Archives › 2008 › May
Lonely Lesbian to Tour May 2008
Andrea Askowitz is the author of My Miserable Lonely Lesbian Pregnancy, a funny, bawdy, unflinchingly honest memoir of her journey to motherhood as a single lesbian. (Here’s my review.) Askowitz has now kindly offered to share some of her misery with you, Mombian readers. Please enjoy the excerpts below from her book. She has also [...]
Who Decides If LGBT Is Normal?
Some of you may have heard or read NPR’s recent piece (and followup Q & A) on two young boys expressing female “gender preferences.” The boys’ parents each sought the help of a different psychologist. One went to Dr. Diane Ehrensaft, a psychologist and gender specialist in Oakland, CA. She described the boy as transgender, [...]
Are LGBT Parents More Anxious Than Non-LGBT Ones?
Slate did a weekend review of “Super Books for Pretty Good Moms: Parenting guides that won’t make you even more anxious than you already are.” Whether you’re an anxious parent or a calm one, you’re most likely familiar with how the media plays up these anxieties (and then tries to sell us the solutions). This [...]
An LGBT Brady Bunch?
Raising a child takes at least 18 years, though some would say it is a lifetime’s work. Why then, has television representation of LGBT families focused primarily on the initial stages of family creation, and not on the later years? Almost every adult lesbian on television has had a storyline revolving around her attempt at [...]
Gay Guinea Pigs: How Will They Affect the Children?
Sarah Brannen, author of Uncle Bobby’s Wedding (about which see my Saturday post, if you haven’t been following the story), was kind enough to let me share this e-mail message she sent me: I read the book to a group of young children at a school book fair yesterday. They had a lot of questions: [...]
Happy Mother’s Day
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you who call yourselves mothers. We may come by the title in different ways, but the one thing we all share is a love of our children. I found it interesting that two lesbian-mom authors this week wrote of the difficulty of sharing Mother’s Day with another mother. Harlyn [...]
Guinea Pigs at Risk
Sometimes, I hate being right. It wasn’t a stretch of the imagination to foresee that the new storybook Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, by Sarah Brannen, would be a target for the right. I didn’t imagine they’d quote me while doing so, however. The conservative publication Town Hall just published the article “Librarians Against Censorship,” by Brent [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
Congressman Joe Sestak, the highest-ranking veteran in Congress, called for a repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told graduating West Point cadets that Congress, and not the military, is responsible for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Some say transgender rights could be the [...]
It’s the Little Things
Having preschool teachers who make sure your son brings home two handmade flowerpots for Mother’s Day? Priceless.
How Are You Celebrating Mother’s Day?
Having a party? Doing a quiet gift exchange? Waiting to see what your kids will spring on you? Ignoring it altogether? How are you and your family celebrating this family holiday? Helen and I are keeping it pretty casual (unless there’s something she’s not telling me), but as with most holidays at our house, there’s [...]
“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 27
Helen and I do a special Mother’s Day vlog in response to a viewer request about our decision to become parents. What made me finally break down and decide to have a child? Why did we choose the method we did? Was our cat really involved in the selection of our sperm donor? And what [...]
Melissa Etheridge on Motherhood
Somebody bring me some water . . . in a sippy cup.* MomLogic (part of the AOL Living network) just published the article “Melissa Etheridge: Superstar Mama.” The lesbian icon talks about having twins, explaining her cancer to her children, celebrating Mother’s Day, celebrity babies, the most important lesson to teach your children, and her [...]
This Year, Penguins: Next Year, Guinea Pigs?
For the second year in a row, the children’s book And Tango Makes Three, about two male penguins who care for an egg and raise a chick together, tops the list of the American Library Association’s (ALA) 10 Most Challenged Books. Personally, I think the guinea pigs will give them a run for their money [...]
LGBT Parenting Roundup: A Happy, Happy Post
Writing about the right always makes me grumpy. To cheer up myself and maybe some of you, here’s a roundup of some happy articles about LGBT families: “Mother’s Day Special: A Tale of Two Moms” in the Windy City Times is the first of a two-part series about a couple of lesbian moms in Chicago. [...]
I don’t usually respond to drivel from the ultra-right, but this one got to me. The Washington Times, in an article titled “Growing Up Confused,” reported Sunday on the memoir “Out From Under: The Impact of Homosexual Parenting,” by Dawn Stefanowicz. Stefanowicz is the daughter of a gay father who was married to her mother. [...]
Rate Your Foods
I’ve always been a foodie, but food seems to impinge even more upon my consciousness now that I’m a mother. I suspect it’s the same for many of you. The new food-review site Zeer intrigued me, therefore, when I read about it at TechCrunch. Zeer is “a grocery product community that helps you ‘believe in [...]
Loving Tribute
Mildred Loving, a black woman whose marriage to a white man led to the seminal U.S. Supreme Court that overturned Virginia’s ban on interracial marriage, died today at age 68. NPR has a good interview with her from last year, on the 40th anniversary of the Court’s case. Pam at the Blend observes that Loving [...]
Blogging for LGBT Families Day 2008
The third annual Blogging for LGBT Families Day is fast approaching on June 2. Bloggers of all orientations and identities are invited to post about LGBT families that day or shortly beforehand, and then to notify me (see below) so I can compile and showcase the posts. I know many readers write about LGBT families [...]
Spring Songs from Erin Lee and Marci
Children’s musicians Erin Lee and Marci bring us the next of their regular posts with thematic recommendations for kid-friendly music, plus activities to make the songs an interactive experience for the whole family. Look for Erin Lee and Marci here on the first Monday of each month, or visit their homepage, www.gottaplay.org. I’ve created links [...]
“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 26
In the vlog this week, I discuss two new memoirs about the journey to single motherhood, including the cynical and funny My Miserable, Lonely, Lesbian Pregnancy and Choosing You, (both of which I reviewed at length in text a few days ago—see links). I’m vlogging without Helen this week, but instead I have a very [...]
Residents of Lesbos Sue to Reclaim Term “Lesbian”
Some residents of the Greek island of Lesbos are suing the LGBT-rights group “Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece” in an effort to reclaim the name “lesbian.” The BBC reports “The man spearheading the case, publisher Dimitris Lambrou, claims that international dominance of the word in its sexual context violates the human rights of the [...]
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