Archives › 2007 › February
Hamm and Foudy Join Soccer Hall of Fame; New Women’s Pro League Forms
Soccer superstars Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy have been selected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame, and will be inducted this August. Hamm was selected on 137 of the 141 ballots cast, a new high in votes received. What on earth were the other four thinking?
Kids’ Toys from the Hardware Store: Toolbox
Keep the Ice-Cream Scoop Next to the Turkey Baster
“Tubs of ice cream help women make babies” proclaims an article about new fertility research. I can hear the cries of joy from those of you trying to conceive. Scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health found that a low-fat dairy diet can cause infertility by preventing ovulation. Women trying to conceive should consider [...]
SCHIP Shape
In early March, the House and Senate Budget Committees will decide on funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). SCHIP provides health insurance to more than six million people, mostly children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. Many analysts are saying that President Bush’s budget will not meet the needs [...]
Lesbian Mom Wins Oscar
Melissa Etheridge can now add an Academy Award to her two Grammys. She won the “Best Original Song” Oscar last night for “I Need to Wake Up,” the theme song to An Inconvenient Truth. (You can purchase and download the “I Need to Wake Up” song or video from iTunes here.) The television coverage showed [...]
Lesbian Koalas
First lesbian swans, then gay penguins, now lesbian koalas. Researchers at the University of Queensland recently studied a group of 130 captive koalas and discovered the females attempting to mate with other females, sometimes with up to five others at a time. Good news in support of the view that same-sex attractions are as “natural” [...]
PTAs Getting Corporate Makeover
Parent-teacher associations (PTAs), historically known for bake sales and other social events in support of local schools, are becoming a driving force in large-scale fundraising, school administration, and even state politics, reports the New York Times: Parent groups across the country, especially in affluent suburbs, are undergoing a kind of corporate makeover, combining members’ business [...]
Parents’ Rights Not Violated When School Teaches about Same-Sex Families
A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit of two couples in Lexington, Massachusetts, who claimed the local public school district violated their constitutional rights by teaching their children about families headed by same-sex parents. The judge said in his decision (PDF link): Public schools are entitled to teach anything that is reasonably related to the goals [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
A California state senator introduced a bill to bring property-tax relief to surviving domestic partners who inherited real estate from a partner who died before 2006. An openly gay Illinois state representative introduced a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. The bill is titled the “Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act” to address concerns that clergy [...]
Wimbledon Equalizes Prize Money for Women
All women competitors will now receive the same prize money as their male peers in the Wimbledon Championships, the All England Club announced today. This leaves the French Open as the only tennis Grand Slam without prize equity throughout the tournament, although it offers the same money to the men’s and women’s champions. This is [...]
The Different Dragon: A Magical Book for All Families
(Originally published in Bay Windows, February 22, 2007.) One of the ways I judge a children’s book is by how much it captures my son’s imagination. After we read The Different Dragon, he made me run around the house with a blanket over my head, flapping it like dragon’s wings, while he pretended to be [...]
The L Word Season Four, Episode Seven: The Parenting Perspective
(Minor spoilers below.) Shane is livin’ la vida loco parentis this week. Her nine-year-old brother Shay and his friend Jared got into a fight with some kids who teased them about their moms being gay. Shane and Jared’s mother Paige meet with the school principal, and argue that the school must teach kids not to [...]
Interview with Anne S. Wynne of Atticus Circle
Straight allies are an invaluable component of the struggle for LGBT equality. Anne S. Wynne is the founder of Atticus Circle, an organization that educates and mobilizes straight allies in support of equal rights for LGBT Americans and our families. Anne agreed to answer some questions about her organization for Mombian’s interview series. Below, she [...]
Kool-Aid Paint
For an easy, non-toxic kids’ paint, try mixing a package of Kool-Aid with half the recommended amount of water. It paints like watercolor and smells nice, too. There are more complex recipes online for a thicker Kool-Aid paint, involving flour and oil, good for finger painting or potato stamping. I like the water-only version, however, [...]
Queercents Launches Money Mondays Tax Tips
The team at the Queercents personal-finance blog has just announced the launch of a weekly tax-time series called Money Mondays: In ten weekly articles, Allison Einbinder will help LGBT readers navigate the intricate tax world with topics ranging from hiring a tax professional to planning for retirement. The articles aim to provide guidance with clear [...]
Kids’ Toys from the Hardware Store: Flashlights
Flashlights are natural kids’ toys. I’ve never known a child not to be fascinated with the power of shining a spot on the wall. You can buy any number of character-branded ones, but I’ve found that plain but colorful 6″ AA plastic lights are just as attractive to kids. Here are a few activity ideas: [...]
Congratulations to New Jersey Civil-Union Couples
A very hearty congratulations to the couples in New Jersey who applied for civil-union licenses today, the first day they are legal. I wrote at length last week about the Freedom to Marry, and why civil unions mark a stage in the journey, but not the final destination. I’ll refer you to those posts for [...]
Recipe: Cardamon-Almond Biscotti
Since I mentioned cooking yesterday, here’s a recipe for Cardamon-Almond Biscotti. It’s based on the “Classic Biscotti” recipe from Joy of Cooking, but with quite a few flavor tweaks. I was inspired both by Shuna Fish Lydon’s Cardamon Chocolate Chunk Cookies (though I make no claims to her mastery of pastry) and by the great [...]
New York Times Weekend Roundup
The venerable paper had a number of articles of interest yesterday: “With One Word, Children’s Book Sets Off Uproar“: This year’s Newbery Medal-winning book, The Higher Power of Lucky, contains the word “scrotum” in it. It’s in reference to a dog who gets bitten on that rather tender piece of his anatomy, but some parents [...]
Who’s the Cook?
The New York Times ran an article on Valentine’s Day about couples where one member is the predominant— and dominating—cook in the household. The story focuses on straight couples, but it made me laugh with recognition. I freely admit to being the “alpha chef” around our house. I think it’s less because of any hidden [...]
Freedom to Marry Week: Wrap-Up
A compilation of my Freedom to Marry Week posts: Day One Day Two Day Three Day Four: Blog Carnival Day Five Day Six Day Seven A special thanks to Kelly at O for Obsessive who suggested the idea of posting every day this week.
Freedom to Marry Week: Day Seven
As my final post for Freedom to Marry Week, I want to share some thoughts on civil unions. Next week, New Jersey becomes the third state (after Vermont and Connecticut) to permit civil unions. Such unions come with all the rights and privileges of marriage. Is there any reason to complain? Yes—which is not to [...]
Freedom to Marry Week: Day Six—A Sneetch in Time
To wrap up Freedom to Marry Week, I’m going to write tomorrow about my thoughts on civil unions vs. marriage. For a Friday night, however, I’ll stick with something lighter, a passage from the inimitable Dr. Seuss that I was reading to my son earlier. In his story The Sneetches, the star-bellied Sneetches think they’re [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
Anglican leaders ruled yesterday that the American Episcopal Church could welcome gay men and lesbians into the communion, but could not install any more gay or lesbian bishops. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he won’t sign a bill allowing same-sex marriage if the Legislature passes the measure. “The people of California have voted on that [...]
Call for Submissions: Visible: A Femmethology
Passing along this call for essays. Thought some of my readers might want to approach this from the perspective of a lesbian mom. VISIBLE: A FEMMETHOLOGY an anthology of writing on queer femme identity Editor: Maria Angeline Publisher: Merge Press Submissions Deadline: March 15, 2007 Anticipated Publication Date: Spring 2008 Femmes are still invisible. Society [...]
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