Archives › 2008 › April
Card Games for Kids
My four-year-old is big into card games. I’m delighting in the fact that he’s now old enough to play games with a standard deck, which expands our possibilities for travel entertainment. I was able to teach him Go Fish and Crazy Eights, but had, however, forgotten how to play War. My tastes in games have [...]
The Rainbow Picket Fence
Both the New York Times and Details magazine have just published articles that look at the “settling down” of gay male culture. The Times, in a Sunday Magazine cover story, explores the trend of even young gay men in their 20′s getting married. Details looks at “The Gay Baby Boom.” It’s a good thing that [...]
Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s
Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 29, is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s. Yep, that’s right. Free cones at any B & J’s participating Scoop Shops. No purchase necessary. (Though if you come home with an extra pint or two, don’t blame me.) What’s your favorite B & J flavor? I have a perverse love for [...]
Book Review: Choosing You
Choosing You: Deciding to Have a Baby on My Own by Alexandra Soiseth (Seal Press: May 2008), chronicles the author’s journey to becoming a single mom by choice. She is not a lesbian, but I wanted to review her book here because of the parallels between straight single moms by choice and lesbian moms, partnered [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
First, the feel-good story of the week: Canadians Ruth Pogson, 83, and Beth Aime, 79, married each other this week at a Victoria nursing home. The couple has been in a committed relationship since 1995. On to more serious matters: A senior Senate Democrat says that he wants to attach expanded, LGBT-inclusive federal hate crimes [...]
“Proud Soccer Mom” T-Shirts, Hats, and More
Just in time for Mother’s Day, I’m pleased to launch the brand new “Proud Soccer Mom” line of t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, and more. Suitable for both playgrounds and Pride marches, they could become a wardrobe staple. Buy now through CafePress.
“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 25
Helen and I discuss why people always want to know what children of two moms call their parents, why even Cynthia Nixon can’t escape the question, and why we shouldn’t get so hung up on the issue. We also have fun with two classic board games and tell you why our son isn’t a genius [...]
The Sports Section
Lesbian mom and basketball superstar Sheryl Swoopes spoke with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer today. She’s playing for the Seattle Storm this season, not her long-time team the Houston Comets. In the article, she talks about how the WNBA’s lack of support for lesbians is “the one thing that’s hurt my feelings more than anything else.” One [...]
Saving the Earth: A Lesson Gone Too Far
It’s Earth Day. My son’s preschool had a series of related activities and discussions all last week, and he’s had the Earth on his mind. After going through several pieces of toilet paper during a pit stop the other day, he held up the final one and asked “Mommy, if it’s clean, can I leave [...]
New Rights for Lesbian Moms in Australia
This just in from Clare of When Do We Get the Toaster: Non-biological lesbian moms in New South Wales, Australia, will now have equal parenting rights and responsibilities under the law. The move brings NSW in line with Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory, as well as New Zealand and Canada. [...]
Funny Texas Lesbian Mom on LOGO
One of the funniest lesbian comediennes I’ve ever heard is lesbian mom Vickie Shaw. Her Texas drawl and impeccable timing had Helen and me rolling in the aisle during two Olivia cruises (and no, it wasn’t seasickness). Since another cruise isn’t in the cards for us this year, I was happy to see that Shaw [...]
It’s Raining (Pregnant) Men
Thomas Beatie caused a minor sensation several weeks ago when he came out as a pregnant transgender man. I offered my own opinion about him, which boils down to “a loving family is all that matters.” Annalee Newitz at AlterNet, however, reminded us that Beatie is not the first man to get pregnant. She knows [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
The Justice Department’s inspector general said he is looking into whether a department lawyer was dismissed over a rumor that she is a lesbian. HRC says that reports of the death of an Arizona constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage were greatly exaggerated. The state legislature might reconsider and send it to voters this November. E. [...]
Bilerico Founder on Family, Online and Off
(Many of you here in the bloggitysphere know of LGBT group blog The Bilerico Project. Founder Bil Browning was kind enough to share some of his thoughts on parenting and family with me—and now with you. Originally published by Bay Windows, April 18, 2008.) Long-time LGBT activist Bil Browning is making a name for himself [...]
A Cultural Icon?
I’ve kept my presidential preferences quiet. I think both Democratic candidates have their pros and cons, and while I favor one a bit more than the other, it’s not by enough to make it worth preaching or getting into debates here. As long as it’s not McCain. As a sometime student of medieval history and [...]
Custody and Self-Loathing
Just when you thought the Jenkins-Miller custody battle was over, with a Vermont court ruling that Janet Jenkins could maintain child visitation rights to the daughter she parented with her former partner Lisa Miller: Virginia’s Supreme Court this week heard arguments from Miller, the “ex-lesbian” biological mother, who wants the court to overturn an earlier [...]
De Mommy, De Mama, De Facto
Ireland’s High Court has ruled that “a lesbian couple living together in a long-term committed relationship with a child can be regarded as a de facto family enjoying rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.” This meant denying guardianship and access rights to the sperm donor, a former friend of the couple. The donor [...]
New IVF Method Could Double Success, Reduce Risk of Multiples
I wrote earlier this week about how Helen and I conceived our son. One of our many concerns was what we would do if we had twins or more. Not that this would have been the end of the world; many parents have survived this (and a few might even relish getting the whole labor [...]
“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 24
This week, Helen and I remind viewers of the long-lost parenting storyline on Jackie Warner’s Work Out. We also commemorate tax week with a rant on our own filings, and on a more positive note, discuss various approaches to children’s allowances and why we don’t have any answers. Plus: What were those weird pipes in [...]
Cynthia Nixon, best known for her role in Sex and the City (less known for her inclusion in Mombian’s “Most Powerful Lesbian Moms” list), has become an ambassador for breast-cancer organization Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Nixon is a breast-cancer survivor herself, and the daughter of a two-time survivor. She spoke with Good Morning [...]
HRC Tackles FMLA for LGBT
I’ve written before about how the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leaves same-sex families behind. Looks like HRC is stepping up to the plate here: The DoL [Department of Labor] issued a notice that they plan to make changes to some of the regulations governing how the FMLA is administered—and asked groups to comment. [...]
Reader Appreciation Day: Families Like Mine Giveaway
It’s Reader Appreciation Day, an event organized by Robin Reagler of The Other Mother. I thought it would be appropriate, therefore, to have another giveaway, this time of Abigail Garner’s must-read book, Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It Is. Abigail writes from her own experience of having a gay dad [...]
Working It Out
This week’s poll is in honor of season three of Work Out, which provides just enough women’s-sports coverage (and lesbian visibility) to get us through the gap between the end of March Madness and the start of the WNBA season. (Then it’s on to Wimbledon, the Olympics, and the U.S. Open here in the Mombian [...]
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