TV Alert: Lesbian Moms on Nurse Jackie

I’ve been excited about the upcoming Showtime series Nurse Jackie ever since it began airing trailers during L Word season. Star Edie Falco is a terrific actress, and the series promised to take a look at hospital life from the often unseen perspective of the nurses.

Little did I know, however, that the series would boost its appeal in my eyes by giving one of the characters, Dr. Fitch “Coop” Cooper (Peter Facinelli), lesbian moms. (Thanks, Queerty!)

That’s right, folks: An adult character with lesbian moms. If it’s not a first, it’s an all-too-rare. The moms don’t appear until Episode 6, according to TV critic Ed Bark, and it’s unclear if they’ll be back after that. The good news is that they’ll be played by veteran actors Swoosie Kurtz and Blythe Danner.

Kurtz gets bonus lesbian mom points for starring with lesbian mom Cynthia Nixon in the upcoming An Englishman in New York, about the English gay writer Quentin Crisp’s later years. She’s also played a lesbian before, on last season’s Desperate Housewives. As for Danner, she is Gwyneth Paltrow’s mother, but also L Word actor Katherine Moennig’s aunt, which gives her a pretty close degree to lesbian parenthood. (No, Moennig is neither out nor a parent, but her Season Four L Word storyline as guardian to her half-brother Shay gives her some lesbian parenting cred.)

My only qualm? Dr. Coop looks to be an unlikable character, a self-important Ivy League grad who acts out with inappropriate sexual touching when he gets nervous. A refreshing break from the shiny-happy same-sex families with cute toddlers that make up most TV fare, when we’re depicted at all? Or another instance of someone assuming the children of LGBT parents will turn out badly? Given Showtime’s LGBT-positive record, I’m guessing the former.

Helen’s as excited about the show as I am, so we’re sure to talk about it in an upcoming vlog. Stay tuned—and leave us your comments on the show if you watch it yourself.

West Virginia Rules in Best Interests of Child

The West Virginia Supreme Court ruled unanimously Friday that Kathryn Kutil and Cheryl Hess, a lesbian couple who have been fostering an 18-month-old girl since shortly after she was born, can maintain custody and not turn the child over to an opposite-sex couple for adoption, as ordered by a lower court.

The Supreme Court ruling takes the lower court to task in no uncertain terms:

Despite the number of times that this Court has stated the best interest of the child is the polar star upon which decisions involving children are to be based, DHHR did not even consider whether the individual needs of B.G.C. would be best served by removing her from Petitioners’ care, but instead opted for a swift and ready solution to the problem the agency created. . . .

It is more than apparent that the only reason why Petitioners were being replaced as foster care providers was to promote the adoption of B.G.C. by what Respondent called in his November 12, 2008, order a “traditionally defined family, that is, a family consisting of both a mother and a father.” It was only by addressing issues he anticipated would develop and believed would be problems at a later point in this case that Respondent was even able to reach the subject of this conclusion. The conclusion itself thus represents a blurring of legal principles applicable to abuse and neglect and adoption. . . .

In the present case, all indications thus far are that B.G.C. has formed a close emotional bond and nurturing relationship with her foster parents, which can not be trivialized or ignored. . . . As such, it serves as a classic example of a case in which the permanency plan for adoption should move quickly to the desired result of a permanent home for B.G.C.

Congratulations to Kutil and Hess. I hope their petition for adoption is indeed successful and they may continue to nurture their family bonds.

Weekly Political Roundup

• Rep. Michael Honda (D-CA) introduced the Reuniting Families Act, an immigration bill that includes allowing Americans to sponsor same-sex partners for residency. The Senate version does not include that provision, but the Senate Judiciary Committee this week held hearings on a separate immigration bill, the Uniting American Families Act, that would end discrimination against LGBT families.
• Knights Out, the organization of gay and lesbian West Point alumni, has released a statement telling the President to sign a stop-loss order immediately and allow gay and lesbian military personnel to continue serving for the sake of national security.
• Illinois State Rep. Greg Harris did not bring a civil union bill to the floor last weekend, effectively killing it for this session. He cited the need to focus on the economy rather than other issues. (About which, see under “New England” below.) Read the rest of this post »

“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 71

Helen and I tell you why bringing in cupcakes for a school birthday celebration also meant answering questions from our son’s classmates about our family. We also discuss a recent example of how kids learn gender roles, and ponder our love-hate relationship with Disney. We then take a more philosophical turn and wonder whether families have a “long tail.”

(If the embedded video above doesn’t work for you, try it here.)

Brought to you in partnership with After Ellen.

LGBT Parenting Roundup

Safe Schools

• After reviewing the suicide of 11-year-old Jaheem Herrara, Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore, a retired Superior Court judge in Fulton County, Georgia, said the boy was “emotionally ruined” by the recent murder of his uncle and the death of his grandmother, and his school was not responsible for his death. The boy’s mother, Masika Bermudez, disagrees and is suing the district for not stopping the anti-gay harassment that she had reported to administrators. SoVo also reports that Moore found few students knew what “gay” means, and that teachers had been telling them it means “happy.”
• Kevin Jennings, founder and former executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) has been appointed to become the assistant deputy secretary of education for the Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools.
• Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, spoke at the GLSEN Respect Awards in New York, and reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to safe schools for all.
• A California superior court upheld a law stating that schools cannot discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, among other categories.
• Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) vetoed the LGBT-inclusive Safe Schools for All Bill, although his office had worked with the bill’s authors on a compromise version and confirmed it met all of his requirements. You can sign a pledge here stating your support for the bill.
• The Oregon Legislature passed the sexual-orientation-inclusive Oregon Safe Schools Act. It now goes to the governor.

Read the rest of this post »

Breaking: Marriage Equality In New Hampshire!

New Hampshire just became the sixth state to enact marriage equality for all couples! (Well, seventh if you count California, which enacted and then rescinded it for all but 18,000 couples.) Gov. John Lynch signed the bill moments ago after it passed both houses of the legislature this afternoon.

Best wishes to all of my neighbors up north in the Granite State!

More Same-Sex Penguin Dads!

Pretty soon the same-sex penguin parents will be able to form a support group. Z and Vielpunkt, one of three same-sex penguin pairs at Bemerhaven Zoo in Germany, have become surrogate parents to an egg rejected by an opposite-sex pair, according to The Local.

“‘The two penguins, who have been together for more than five years, have proven to be loving parents and evidently happy fathers,’ said [Dr. Joachim Schöne, the zoo veterinarian]. ‘”It’s really touching how they both care for the chick.’”

According to the zoo, such homosexuality is nothing out of the ordinary in the animal kingdom. And since penguins split parenting work evenly, there are no traditional motherly or fatherly roles.

Schöne said the zoo was ecstatic the gay birds decided to take on the trials of fatherhood and they were “absolutely” accepted by the rest of the penguins.

The zoo has maintained a mix of homosexual and heterosexual Humboldt penguin pairs on its grounds for over three years. Zookeepers had tried to encourage the gay birds to breed with some imported females brought in from Sweden in 2006, but they stayed faithful to their homosexual partners.

At least the zookeepers will be able to read the chicks a nice picture book that represents their family. Congratulations to them!

Kids of Lesbians Less Likely to Have Mental Illness

Children with lesbian mothers have a lower risk of developing mental illnesses than those growing up with a father and a mother, according to a new University of Copenhagen study. The researchers found that during a 16-year period, five percent of children from traditional families in the study developed conditions such as depression or anorexia, versus two percent among the children of lesbian parents.

The researchers theorize that the challenges of lesbian parenthood may have given the moms and their children a certain resilience. “Resistance makes you stronger, and that could be passed on to their children.”

For all of the ultra-right angst that how children will develop poorly with same-sex parents, research like this indicates the truth is far different.

And here I thought Legos were the best thing to come out of Denmark. . . .