrics, score, and cast. Purists may not like the abbreviated versions of some of the tales, but most will agree they make for a fast-paced, attention-grabbing show. The stories and musical styles are diverse, too, incorporating classic Broadway motifs as well as rap, Mexican folk music, gospel, and more.

The entire performance is just over an hour. It takes place at the Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street, in the heart of New York’s LGBT mecca, Greenwich Village. Further details are at TheaterworksUSA.

Free Super Saver Shipping Now at Amazon Baby Store

A weekend penny-saving note:

Amazon has relaunched their Baby Store, and for the first time, baby products qualify for free Super Saver Shipping and Amazon Prime. They also have a new Baby Registry. (The registry equitably asks for the gender-neutral information of “You” and “Co-registrant.”)

If you’re expecting or adopting a baby for the first time, you might also want to check out my own Baby Gear Recommendations for some ideas on what you may need.

Weekly Political Update

• The U. S. House of Representatives defeated a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The Senate had earlier done the same, making the House vote purely political. Indeed, Republicans are already promising to use Democrats’ opposition to the amendment as fodder for this fall’s congressional elections.
• By a slim margin, Patricia Todd (D) appears to have become Alabama’s first lesbian or gay legislator by winning a run-off on Tuesday. There is no Republican in the race, so unless an Independent or third party candidate enters the general election, Todd will become the state representative for part of Birmingham.
• A Connecticut lesbian couple filed a medical malpractice suit claiming that treatments for a cancer misdiagnosis have damaged their relationship. Married heterosexual couples have been able to use the same legal argument, termed “loss of consortium.” This will be the first time a couple in a civil union has used the claim. Lawyers say the couple has a clear right to do so under the civil-union law. Whether their medical claim holds up is an open question.
• Under court order, Missouri lifted restrictions preventing gay men and lesbians from becoming foster parents. Good, but . . . the Department of Social Services will now routinely ask applicants their sexual orientation, and will consider “whether or not an alternative lifestyle environment would be confusing or add trauma to an already abused or neglected child.” A department spokesperson explained further, “If you have a child who’s been abused by someone of the same sex, then placing them in the home of a couple of the same sex might not be in the best interest of the child.” (Newsflash: If a child has been abused by someone of the same sex, putting them in a heterosexual household will still put them in close contact with a parent of the same gender as their abuser.)
• In Washington, the State Supreme Court said it issue a ruling on the constitutionality of the state’s same-sex marriage ban before this September’s primary elections.

Finally, a bit of news that’s more personal than political, but bears on politics. Julie and Hillary Goodridge, one of the seven couples whose case won the right for all Massachusetts same-sex couples to marry, have separated. I’m sure some will view this as an example of the supposedly transitory nature of same-sex relationships. The truth is that same-sex couples do not have a monopoly on irreconcilable differences. This is not an example of why there should not be same-sex marriage, but exactly why it should exist—the institution of marriage will now give Julie and Hillary the same rights over property and, more importantly, parental rights and responsibilities for their daughter, should they choose to file for divorce. Best wishes to all of them during this difficult time.

Sunday Is National Parents’ Day

President Bush has declared this Sunday, July 23, to be National Parents’ Day. He says, in part:

I call upon citizens, private organizations, and governmental bodies at all levels to engage in activities and educational efforts that recognize, support, and honor parents.

Recognize? When some states ban LGBT people from foster parenting, second-parent adoptions, or even adoptions of any kind? When our desire to declare ourselves a committed family is fought at every turn?

Support? When the lack of recognition could mean a reduced chance of having family health insurance through an employer, loss of Social Security benefits when one parent dies, and additional federal income tax when one parent stays at home with the children? (Taken from HRC’s The Cost of Marriage Inequality to Children and their Same-Sex Parents (PDF).)

Honor? Without support or recognition?

I’m going to send a note to president@whitehouse.gov this Sunday, and ask him to support, recognize, and honor us. Do the same, if you wish.

Book Recommendations: Trains and Fire Trucks

My son’s book collection is full of classics, like the works of Dr. Seuss and Eric Carle. He has a number of Caldecott and Newbery Award winners. Sometimes, however, it’s fun to find books that may be just shy of top-tier classics, yet still have something to recommend them. Often, these books, especially if they’re a few years old, don’t get front-facing shelf time at the local bookplexes, and are easy to overlook. Here are two I’ve stumbled across recently, which support my son’s ongoing obsession with trains and firetrucks. They’re also both great “transition” books for that stage between board books and beginning readers.

The Caboose Who Got Loose, by Bill Peet, is the tale of Katy, a caboose struggling with job dissatisfaction. She’s much rather have a quiet home in the woods than be pulled over steep mountains by a smoke-belching engine. She finally gets her wish in an unexpected turn of events. The crayon drawings are expressive and clever. The rhyme, while not quite as catchy as, say, Dr. Seuss, evokes the rhythm of wheels over rails. If you’re looking for a train book other than one about Thomas or The Little Engine, this may be just the ticket.

Firefighters A to Z, by Chris Demarest, is a great non-fiction book on firefighting for the pre-school and early-elementary set. The author is a full-time illustrator who became a volunteer firefighter after taking his son to visit a local firehouse. The pastel drawings are therefore accurate as well as artistic. They portray female as well as male firefighters. There’s enough detail to keep the interest of the older end of the age range, while the wording is still simple and the rhyme compelling. Unlike many ABC books, each letter doesn’t stand alone, but rather forms part of an ongoing narrative.

If you have book suggestions of your own, check out Mombian Books, a place I’ve created for LGBT parents to share their book ideas and get recommendations from each other.

Quotable Quotes on Same-Sex Marriage

From the New York Times’ coverage of the Federal Marriage Amendment defeat in the House:

Georgia Representative Phil Gingrey (R) said support for traditional marriage “is perhaps the best message we can give to the Middle East and all the trouble they’re having over there right now.”

Yes, because when people are blowing each other to bits, intolerance is so much better a message to send than one of love and acceptance. (I actually like it when bigots are so irrational. Gives me hope we can vote them out of office more easily.)

Massachusetts Representative Jim McGovern (D), on the other hand, commented about same-sex marriage, “It’s had no effect on my marriage, except we get invited to more weddings.”

Atticus Circle Organizes Straight Allies for LGBT Rights

It’s nice to have allies. A new grassroots network of straight allies, Atticus Circle, is expanding their fight for LGBT rights beyond their home state of Texas. The organization hopes to have national impact on education, policy development and legal advocacy to achieve equality for all parents and partners, regardless of sexual orientation. Its founder, Anne Wynne, is a lawyer and sometime appointee of former Texas Governor Ann Richards. She is also the mother of three. A few years ago, she was shocked when she realized the extent of discrimination against LGBT people and families. She founded Atticus Circle, named after equality-minded lawyer Atticus Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird, to help change that.

Marti Bier, Atticus Circle’s Field Director, says they have been working with other LGBT organizations in Texas to develop a strategy for the state’s next legislative session in spring 2007, and have met with national LGBT groups to discuss plans for other regions.

When I first heard about Atticus Circle, I admit I wondered whether we needed another LGBT-rights organization on the national scene. Can’t straight allies simply become members of HRC, Lambda Legal, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, PFLAG, or the like? I’m beginning to think, though, that it might in fact be a good idea to have an organization that is the visible face of our straight allies. The three groups above have many straight members, true, but are perceived as “gay” organizations. As such, the work that they do for LGBT rights can be seen as having a clear self-interest. A group that is primarily composed of straight allies, however, can’t be seen as working just for themselves. It becomes clearer to those on the outside that maybe there is a basic matter of fairmindedness here, not simply a “homosexual agenda.”

I can also see that some straight people, even allies, may feel more comfortable joining an “allies” organization than one primarily composed of LGBT folks. Just as I sometimes feel awkward when I’m the only lesbian in a room full of gay men, allies may feel strange when they’re a minority in a room full of LGBT activists, even if they fully support them. (I’m aware there’s such a thing as latent homophobia, but that’s not what I’m talking about. It’s just that it can be tiring when everyone else in the room knows the same in-jokes and cultural references, and you don’t.)

Will Atticus Circle have a national impact on the fight for equality? Time will tell, but I wish them luck. They may be just the bridge we need to create a steady national majority in favor of LGBT rights. If you’re interested, you can visit their Web site for more information, to sign up for their e-mail list, or to make a donation.