Archives › 2007 › August
“Family Voices” in Spanish
For the past two months, I’ve posted Family Voices, a series of interviews with LGBT families from around the country. The families volunteered because of their involvement in the Family Pride Coalition’s OUTSpoken Families program, and their commitment to speaking with their local communities and media about their lives and the need for LGBT equality. [...]
Google Prototypes Health-Information Service Codenamed After Lesbian Mom
Google has released the first screenshots of a new health-information service that will allow people easier access to and greater control of their medical records. Leaving aside the vast and frightening security issues, this seems like a good idea. The project is still in development, but is going by the codename “Weaver.” At least one [...]
Back to School Conversations
My son is starting preschool in two weeks, and I’m viewing the event with a mixture of excitement and hesitation. As a reformed academic myself, who always saw September, rather than January, as the real start of the year, I can’t help thinking that he’s embarking on the first steps of an adventure that will [...]
Another Week, Another Toy Recall
Toy maker Mattel announced its second toy recall in a month. Some of the items are die-cast cars containing high levels of lead, while millions of others contain small magnets that could cause fatal intestinal perforation or blockage if swallowed. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has details. I have the urge to give my son [...]
Family Voices VII
This week’s Family Voices interview is with lesbian moms Nikki and Jody, who live in New Jersey with their infant daughter and Nikki’s father. Below, they talk about their tempestuous first meeting, using a known donor, being out to employers, dealing with relatives, parenting as the lesbian daughter of a gay dad, having a civil [...]
Hillary and Mary, Separated at Birth?
Is it just me, or have Hillary Clinton and Mary Cheney been sporting some rather similar hairdos over the years? What could it all mean? Do they share some strange bond? Does this explain Hillary’s initial hawkishness on the war? Or Mary’s support for marriage equality in the face of her party’s opposition? Dorothy Snarker [...]
Better Late than Never: Chris Dodd on LGBT Issues
(First, just a note to say that I didn’t post my usual Weekly Political Roundup last Friday because I thought the HRC/LOGO Presidential Forum was enough politics to hold us for a while. I’ll incorporate outstanding items from last week into this Friday’s update.) Presidential candidate Chris Dodd, who missed Thursday’s HRC/LOGO Presidential Forum because [...]
Fine By Them: Erin Lee and Marci Make Kids Music Inclusive
(In my analysis of Thursday’s HRC/LOGO Presidential Forum, I mentioned that schools should teach about LGBT families and the acceptance of diversity from day one. It’s coincidental that I wrote this piece for Bay Windows this week, but I think it’s appropriate.) The song “Fine By Me,” by children’s musicians Erin Lee Kelly and Marci [...]
HRC/LOGO Presidential Forum: Where’s the Vision?
The HRC/LOGO Presidential Forum last night didn’t bring any surprises, but was nonetheless a significant moment in LGBT history. We are a constituency that major candidates must take time to cultivate, even more so than in 2004. Below are my thoughts on the forum. For a more detailed blow-by-blow of the action, visit Visible Vote [...]
Sara Gilbert Is a Mom Again
Taking a break from the political posts engendered by the Visible Vote forum, I’m happy to report that actor Sara Gilbert and her partner Allison Adler welcomed their daughter Sawyer into the world on August 2. The couple already has a three-year-old son, Levi. Gilbert is best known for her role as Roseanne Barr’s daughter [...]
To the Candidates: The Door Is Open
Tonight’s HRC/LOGO Presidential Forum will be a groundbreaking event, regardless of what is said. To have major presidential candidates discuss LGBT issues in a focused setting is a significant step forward in acceptance and awareness. Mainstream media is covering the event. All of the Democratic candidates will be there, except for Chris Dodd and Joe [...]
Clothes Make the Mom
I don’t identify as butch, despite a predilection for sports and an aversion to high heels. I prefer to think of myself as a middle-of-the road sort of gal, although I did femme it up a bit when working in the corporate world. At five feet tall, I found it paid to make an effort [...]
“Twee Vaders” Video About Having Two Dads
This made the rounds last fall (I saw it via Damn Straight), but I noticed that Daily Dose of Queer had it up again, and I thought it was worth a reprise. The Dutch children’s chorus Kinderen voor Kinderen produces a yearly album and associated concerts. One song last year was the touching “Twee Vaders,” [...]
Tell the AAP to Include LGBT Options in their Parenting Survey
I was going to ask readers to take the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) survey of parents, which they’re conducting “to keep our products as up-to-date and informative as possible.” I wanted to make sure the AAP has plenty of input from LGBT parents on questions like “Please think back to when you were a [...]
Baby Videos May Hinder Language Development
DVDs and videos such as “Baby Einstein” and “Brainy Baby” may hinder, rather than help babies acquire language skills, according to a new study published in the Journal of Pediatrics. The scientists found that for every hour per day spent watching baby DVDs and videos, infants understood an average of six to eight fewer words [...]
Let Your Little Builder Create with Floorplanner
Yet another in what is becoming a series of online games for kids that aren’t mean to be kids’ games (see also Tiny Drum Machine and Blue Man Art): Floorplanner is a Web-based application for room layout and design. You can click and drag furniture, plants, rugs, walls, and other objects to plan the home [...]
Mice Brains Wired for Both Female and Male Behavior
From the world of science comes further proof that gender is a mysterious and fluid subject. Neuroscientists at Harvard found that by blocking female mice’s ability to smell pheromones, they exhibit much more “masculine” behavior, “without any significant rise in testosterone or other steroid hormones.” All the thinking until now was that female brains can [...]
Happiest Gay Couple: Episode IV
Last week’s Happiest Gay Couple episode was mostly unmitigated silliness. Rick and Steve’s cat Pussy somehow decided the fetus growing inside Dana was really a mouse, and enlisted all the neighborhood cats to stalk her. It’s amusing for those of us who have ever puzzled the mysteries of feline behavior, but misses that “I’m laughing [...]
Out-of-State Adoptions by Same-Sex Couples Are OK
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this afternoon that an Oklahoma law preventing same-sex couples from getting birth certificates for children adopted in other states is illegal under the “Full Faith and Credit Clause” of the U.S. Constitution. The Court thus upheld a previous U.S. District Court ruling that said a child born [...]
There is a Summer Camp for Everyone
(I’m very pleased to bring you this guest post by writer and mom Sara Whitman, who has graciously agreed to let me crosspost some of her work. This piece originally appeared in the Huffington Post. Thanks, Sara!) Remember going to summer camp? Buddy boards lined with swim tags, mess halls and bug juice served by [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
Openly gay New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson endorsed Barack Obama for president, citing Obama’s experience with racism and discrimination. Openly lesbian Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, however, announced her support for Hillary Clinton, “because she wants to see full equal rights for gays at the federal level and because of Clinton’s views on health care,” reports [...]
LGBT-Family Multimedia Madness
Two great online shows for your viewing pleasure today: Family Pride has compiled a slide show of family photos submitted in response to their e-newsletter request. It’s inspiring viewing. If you’d like to add your own family photo, send it to them by e-mail. Courtesy of Gay Rights Watch comes a video produced for Let [...]
Sesame Street, Dora Toys, and More Recalled for Excessive Lead
Less than two months after a widespread recall of Thomas the Tank Engine trains because of high lead content, another major toy manufacturer is issuing a similar recall. Fisher-Price says various figures and toys manufactured between April 19, 2007 and July 6, 2007 should be taken away from children and returned for replacement vouchers. Toys [...]
Reader Story: Musical Pipes Redux
Reader Erin was kind enough to send me some pictures of the musical PVC pipe set she made with her older daughter and her daughter’s friends, based on my Musical Pipes post. They gave the set to her younger daughter’s school—which is a great idea, since I admit it is a little large to keep [...]
R Family Cruise: It’s Not About the Destination
(Originally published in Bay Windows, Family Week Supplement, July 26, 2007.) R Family Vacations, profiled in the HBO documentary All Aboard: Rosie’s Family Cruise, caught some flak (but also some praise) earlier this year when they removed Bermuda from their July cruise. A group of protesters had threatened to meet the ship, and R Family [...]
