Archives › 2007 › August
Weekly Political Update
It was all Larry Craig, all the time, for most of the week, and then things got really interesting Thursday. I’ve posted about a few hot items already, like the major wins for equality in Maine and Iowa, and the appalling decision to keep a film depicting same-sex families out of the school curriculum in [...]
Horn Book Magazine on Books and Gender
The September/October issue of Horn Book Magazine, one of the leading journals on children’s and young adult literature, is all about books and gender. You can revisit the lesbian classic Annie on My Mind, learn how author Brian Selznick answered the question “Are you part man and part woman?,” discover “Gender Alchemy: The Transformative Power [...]
School Board Upholds Ban on Film Depicting Same-Sex Families
Penguins Threaten Traditional Family Values
And Tango Makes Three, the children’s book based on a true story about two male penguins who adopt an abandoned egg, tops the American Library Association’s list of “10 Most Challenged Books of 2006,” “for homosexuality, anti-family, and unsuited to age group.” A challenge, according to the ALA, is “a formal, written complaint, filed with [...]
Major Wins for Equality In Maine and Iowa
News too good to wait for my weekly update: In a unanimous decision, Maine’s Law Court ruled that two foster children, 10-year-old “M” and her brother, six-year-old “R,” could be adopted by the lesbian couple who have raised them for the past six years. Equality Maine, in an e-mail to supporters, notes this is “the [...]
Happiest Gay Parents
The last two episodes of Rick and Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World took televised same-sex parenting where it’s never been before. First, Dana and Kirsten and Rick and Steve go on an LGBT cruise for some pre-parental bonding. While on board, Dana and Kirsten go through “Mommy Boot Camp,” a Lamaze [...]
Parents Appealing Decision that Schools Can Teach About Same-Sex Families
Two sets of parents in Lexington, Massachusetts are appealing a U.S. District Court dismissal of their claim that the local public school district violated their constitutional rights by teaching their children about families headed by same-sex parents. The District Court judge had said (PDF link): Public schools are entitled to teach anything that is reasonably [...]
Marriage Leads to Housework, At Least for Women
Married men say they do less housework than unmarried cohabiting men, according to a new international study published in the Journal of Family Issues. Cohabiting women, however, report doing less housework than married women, and cohabiting men still do less than cohabiting women. The lead author of the study, according to USA Today, says “the [...]
Family Voices VIII
This week’s Family Voices interview is with lesbian moms Rachel and Sandy, who live in Washington state with their four children and co-parent with the biological dad of three of them. Below, they talk about their successful efforts to create safer schools and influence politicians, the benefits of co-parenting, being an egg donor to another [...]
Worth the Trip: Queer Books for Kids and Teens
One of my favorite parts of writing this blog is doing reviews of children’s and young adult books, especially those with LGBT themes. I admit, however, that there are those more versed in the far reaches of children’s literature than I. Kathleen T. Horning is one such person, and her week-old blog, Worth the Trip: [...]
Gender Protections In Schools: Shows Progress, but Room for Improvement
The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition (GenderPAC) today released its 2007 Gender Equality National Index for Universities & Schools (GENIUS Index). The index evaluates how well colleges, universities, and K-12 school districts are doing in ending gender discrimination and raising awareness of gender identity and expression. It looks at non-discrimination and anti-harassment policies as well as [...]
Weekend Reading
A few highlights of note from mainstream media: In “A Reason to Take the Early Bus Home,” Michael Winerip of the New York Times last week profiled two gay dads in Montclair, New Jersey. It’s nice to see dads getting coverage—when mainstream media does cover LGBT parenting, it’s most often about us moms. Having said [...]
Weekly Political Update
Evan Wolfson, Executive Director of Freedom to Marry, offered his perspective on Marriage Equality and the Presidential Election. The ultra-conservative Arkansas Family Council has submitted a proposal to the state Attorney General as the first step in placing a measure on the November 2008 ballot to ban adoption by unmarried couples. The group failed earlier [...]
Medieval Civil Unions?
Did the concept of a civil union originate in medieval Europe? That’s the intriguing possibility raised in the respected Journal of Modern History by Allan A. Tulchin of Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. (Via Box Turtle Bulletin.) As a recovering academic with a graduate degree in medieval history, I find this fascinating—though I’ve got the usual [...]
From the Ivory Tower to the Family Room
(Originally published in Bay Windows, August 23, 2007.) “I just keep having this desire to do work that seems impossible,” says Dr. Abbie Goldberg of her research on LGBT and other understudied families. The assistant professor of psychology at Clark University in Worcester is passionate about delving into these areas few other social scientists have [...]
Science and Poetry
In my last post, I wrote about the very cool new Google Sky and how it could be a fun way to teach kids about astronomy. As an astronomy major myself, and someone who is married to an engineer, I’m all for science education, particularly for girls, who still tend to be overlooked when it [...]
You Want Skies with That?
We always knew Google was planning to take over the universe. They come one step closer with the release of Google Sky, part of an upgrade to their very cool Google Earth software. If you or your children are into astronomy, or have to learn more about it as part of a school science project, [...]
Illegal Elmos and Other Hazards of Children’s Music
Children’s musicians Erin Lee and Marci spoke with me aboard the R Family cruise in July about their inclusive approach to kids’ music. They gave me too much material to include in a single article, so below is a second piece from our conversation. I’m also very pleased to announce they will be regular guest [...]
Book Recommendation: The Science Explorer
Yesterday I mentioned Steven Caney’s Toy Book as a great source of ideas for homemade kids’ toys. Along the same vein, but with an added bonus, is The Science Explorer by Pat Murphy, Ellen Klages, and Linda Shore of the San Francisco Exploratorium Museum. It’s chock-full of quick, craft-like projects aimed at six- to nine-year-olds, [...]
Blogjam
Apologies for the sporadic site outages today. I’m thrashing things out with my Web host. With luck, things will resolve in the next 24 hours or so. As I often say about my son’s behavior, it’s just a phase. Thanks, as always, for stopping by.
Red Sox or Wicked?
My partner and I took our son to his first baseball game this past weekend. It was a minor-league game, since we figured that at four years old, his attention span might not last a full nine innings, even with Cracker Jacks and ice cream. (We were right, despite the attraction of the grinning-baseball mascot.) [...]
Book Recommendation: Steven Caney’s Toy Book
With toy recalls coming faster than a toddler’s diaper changes these days, it seems natural to turn to homemade options for our children’s playthings. One great resource for toy ideas is Steven Caney’s Toy Book. First published in 1972, it was reissued in 1990 and still stands the test of time. Some toys are simple, [...]
Blog Overhaul
As you can see, I’ve done a bit of work on the site over the weekend: upgraded to the latest and greatest version of WordPress (all the cool kids are doing it) and updated the look. Mombian is now wider, which, among other things, should mean a more pleasant reading experience for most of you. [...]
Baby, Will You Marry Me?
Proving the importance of a good copyeditor, lawmakers in Arkansas passed a law this year that mistakenly allows state residents of any age—even babies—to marry with parental permission, as long as they are not pregnant. The bill says: “In order for a person who is younger than eighteen (18) years of age and who is [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
New Jersey dominated the headlines this week, but there’s also good news from Oklahoma, a celebrity marriage in Canada, and some items of bad news from round and about to remind us why we need to keep fighting. On a lighter note, if you haven’t yet seen the Daily Show’s take on the HRC/LOGO Presidential [...]
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