More Gay Penguins Desperate to Parent

Another blow to the “it’s unnatural” argument against same-sex parents:

Two male penguins at a zoo in China are so desperate to become parents that they are attempting to steal other penguins’ eggs and replace them with stones, reports Britain’s Daily Telegraph. The zookeepers have separated the pair from the rest of the group, but insist, “It’s not discrimination. We have to fence them separately, otherwise the whole group will be disturbed during hatching time.”

Clearly, they need to form a support group with Tango’s dads, Silo and Roy.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy early Thanksgiving to all of you celebrating it tomorrow. Posting will be light for the rest of the week as I plan to spend it in a tryptophan-induced haze.

If you want to get a jump on your holiday shopping, and like me, try to avoid anything within a five-mile radius of a mall from now till New Year’s, you can check out the Black Friday deals at Amazon, which have started already.

As always, if you start your Amazon shopping through a link here at Mombian, a bit of your purchase price goes to support the site, and will help me continue to bring you more news, information, and fun stuff.

Thanks, and have a happy holiday!

New LGBT Adoption Awareness Campaign

All Children – All Families, a program of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation Family Project, yesterday launched a new awareness campaign aimed at increasing LGBT foster parenting and adoption.

Nice timing, considering the ruling yesterday that struck down the ban on LGBT people adopting in Florida.

HRC also informs us: “All Children – All Families, launched in 2007, also seeks to enhance LGBT competence among child welfare professionals and educate LGBT people about opportunities to become foster or adoptive parents to waiting children. Thirty-four agencies from across the U.S are currently participating in the initiative, and more than a dozen agencies are close to earning the seal of recognition.” The All Children – All Families Web site has more information, including a list of participating agencies, ways for agencies to assess their LGBT friendliness, and tips for improvement.

After the jump is a video of the press conference held to announce the initiative. It featured Ellen Kahn, HRC Foundation Family Project director; Janice Goldwater, Adoptions Together founder and executive director; Nathan Monell, CEO of Foster Care Alumni of America; and adoptive parent Daniel McNeil. Read the rest of this post »

Breaking News: Florida Adoption Ban Ruled Unconstitutional

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman today declared Florida’s 30-year-old ban on adoption by gay men and lesbians unconstitutional, saying, “It is clear that sexual orientation is not a predictor of a person’s ability to parent.”

‘Bout time they realized that.

State lawyers have already said they will challenge the decision. At the moment, however, it clears the way for Frank Gill, a gay man from North Miami, to adopt two foster children he has raised since 2004.

(Thanks to the Family Equality Council for the great news.)

Children of Lesbian Families Happy and Healthy, Despite Homophobia

(Originally published in Bay Windows, August 20, 2008.)

The 17-year-olds participating in the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS) “demonstrate significantly higher social competence” and “significantly lower total problem behavior [than the standard population]. This is a very high indication of mental health,” asserts Dr. Nanette Gartrell, principal investigator of the NLLFS and Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California-San Francisco. “They are performing much better than the enormous [overall] population of teens out there.”

She and her colleagues Heidi Peyser, the study’s executive director, and co-investigator Dr. Henny Bos of the University of Amsterdam have begun releasing preliminary results from the teen phase of this multi-year study of a group of lesbian families, the longest-running and largest investigation of its kind. To date, they have completed interviews (including questionnaires and standardized psychological tests) with about half of the families. They hope to have the rest by next spring. Their findings provide reassurance for lesbian parents and prospective parents, and offer evidence and guidance for educators and policy makers. Read the rest of this post »

Prop 8 Protests and Parenting

In our vlog last Thursday, Helen and I spoke about whether to take kids to the recent LGBT rallies and protests. I also wrote an article about kids and protests, which appeared today on 365gay.com. In it, I look not only at the question of whether to take kids (short answer: it depends on the kids), but also at the difficulties of balancing parenting and activism.

If you’ve gone to protests with your children, what were your experiences there? How did your kids respond to the event (and how old are they)? If you chose not to take them, why not? Have you become more or less active in the LGBT movement (or others) since becoming a parent? In what ways?

LGBT Parenting Roundup

• Yesterday’s Boston Globe had a front-page article on children looking for their anonymous sperm donors. While not specific to lesbian families, there are obvious connections. The article notes that at the end of October, a woman in Canada filed that country’s first class-action lawsuit on behalf of donor-conceived offspring, asking “that all donor records be preserved . . . and that offspring be granted the same right to access as adopted children have to the records of their birth parents.” (See also my interview with Sherron Mills, founder and CEO of Pacific Reproductive Services, which has the largest selection of willing-to-be-known donors in the U.S.)

  Feel free to leave a comment with your reflections and experiences regarding known vs. unknown donors. This is always a personal decision, but I think it helps to hear other people’s thoughts on the matter.

• SFGate has more on the lesbian mom who was asked to resign as president of the PTO at her son’s Catholic school after she spoke at a vigil against Prop 8. She and her spouse are now looking for a new school for their son.
• Teresa Pelham’s “The Current Parent” column in the Hartford Courant offers insight for straight parents trying to explain same-sex parents to their children. “When kids are raised by parents who regularly socialize with same-sex couples, the questions are rare,” she asserts. “It’s all they’ve ever known. . . . Talking to your kids about gay marriage and different kinds of families is far easier than most of the topics we’re all going to face as parents, and a simpler conversation than many anticipate.”
• Amendments that ban civil marriage rights of same-sex couples “have led to higher levels of stress and anxiety among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults, as well as among their families of origin,” according to several new studies from the American Psychological Association. Not to mention what they may do to the children.
• The Portuguese are becoming more accepting of same-sex parents, especially lesbians, according to The Portuguese News Online. The article was based on a study among university students in social work, however, so I see this less as a statement about the overall society and more about the next generation. (One could say the same about the U.S., too, based on the majority of younger people who voted against Prop 8.)

Weekly Political Roundup

• Officials with President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team named at least seven openly gay or lesbian people to transition panels.
• A coalition of 104 retired military generals and admirals has released a joint call to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and allow gay and lesbian members of the military to serve openly. At the same time, the Washington Times reports that Obama may not act on this until 2010. Although he has promised to repeal the ban, he apparently wants to confer with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and his new Pentagon appointees to reach a consensus before presenting legislation to Congress. Much as I want to see the policy repealed, that sounds like a smart strategy. Read the rest of this post »

Mombian in Curve

The Mombian vlog, “She Got Me Pregnant,” got a mention in the December issue of Curve magazine. It’s just hitting newsstands now, and has Heather Matarazzo and Caroline Murphy on the cover. The article “Vlogging Killed the TV Star,” on page 70, says:

Although YouTube is synonymous with the Internet’s vlog revolution, a more fruitful search for lesbian voices would be through AfterEllen, where the cornucopia of online video fare has been harvested into a unique collection of female vlogs.

From Kate Clinton to Mombian.com’s Dana and Helen, and with various weekly contributors in between, the vlogs at AfterEllen cover a multitude of topics.

Mentioned in the same breath as Kate Clinton, no less. I’m under no illusions—we’re not nearly as funny as Kate (nor as cute as Heather and Caroline, who take adorableness to new heights)—but it’s an honor nonetheless.

Thanks to all our viewers for watching. Please keep your comments coming!

“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 50

Helen and I celebrate our 50th vlog this week with a big thank you to viewers. In a seasonal vein, we offer some tips on juggling kids and turkeys to make Thanksgiving go more smoothly, and Helen shares her favorite Thanksgiving craft. We then respond to a timely viewer question about whether to bring children to LGBT rallies and protests. Helen also talks about her experience joining a local school board committee, which leads the discussion back to visibility and creating change.

Watch Mombian: She Got Me Pregnant, 11-20-08 in Family Videos  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

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

Brought to you in partnership with After Ellen.