The MFI Loves Me – and I Love Them Back

Yesterday, I posted a recent column in which I reviewed several new books and films for and about LGBT families. It turns out the conservative Massachusetts Family Institute, which took the lead fighting against marriage equality here in the Bay State, didn’t like it so much—or maybe they did. In their latest e-newsletter, they included an entire section about my column. (After the jump.) It seems I provided them with an easy reference on books they want their members to be on the alert for, should they show up in classrooms or libraries.

The good news, though, is that I found out about this through a gay dad who works with religious congregations across the U.S. on LGBT issues and inclusion, and also teaches children’s literature at a seminary. He’s on the MFI mailing list just to keep tabs on what they’re doing. He thanked me for the column and said he’ll use many of the items in his work. Thanks, MFI, for helping to spread the word! Read the rest of this post »

New Resources for LGBT Families

(Originally published in Bay Windows, July 29, 2009. Stay tuned for another post on what an ultra-conservative group had to say about this article.)

The number of resources for LGBT families is, like my own son, small but growing. Here are some recent highlights for a variety of children’s ages:

Mommy, Mama, and Me and Daddy, Papa, and Me (Tricycle Press, 2009), two board books for toddlers, are the latest works by Lesléa Newman, author of the 1989 classic Heather Has Two Mommies. They are not “issue” books like Heather—no one gets upset at the fact that the child has same-sex parents—and thus appropriate for children who do not yet have the fear of bias. In each, a child with two moms or two dads simply goes through everyday activities such as playing in the park and painting pictures. The bouncy rhymes and charming ink-and-watercolor illustrations by award-winning English artist Carol Thompson should give the books wide appeal.

10,000 Dresses, by Marcus Ewert (Seven Stories Press, 2008), is the first children’s book to feature a transgender child as protagonist and a joyous book about self-acceptance and identity. Young Bailey dreams of 10,000 beautiful dresses made of crystals, rainbows, flowers, and magical windows. Her family repeatedly tells her, “Boys don’t wear dresses.” It is only after meeting Laurel, an older girl who befriends her over their shared love of dresses, that Bailey is able to see her creations come to life. The striking collage and paint illustrations by graphic designer Rex Ray bring Bailey’s real and imagined worlds to life with distinct style. The story is simple enough for preschoolers, but should appeal to children through the early elementary grades. Read the rest of this post »

Wednesday Open Thread

What’s on your minds today, readers? Keeping the kids amused during the summer? The weather? Back-to-school preparation? (Please, not yet.) President Obama’s cupcakes?

Leave a comment!

LGBT Parenting Roundup

Personal Stories

• ABC News looks back at the history of the “gayby boom,” and how things have changed (and not) over the past 20 years. It’s a rather good mainstream article, with many quotes from teen and adult children of same-sex parents.
• Ten-year-old Sophie Brescia offers Bay Windows her perspective on having two moms and being one of two children the family adopted from China. It’s a must-read, and one to share with your kids if they are of similar age. Read the rest of this post »

A Supremely Ridiculous Argument

Sometimes I read something that is just so mind-blowingly irrational I don’t know where to begin.

Robert P. George, in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece titled, “Gay Marriage, Democracy, and the Courts,” begins by stating that it would be “disastrous” for the U.S. Supreme Court justices to rule on a federal lawsuit that “has been filed to invalidate traditional marriage laws.” He continues, “They would repeat the error in Roe v. Wade: namely, trying to remove a morally charged policy issue from the forums of democratic deliberation and resolve it according to their personal lights.”

Those of us who believe Roe v. Wade was a valid ruling made on the basis of sound legal reasoning will see the obvious error of the second statement. Let’s also be clear that any federal lawsuit to invalidate the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) will not in any way, shape, or form “invalidate” traditional marriages. They will remain as legitimate and traditional as ever.

George then goes on to try and refute those who say the fight to legalize marriage for same-sex couples is similar to the fight to legalize interracial marriage. He says the two situations are not the same, however, because those who sought to permit interracial marriages did not question the concept of marriage “as a union that takes its distinctive character from being founded, unlike other friendships, on bodily unity of the kind that sometimes generates new life.” He continues: Read the rest of this post »

The Shooting in Tel Aviv: Everybody’s Children, Everywhere

A gunman opened fire at the basement location of the LGBT Tel Aviv Community Center on Saturday night, killing two and wounding 11 others. He remains at large.

The Center was a haven for LGBT youth and their friends. The two who died were Nir Katz, 26, and Liz Trobishi, 16. Katz was gay and a counselor for the group. Trobishi was straight, and had written at the Center’s online forum: “Although I am not a part of the Igy community I really love being with them. I connected with a lot of people, met a lot of nice people and am not sorry for any moment.” (Haaretz via Law Dork.)

LGBT-related hate crimes and harassment are not solely a “gay” issue. Until we pass LGBT-inclusive hate crimes laws and more importantly, take steps to educate people and create a more understanding and welcoming society, everybody’s children are at risk. Read the rest of this post »

Songs About Friendship and Being Alone 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.

Look for Erin Lee and Marci here on the first Monday of each month, or visit their homepage, www.gottaplay.org.

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.) I also have a widget after the jump that will let you preview all three songs without leaving Mombian.

We’re just back from sailing to Alaska with R Family Vacations and can’t believe that it’s been two years since we met Dana on the cruise and began this blog. We’re kind of sad to be looking at our computer screens rather than gazing out our cabin windows at ice floes covered in seals. But life goes on, and we’re back to NYC, missing all the beautiful families we met or reconnected with on the sea. It’s fitting that this month’s topic is friendship . . . and being alone. Read the rest of this post »