TV Alert: Trans Parent on Primetime: Family Secrets

Tune in to ABC’s Primetime: Family Secrets at 10 p.m. ET tonight for the story of Chloe and Rene Prince and their two sons, ages six and seven. Chloe, formerly Ted, underwent gender reassignment surgery last year, and the show explores how her transition has impacted her and her family.

Six-year-old Barry explains, “She had a girl inside her. So she went on a surgery to get, get it out.”

There’s a text article about the family here. While there seems to be a little of the sensationalism that tends to accompany mainstream coverage of trans issues (“Click Here to see photos of Chloe’s transformation”), it also seems like one of the more balanced mainstream pieces I’ve seen. The article quotes Michele Angello, a clinical sexologist who has worked with transgender families for the past 10 years, who observes, “This, if handled like any other family transition . . . meaning, a move, a new job, a divorce in the family. If it’s handled where the children feel safe . . . and they’re allowed to talk about it, then it’s not going to be traumatic. In the long run, they’ll be perfectly fine.”

Thanks to COLAGE for the heads-up, and for a reminder about the COLAGE Kids of Trans program.

Heather’s Mommy Has Two New Books

(Originally published in Bay Windows, June 25, 2009.)

“Writing has always been my political activism,” said Lesléa Newman, author of Heather Has Two Mommies, the classic 1989 children’s book that was the first to feature a child with two moms.

Her two new books, however, are sweet, simple tales of family life, without any overt politics or agenda. Mommy, Mama, and Me and Daddy, Papa, and Me (Tricycle Press: 2009) are sturdy board books for toddlers, with ink-and-watercolor illustrations by award-winning English artist Carol Thompson. They each show a child with two moms or two dads, respectively, going through everyday activities such as playing in the park and painting pictures.

“What I really wanted to do with these books . . . was show a loving family where there was no issue involved. It was just a kid with his or her parents having a great day together,” said Newman. She wrote them after her editor suggested there was a need for books for the very youngest children with same-sex parents, and that she would be the perfect person for the task. Read the rest of this post »

Tour the Moon, No Rocket Required

Here’s a fun one for the kids (and grown-ups, too), in honor of the 40th anniversary of the moon landing:

Google has launched an upgrade to its Google Earth software with information and activities about the lunar landings. According to Google, you can now:

• Take tours of landing sites, narrated by Apollo astronauts
• View 3D models of landed spacecraft
• Zoom into 360-degree photos to see astronauts’ footprints
• Watch rare TV footage of the Apollo missions

The Google Earth upgrade builds upon the more limited images that have been available through the Google Moon Web site for some time now. The Google Moon site seems to have some of the Apollo information as well, but not as much as the full Google Earth software. Google also offers maps of Mars and of the night sky, either via a Web browser or through Google Earth. Read the rest of this post »

Lesbian Moms vs. Gay Donor: A Cautionary Tale

Two lesbian moms who had a child in Florida are in the midst of a custody battle with their known sperm donor. The donor, Ray Janssen, and his partner Craig were involved with the child’s life until the moms, Katherine Alicea and Ana Sobrino, moved to California. Janssen then sued them for custody. A Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge recently ruled that because there was no contract before birth, Janssen had “no rights.”

The Miami News says this is “perhaps the most unique custody battle in recent Florida history and maybe the most radical verdict.” In Florida, perhaps. It is not, however, the first case in the country in which a sperm donor has sued for custody. In 2007, for example, a donor in Texas, the uncle of the non-bio mom, sued the bio mom for custody after the couple split. Read the rest of this post »

Weekly Political Roundup

• The U.S. Senate unanimously adopted the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as an amendment to the Department of Defense authorization bill. This means its fate is tied to whether the president will veto the bill because it also includes funding for F-22 fighter jets, which he opposes.
• The NAACP announced a partnership with National Black Justice Coalition to create an LGBT Equality Task Force. NBJC Deputy Director Jason W. Bartlett, the first openly gay black state legislator, this week became the first representative of a black LGBT group to address the NAACP Board of Governors.
• The Episcopal Church’s general convention voted overwhelmingly to allow gay men and lesbians to become priests and bishops. This means, of course, that they can conduct marriages for others, but still can’t themselves marry in most states. (Straight Episcopal priests may marry.) The Church has, however, just authorized the drafting of a blessing for same-sex couples. Read the rest of this post »

“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 75

Helen and I discuss the lesbian moms who appeared on Showtime’s Nurse Jackie this week, and tell you why we thought the portrayals by Blythe Danner and Swoosie Kurtz broke new ground. We also share highlights from our recent trip to Washington, D.C., and offer some tips for traveling with kids so the whole family enjoys the experience. (See also the list of travel tips compiled by Robin at The OTHER Mother, which very much parallel our philosophy.)

If the embedded video above doesn’t work, try it at Dailymotion.

Brought to you in partnership with After Ellen.

Bruno: the Herald of the Gayby Boom?

Johann Hari at HuffPo reports that—shock—we’re in the middle of a gayby boom, and Bruno is spreading the word. He writes, “This quiet trend has finally poked its way to public attention with the sight of Bruno – the crazed Austrian fashionista played by Sasha Baron Cohen – sitting with a little African baby on his lap, bragging that ever since Madonna went to Malawi, it’s the essential fashion accessory, dah-ling.”

Umm. No. Read the rest of this post »

LGBT Parenting Roundup

Politics and Law

• First, a great ruling from the Oregon Court of Appeals via the vigilant Nancy Polikoff: “If the biological mom’s partner consents to the insemination [of her partner], she is also the parent of the resulting child.” The ruling states, in part: “There appears to be no reason for permitting heterosexual couples to bypass adoption proceedings by conceiving a child through mutually consensual artificial insemination, but not permitting same-sex couples to do so.”Compare this with last week’s ruling from Utah, which said that not only did the non-bio mom have no rights in a similar case, but that the parenting contract between the two mothers “directly offends the state’s public policy.” Polikoff dissects the Oregon case in a post at her blog, and it’s worth a read, even though it wades deep into legal analysis.
• Cindy Lederman, the Miami-Dade Florida circuit court judge who ruled that Florida’s ban against adoption by gay men and lesbians was unconstitutional, has been removed from her post as top administrative judge over Miami-Dade’s juvenile courts, although she will remain within the juvenile court system. The new Chief Justice for the Miami courts says he “wants new perspectives and leadership.” Thanks to Waymon Hudson at Bilerico for the news, and also for his personal story—Lederman placed Waymon’s foster son with him and his partner.
• YLE.fi reports that dozens of couples in registered same-gender relationships in Finland are filing adoption applications ahead of new “internal adoption” (second-parent adoption) legislation that takes effect in September. One child rights organization, however, is warning that couples should expect waits of around one year for officials to finalize adoption decisions.
• The Lithuanian Parliament approved a bill banning public information that could be “detrimental” to minors, including material that encourages homosexual, bisexual or polygamous relations, or which “subverts family relations and degrades its values”. The bill is not solely concerned with LGBT matters, however. It also bans “the distribution of images of heterosexual intercourse, death and severe injury,” and its amendments cover the paranormal, foul language and bad eating habits, according to Deutsche Welle.
• The Upper House of the state Parliament of New South Wales, Australia, has concluded that the definition of a couple in the Adoption Act should be amended to include same-sex couples. Currently, lesbians and gay men may adopt as individuals but not as couples. The Law and Justice Committee could not reach a unanimous conclusion, however, and the future of the proposal is uncertain.
• Meanwhile, lesbians in Queensland, Australia may use IVF to have children or register as foster parents, but cannot adopt children, even to do a second-parent adoption of the child they planned with a partner. Queensland Child Safety Minister Phil Reeves said it is unlikely the state government’s position will change, but the country’s Human Rights Commissioner, Graeme Innes, has said he would like a national law permitting lesbian and gay people to adopt. Read the rest of this post »