The Unheard Voices Of The LGBT Community

A week or so ago, I posted about an article that profiled several teen children of LGBT parents. For my column at 365gay.com this week, I wrote about how we need to position LGBT rights as being in the best interests of the children, rather than let the ultra-conservatives control the “think of the children” argument.

Now comes a great short video featuring 12-year-old Noel and Dakota, the children of lesbian mom Gina McNally-Malanga, talking about the way homophobia impacts them. They say it with much more impact than I ever could.

I also find it notable that they bring up the subject of “coming out” as the child of an LGBT parent, regardless of one’s own sexual orientation. That’s a process that doesn’t get nearly as much discussion as it should, IMHO. Noel also talks about the special understanding between her and a lesbian girl at school; again, I think that’s a bond that is not often recognized.

Thanks to Noel and Dakota for their honesty and their willingness to share their feelings with us.

As always, you can browse the Mombian YouTube channel for more positive videos by, for, and about LGBT families.

Weekly Political Roundup

• Can we compromise on marriage? David Blankenhorn and Jonathan Rauch think so. Pam disagrees. What about you?
• The Obama administration named Jeffrey S. Crowley, an openly gay man, Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy.
• The U.S. State Department’s annual Human Rights Report condemns Russia, Serbia, and Nigeria, for breaches of human rights for gay men and lesbians.
• Republican Chair Michael Steele said that even civil unions for same-sex couples would be “backslid[ing] on a core, founding value of this country.” (Like fairness and equality, and the centrality of loving families?) Read the rest of this post »

Will Big Mammas Be a Big Hit?

Amy and Mandy are two lesbian moms and “self-made millionaire entrepreneurs” from Indiana who have been blogging for about four months now. Today they are launching the first episode in their weekly Web video series, Big Mammas. They turn the camera on themselves and their two children, seven-year-old Amanda and five-year-old Bradley, to answer the question, “So how do two lesbians conceive and raise their kids in conservative Indiana?”

The answer may soon get more complicated, because Mandy is also pregnant with quads. I’ve written before about lesbian moms-of-quads Cristine Gaiennie and Patsy Lovell, Karen Wesolowski and Martha Padgett, and Karen and Janice (the latter two of whom split the work and had nearly simultaneous sets of twins). I’m beginning to think Helen and I didn’t get our money’s worth when we did IVF! (Just joking, of course, son: You’re priceless.)

They’re taking a very different approach than Helen and I do in our video blog. While we talk about many of our own experiences, the vlog is less about chronicling our lives and more about doing an ongoing video commentary on the culture, media, and resources that pertain to the grand diversity of lesbian parenthood. Mandy and Amy are giving us a detailed inside look at their family. I see value in both approaches, and look forward to watching the first full episode of Big Mammas.

I spoke with Mandy and Amy the other day, and they were kind enough to answer some questions about their inspiration and goals for the project, and their plans to use social networking to build a following for the Webisodes. Read the rest of this post »

“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 60

Helen and I share a children’s book about Harvey Milk, though Helen questions my obsession with historical accuracy. We then discuss a must-listen radio piece about transgender children (more details in my post here), and turn to lighter matters with a look at the several parenting storylines on last week’s The L Word, including Max’s disastrous baby shower and Bette and Tina’s adoption woes.

Watch Mombian; She Got Me Pregnant, 02-26-09  |  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.

LGBT Parenting Roundup

• The U.S. Supreme Court refused to take the case of a Kentucky high school student who wants to sue his school district over a policy he says barred him from expressing opposition to homosexuality.
• Alaska North Star Borough School Board voted to add gender identity to the nondiscrimination and harassment policies that cover students, staff, and outside parties with which the district conducts business.
• In Los Angeles, Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services (GLASS), the first licensed LGBT adoption agency in the country, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Their primary program is providing group and transitional living homes for LGBT teens. According to Karen Ocamb at Pam’s House Blend, “The staff is so ‘outraged’ at the board’s decision, they plan to ask a court to intervene and accept a reorganization plan instead.”
• Lambda Legal has filed an amicus brief at the Georgia Supreme Court in support of a gay man who is fighting a child custody agreement that prohibits him from “exposing his children to his homosexual partners and friends.”
• About 100 opponents of legislation that would bar unmarried couples from adopting children in Kentucky protested in the state capitol.
• The Michigan State Court of Appeals ruled that courts can oversee a custody dispute between lesbian moms who adopted in Illinois, even though Michigan doesn’t formally recognize same-sex relationships.
• A new bill has been introduced in the Tennessee general assembly that would prevent any unmarried couple from adopting children in the state.

What Was Your Favorite L Word Parenting Storyline?

Time for something frivolous—an L Word quiz, but with a Mombian twist:

Family Voices International: II

Here is the second interview in this phase of my Family Voices series. This time around, I am teaming up with Julieta of Ju, An y el Perro Activista to extend the series to include non-U.S. LGBT families. Julieta has also done Spanish translations of all the interviews, which you will find after the English below, and at her blog.

If you are interested in participating, please let us know. We’ll keep the series going as long as we have interviewees!

Natalia, Luciana and their two-year-old daughter Luna live in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Natalia talks below about their path to parenthood, the challenges that all parents face, and the particular legal issues for same-sex parents in their country. Read the rest of this post »

This American Life On Transgender Children

Sure, you’re spending the day re-watching Dustin Lance Black and Sean Penn’s acceptance speeches after winning Oscars for Milk.

Take a few moments, however, to listen to the second segment on the Valentine’s Day episode of This American Life. Each of the show’s three vignettes focuses on someone “searching for people who will understand them like no one else does.” The first and third segments are about more traditional, straight, romantic love (albeit with the quirkiness of most This American Life stories).

The second segment, however, is about friendship, specifically the friendship between two eight-year-old transgender children, born biologically male, but who identify as girls. The rare and brilliant part is that the producers not only let their parents speak, but also let the girls themselves share their thoughts. It’s both heartwrenching and inspiring.

The segment starts 29 minutes into the show. I sat in a supermarket parking lot for 10 minutes listening to it finish the other day.

I can’t post about this without also referring you to The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals, by Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper, which I reviewed here; and 10,000 Dresses, a new picture book with a transgender protagonist. My review and author interview of that is here.