Diversity in Primary Schools Leads to Tolerance

A new longitudinal study from the Universities of Sussex and Kent concluded that “The ethnic composition of primary schools has a direct impact on children’s attitudes towards those in other ethnic groups and on their ability to get on with their peers.” The lead researcher explained, “Our findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the more contact children have with other ethnic groups, the more cross-group friendships they will have and the less prejudiced they will be.”

This isn’t rocket science; I’m sure most readers here could have guessed those conclusions. For the purposes of convincing politicians, educators, and the like with more than our personal experiences and opinions, though, studies like these are welcome. It doesn’t take too much of a leap to hypothesize, either, that the results of this study would likely hold for diversity in family structure as well. Dissertation research, anyone?

“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 36

Helen and I bring news of a challenge to Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, the children’s book about gay guinea pigs (see SGMP 18 and 22), and a librarian’s thoughtful response. We also continue our discussion from last week about kids and homophobia, and talk about how to prepare our children, educate educators, and find allies.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

(If the Veoh video above isn’t working for you, try it at Dailymotion.)

Brought to you in partnership with After Ellen.

Beautiful Baby Beatie

People magazine has the first photos of transgender man Thomas Beatie and his daughter, Susan Juliette. Towleroad has some beautiful stills from Good Morning America’s coverage yesterday.

From what Beatie says, the family is settling in to being a family. Can’t ask for more than that.

We’re Not Snickering

Yet another reason to go to the candy-free checkout lane in the grocery store:

Mars, Inc./Masterfoods has decided that homophobia sells Snickers bars. In a new clip from AMV BBDO London, an effeminate speedwalker is chased by Mr. T, who shoots Snickers bars at him with a Gatling gun, shouts “It’s time to run like a real man!” and tells him to “Get some nuts!”

Pam has more on this, and Bil suggests, “Get some nuts, apologize, and make one hell of a large donation to the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Shooting at gay people isn’t funny – it’s a hate crime.”

This is Mars’ second homophobic ad in recent memory. A Super Bowl ad of 2007 showed two men accidentally kissing as they ate the chocolate confection, then being so repulsed they engaged in an aggressive display of masculinity. One alternate ending offered to Web site viewers showed one man attacking the other with a wrench. Joe.My.God has republished an open letter from Advertising Age critic Bob Garfield to John Wren, CEO of advertising agency Omnicon, criticizing the mega-agency for a string of homophobic ads it has produced in recent years.

Contact Snickers if you’d like to tell them what you think.

Ad embedded after the jump. Read the rest of this post »

Teen Adopted by Lesbian Moms Takes on John McCain

Alan O’Brien-Myers is a rising senior at Holyoke High School in Massachusetts, where he lives with his two moms and younger brother. He posted on Bilerico today in response to John McCain’s statement that he doesn’t believe in gay adoption. He says, in part:

What’s not to believe in? Many gays and lesbians adopt children and create wonderful, loving families. My moms adopted me out of foster care when I was eleven years old. I’m seventeen now. I love my family. My moms provide for me in all the ways that other parents provide for their children. We have our problems just like everybody else, but in the end we take care of each other. We believe in each other.

What we don’t believe in is John McCain and any other politician who is out of touch with the reality of American families.

Worth reading in full and forwarding to anyone you know who might be considering a vote for McCain.

Fun and Legos

OK, I need a break from the serious posts, and I suspect you do, too. Here’s a clever little online app that’s been taking too much of my attention: Fantastic Contraption: A fun online physics puzzle game is exactly that. Add rods and rotating wheels to move a ball from one part of the screen to another, over a variety of obstacles. (Thanks to Good Morning Silicon Valley.)

Another fun stop if your kids are as Lego-obsessed as mine (and as I am, let’s face it) is Gizmodo’s exclusive Inside the Lego Factory video series. There are three parts, about a minute long, with great images and fun facts like “The machines produce more than two million pieces per hour.”

Of course, I’m old-fashioned when it comes to Legos, and think they’ve gotten way too specialized. I also have a certain fondness for the consistently happy, smiling, clean-faced Lego minifigs from years ago, not the sometimes scowling, unshaven ones we have now. I know it’s an unrealistic utopia, but hey, I can have that in at least one part of my life now, can’t I?

Coverage on LGBT Youth Stirs Debate

Both the Washington Post and Newsweek last week published articles about children who are coming out in middle school or high school, younger than ever before. Both focus on the dangers faced by these youth; Newsweek’s story, which made the cover, centers on Larry King, the eight-grader in Oxnard, CA, who was shot to death by a classmate.

The WaPo piece, by Theresa Vargas, is much more balanced. It offers perspectives from students in a gay-straight alliance (GSA), mentions lesbian students, and quotes Robert-Jay Green, executive director of the Rockway Institute, a center for LGBT research and public policy, Kevin Jennings, executive director of GLSEN, and Lindy Garnette, executive director of Metro DC PFLAG.

The Newsweek piece, by Ramin Setoodeh, focuses on how troubled King’s life was, and how much he “pushed” Brandon McInerney by flirting with him. It also contains the troubling statements: Read the rest of this post »

Is Wal-Mart the New FDA?

Is the mega-retailer playing doctor with all of us? Bil Browning of Bilerico fowarded me an interesting article from Forbes that asks this question in relation to Wal-Mart’s announcement that it will stop selling baby bottles containing the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA). BPA has been linked in some studies to cancer and other medical problems. If you’ve been around the parenting blogosphere for the past few months, chances are you’ve read about this.

The FDA, however, says that bottles with BPA are still okay to use. A campaign against BPA, although it has a grassroots feel (with some scientists warning against the product as well), seems to be having an effect, though. Many retailers, including the big W, are pulling products that include the chemical, even though there seems to be no consensus on whether the amount of BPA in bottles is enough to do harm. (I also think it’s an open question whether the substances replacing BPA plastics will be found to be harmful as well.)

The Forbes reporter, Marc Gunther, asked a Wal-Mart spokesperson, however, “why the company is removing a legal product, which may or may not be dangerous, while continuing to sell cigarettes, which are incontrovertibly harmful,” to which she responded “We sell products our customers want to buy.” Gunther asks, “How, exactly, did Wal-Mart become the new Food and Drug Administration?” and “Is this any way to make judgments about public health?” Read the rest of this post »

Who Will Star in L Word Spinoff?

After Ellen brought us news late last week that there is an L Word spinoff in development. After the show finishes its sixth and final season next year, one storyline will be carried into an online series that will then segue into the new series, if Showtime approves it. The new show will star one of the current L Word actors.

Spinoff shows are always a gamble. Given the relative lack of lesbian programming on television, and the strong fan base of The L Word, though, I’d give this one better than even odds of success. The question of course is which actor will be the new star. My money’s on Leisha Hailey. Her character Alice is a consistent scene stealer, and she brings a comedic touch that could help define the new series. Besides, her character founded the social network Our Chart, which series creator Ilene Chaiken transformed into the real online Our Chart. I think there’s strong incentive for Chaiken to keep that part of the story active in all the media she can. It’s just good marketing. (Full disclosure: Our Chart is a paying advertiser on Mombian, but they have not asked me to write about them.)

What do you think?

Weekly Political Update

• The U.S. Senate voted to drop travel and immigration restrictions on persons who are HIV-positive.
• The House Armed Services personnel subcommittee has scheduled a hearing on the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for July 23. The Washington Blade reports, though, that “as of Wednesday, the subcommittee was not scheduled to hear from even one former service member who was expelled for being gay.”
• The U.S. Census Bureau, citing the Defense of Marriage Act, said it will edit the 2010 census responses of same-sex couples who marry in California, Massachusetts, or any other state, and will report them as “unmarried partners” instead. Read the rest of this post »