Archives › 2008 › June
Story 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. I’m posting this a wee bit early this month because I’m on vacation; you can usually find Erin Lee and Marci here [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
Publishing this early because of my vacation schedule; I’ll catch late-Friday news next week. The U.S. House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions held a hearing on workplace discrimination against transgender people, “the first ever hearing in Congress exclusively on transgender issues.” HRC has coverage here and here and here. Bilerico’s Alex Blaze has [...]
Big Bird Loses a Friend
Kermit Love, the costume designer who helped Jim Henson create Big Bird, has died at age 91. He is survived by his partner of 50 years, Christopher Lyall. Love built the Big Bird costume based on designs by Henson, and also helped design costumes and puppets for Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster, among [...]
Signs of the Times: Boston Pride
A Mombian look at Boston Pride 2008: Sure, there were drag queens and dykes on bikes, too, but I think they were outnumbered by the schools and church groups. Not that that’s necessarily good or bad; just a sign of change. Besides, I’m sure no small number of them had children in the schools and [...]
Mayo Ad Viewers Can’t Take a Yolk
LGBT advocates in the U.K. are urging supporters to boycott Heinz products after the company pulled an ad that showed two men kissing. The TV spot for Heinz Deli Mayo, “Mayo with a New York Deli Flavor,” shows two siblings getting ready for school and asking their mum for their lunches. Thing is, their “mum” [...]
TiVo Responds to LGBT Families
TiVo has responded to pressure from the LGBT community and allies and taken steps to distance itself from ultra-conservative group Focus on the Family (FOF), according to the Family Equality Council (FEC). (See my earlier post on the subject.) In an e-mail to supporters, FEC executive director Jennifer Chrisler reports:
Lessons from the Safe Schools Movement
(This was a bit of local coverage I did for Bay Windows, but I think it may be of interest to anyone interested in the history of social justice movements and the interaction among various progressive groups.) Twenty years ago, when the first Gay-Straight Alliance was created, with the goal of making schools safer for [...]
Book Recommendation: Everywhere Babies
When I had the pleasure of interviewing Meema Spadola, director and producer of Our House: Kids of Gay and Lesbian Parents, she mentioned a little LGBT-inclusive children’s book that had slipped under my radar: Everywhere Babies, by Susan Meyer and illustrated by Marla Frazee. The book shows images of babies of many shapes, sizes, ethnicities, [...]
Update from the Road
Despite my earlier qualms, it looks like I will be online this week. I’m sitting here in the middle of King’s Canyon National Park in California, in the common room of the rustic John Muir Lodge, rough-hewn beams overhead, with six other people and their laptops, all taking advantage of the free WiFi. Gotta love [...]
Guest Post: Lesbian Parenting in Argentina
Julieta Bonazza and Analía Puntillo of In Tristitia Hilaris, In Hilaritate Tristis and Florencia Gemetro and Gabriela Bacin of Maternidades Lesbicas were kind enough to write a guest post for Mombian about lesbian parenting in Argentina. ¡Muchas gracias! Many thanks! Becoming parents as a project for lesbian couples is relatively new in Argentina. Our families [...]
Vacation
My family and I will be on vacation this week and next, visiting Helen’s relatives in California. With luck, we’ll also be at San Francisco Pride, soaking up some of the matrimonial excitement, but our primary obligation this trip is to family. We’ll also be heading out to a rustic location for a few days. [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
As you’ll know if you weren’t on the moon this week, marriages became legal for same-sex couples in California. Here are some additional highlights: More than 2,700 marriage licenses were issued statewide on June 17, vs. the average June day’s count of about 480. The LA Times has a cool interactive map breaking this down [...]
Federal Benefits for Children of Same-Sex Parents
The U.S. Department of Justice ruled Tuesday that the Social Security Administration must recognize the children of same-sex couples, including their relationship with non-biological parents, even though the federal Defense of Marriage Act prevents the government from recognizing or providing benefits to those couples. The opinion was offered in the case of a minor child [...]
The Basketball Argument
Seen at Boston Pride:
“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 33
Helen and I share the story of a Pride brunch hosted by the mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who is herself a lesbian mom—and grandmother. I even go so far as to show off my t-shirt from the event, the only pink piece of clothing I’ve owned in my adult life. We then bring you our [...]
When the Baby Carriage Comes First
In my last post, I put up photos of California weddings with children in attendance because it was obvious to me that same-sex couples couldn’t until now follow the traditional order of marriage first, kids second. When parents marry, it of course affects their children. (See also our vlog from a couple of weeks back, [...]
No locusts, either. Lots of great photos, though. Here are a few of some well known couples, plus (because we’re all about the kids here at Mombian) a few showing happy kids and their just-wed parents. Go read Karen Ocamb’s on-the-ground report over at Bilerico for more on some of these families and others. Del [...]
Just Married: Images from California
Video of Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, the first same-sex couple to marry legally in California, just after their ceremony in San Francisco. The video also features Mayor Gavin Newsom, who performed the ceremony. Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, also among the plaintiffs in the case that won same-sex couples the right to marry: More [...]
The Right Loves Lesbian Moms
Why is an ultra-right legal group supporting the custody suit of a lesbian mom? Nancy Polikoff, author of Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage: Valuing All Families under the Law asks the question in a fascinating post today at Beacon Broadside. As Polikoff tells it, a Virginia appeals court last week rejected a visitation request by [...]
From Sea to Shining Sea
A very happy wedding day to Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, who will marry today at 5:01 p.m. Pacific, after waiting over 50 years. Two other plaintiffs in the marriage case, Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, who got the ball rolling for the lawsuit when they were denied a marriage license at the Beverly Hills [...]
Father’s Day Roundup
Even mainstream media seems to be paying attention to gay dads this week: MSNBC’s Mike Stuckey spoke with two Seattle men who have three sons, Zach, Zayn, and Zeth, who [despite growing up to hate alphabetical order] are doing much better than they were with their “substance-abusing and incarcerated biological parents.” The judge who granted [...]
Weekly Political Roundup
Barack Obama appointed David Noble, director of public policy and government affairs at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and former executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats, as director of the LGBT vote for his campaign. The presidential candidate also sent an open letter to LGBT voters and said “I will place the [...]
Book Review: The Maternal Is Political
The Maternal Is Political: Women Writers at the Intersection of Motherhood and Social Change, a collection of 43 essays edited by Shari MacDonald Strong, is both a celebration and a manifesto for mothers with hopes of making the world a better place for their children. Its authors include news headliners like Nancy Pelosi, Benazir Bhutto, [...]
Destroying the Foundations, or Establishing a Blueprint?
Two recent articles indicate that far from destroying traditional relationships, same-sex couples, parents in particular, offer examples that others would be wise to follow. Last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine discusses the phenomena of husband-wife couples who are trying to buck society and tradition and share parenting duties equally. It’s a fascinating (though perhaps not [...]
Massachusetts Governor’s Daughter Comes Out
In a move to remind all the same-sex couples flocking west to marry that Massachusetts is the original Gay State, Katherine Patrick, daughter of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, has just come out as a lesbian. I jest about the motivation, but the fact of the matter is true. In an interview with Bay Window’s Laura [...]
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