LGBT Parenting Roundup

• “Adoption Emerges As The Next Gay Rights Battle” asserts On Top magazine. The Chicago Tribune said pretty much the same thing back in December: “Next skirmish in culture war: Gay parenting,” but On Top brings us up to date with recent legislation and court cases.
• Drilling down into the cases mentioned by On Top, 365gay.com reports on the dozen families who are challenging the Arkansas law banning unmarried couples from becoming foster or adoptive parents. They have asked a judge to deny a state motion to have their lawsuit dismissed.
• The Tennessean reports on the proposed legislation in their state to enact a similar ban.
• LGBT students of color face greater victimization at school, according to a new study released by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.
• The Point Foundation, in partnership with Jeffrey Fashion Cares, will offer a four-year scholarship for LGBT students in honor of Lawrence King, the gay teen murdered at school in February 2008. The scholarship will begin in the 2009/2010 academic year. Read the rest of this post »

We’re Bringing It: Big, Big Week in LGBT Rights

It’s a big week for LGBT rights.

Yesterday, Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) announced that she will introduce a bill to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the armed forces.

Today, GLAD announced it is filing suit in the Federal District Court of Massachusetts, challenging provisions in section three of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Bay Windows explains: “GLAD’s suit only targets the provisions in section three of DOMA that block same-sex married couples from receiving equal treatment in taxes, federal employee spousal and survivor benefits, Social Security and name changes.” The suit, if successful, would not overturn all of DOMA, but not the entire statute. I’m sure the legal minds at GLAD have a good reason for this approach. Remember, they’re the folks who brought marriage equality to Massachusetts. (That’s GLAD, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, not to be confused with GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.)

And yesterday, California legislators approved two resolutions opposing the legality of Proposition 8. The state Supreme Court will hear arguments Thursday on whether the measure was a significant enough change to the state constitution that it should have gone through the Legislature before going to voters.

As Bil at Bilerico writes, though, there are still several major issues, in particular employment non-discrimination and LGBT-inclusive anti-hate crimes laws, that seem to have receded into the background in the face of the push for marriage equality. To many, those basic everyday protections for body and employment are more critical than having the option to marry. Bil argues that GLAD’s marriage case may in fact set back the chance to pass other LGBT-rights measures in “flyover” states like Indiana.

I definitely see his point, but I’ll also observe that for better or worse, the marriage battle has captured the public imagination. If we can score a victory there, it may create enough momentum to make progress in other areas. If we were starting with a clean slate, marriage may not be what we’d chose to lead with, but the fact is, it’s out front now.

Or as Bil and others, like Matt Comer and Pam Spaulding, remind us, the ultra-emotional issue of marriage may still be the wrong matter to keep pushing for, when smaller, less sensitive issues may help us gain more traction for our overall set of rights.

What do you think?

[Update: Nancy Pelosi says an LGBT-inclusive ENDA and anti-hate crimes laws are a priority, and indicated they would be likely to pass before a repeal of DADT.]

Family Voices International: III

Here is the third interview in this phase of the 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.

Ana, Katya, and their 18-month-old daughter Yana live in Russia and are expecting twins. They say “LGBT activism in Russia now is much like making revolution,” but also explain how that makes it difficult for families with children to take part. Seems like they’re finding their own quiet ways of being revolutionaries, though. Read the rest of this post »

Bank Ad Shows Transgender Inclusiveness

This isn’t exactly parenting related, but I found it too touching not to blog. Argentina’s Banco Provincia has released an ad featuring a transgender woman. Her neighbor sees how well the bank has treated her, comes to realize his bigotry, and apologizes for his past behavior.

It’s tremendously moving, and groundbreaking for an ad that deals with gender identity. No “gotcha” moment when the transgender character’s biological gender is revealed, no drag costumes, no snarky innuendos. Watch it and see:

Argentina today also dropped its prohibition against having openly gay personnel in its armed services. I imagine Argentinian lesbian mom blogger Julieta, with whom I’m collaborating on the current phase of my Family Voices series, may have more to say on developments in her country.

(Thanks to Jeremy at Bilerico for the link.)

Children’s Literacy Blog Event

Thanks to Steven at Book Dads for letting me know about Share a Story – Shape a Future: A Blog Tour for Literacy, which will kick off one week from now on March 9. The tour is “an ensemble effort not only to celebrate reading among those of us who already love books, but to encourage each other to reach beyond ourselves and do it in a way that we are neither judging nor instructing others. This is a venue for communicating practical, useable, everyday ideas.”

Each day they will have a group of bloggers sharing ideas around a specific theme. Steven and his partner Brian will be posting about “Reading Aloud With Kids: A Dad’s Perspective,” on Wednesday, March 11.

I’m not officially part of the tour, since Mombian is not primarily a book blog. I do a fair number of book-related posts, however, so I’m going to do a bunch of extra ones next week to help promote the tour, including some advance peeks at soon-to-be-published books by one of the best children’s publishers around, IMHO.

I’m posting this today because today is also the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, and thus also the National Education Association’s Read Across America Day. (Thanks to Steven for the reminder on that as well. Has it been a year already?) I wish I could do what they do in Katroo . . . .

What is your current or all-time favorite children’s book?

Songs of Imagination 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’ve created links to Amazon for the full albums (click the album image or name), plus links to Amazon MP3 downloads, when available, for those who want only the singles. (Click the song name.)

Little kids play pretend all the time – it’s a natural part of their growth. But when those same kids graduate to grade school they pronounce imaginary things babyish. Wrong! How can you create something – a story, an invention, a new law, a better society – unless you can imagine it? It’s important to imagine a world where anything – anything – is possible. You can’t change things for the better if you can’t picture things for the better – and for that you need an active imagination.

So here are some tunes to keep those imaginations charging: Read the rest of this post »

An Earthquake of Stunning Normalcy

Sometimes, signs of progress pop up in unexpected places. The Chicago Tribune this weekend ran a piece titled “Preschool FAQ,” by Heidi Stevens, who regularly writes on parenting for the Tribune. There’s nothing remotely LGBT-specific about it; it’s all about addressing questions that any parent, LGBT or not, might have if her or his child is starting preschool.

Why the mention here, then? Stevens quotes Brett Berk, author of “The Gay Uncle’s Guide to Parenting” and a former preschool director—but not about anything “gay.” The fact that Berk is gay is incidental to the article, but his parenting book is cited as any author’s would be in the same situation. Berk advises:

Watch out for bitter or burned-out teachers—ones who snap at or ridicule the kids, or just seem over the whole situation . . . But don’t be immediately scared by a teacher who appears disengaged. What looks like detachment in the face of chaos may represent the careful line-walking between exerting control and encouraging independence that is the hallmark of a great early childhood educator.

I think it’s a huge sign of progress that someone who is both openly gay and a parenting expert can be quoted in a mainstream article about parenting that has nothing to do with being LGBT. Not that he couldn’t or shouldn’t be quoted in an article about LGBT parenting, too, but that’s less of a revolution. Kudos to Stevens for recognizing that the commonalities of parenting (or “uncling”) extend across the boundaries of sexual orientation, but do not exclude being out and proud.