Here’s what’s been going on ’round and about in LGBTQ parenting lately, complete with supermodels.
Being an Ally and Teaching Acceptance
- Linda Rodriguez McRobbie of Slate is a straight mom and ally who wants to raise her son to be open and accepting of LGBTQ people and different family structures. She interviewed me for some ideas in her latest article. I should also note that one of the top commenters on her piece asks why she never considers the possibility that her son will be LGBTQ himself. I think that’s a misleading question. She can raise him to be accepting of LGBTQ people regardless of whether that category includes him—and she never denies either possibility. I’m moved by her willingness as an ally to learn how to be an even better one, and to pass on the idea of embracing all types of families to her son.
Politics and Law
- Rebecca McCray at TakePart and Alexandra Frean of The Times (London) interviewed me about my experience having to marry in a hurry (after 13 years together) in order to get medical benefits from my spouse’s new employer, and generally what marriage equality might mean for same-sex couples’ corporate benefits.
- The Texas legislature passed a bill to overhaul the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services without an amendment that would have let foster care and adoption agencies receiving public funds use religious beliefs as a reason to discriminate against LGBTQ people and others.
- The Israeli army will now allow same-sex partners who have been called up for reserve duty at the same time to ask for one of them to have their service postponed, whether they are legally married or not, just like different-sex couples, reports Haaretz. The regulations apply to any couples living together as a family with children, including those in common-law marriages.
- Istoé reports on the recent decision by Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court to allow same-sex couples to adopt children, and explores attitudes of Brazilians towards different types of families. (In Portuguese, but you can get the gist from Google Translate if you need to.)
- Talking Points Memo asks, “Will Gay Adoption Be A Bigger Problem For The GOP In 2016 Than Gay Marriage?” Support for adoption equality is apparently growing even faster among Americans than for marriage equality.
Family Profiles
- Danish supermodel Josephine Skriver speaks with i-D magazine about growing up with a lesbian mom and a gay dad. My favorite Q&A from this piece: “Did it matter when you were younger that your mother and father weren’t related to each other in a conventional way?” “Not at all. My parents were and are gay, so imagining them in a straight relationship would actually be quite weird for me.”
Schools and Books
- The American Library Association (ALA) and Lambda Literary are partnering to use the ALA’s Rainbow Book List (which I’ve written about many times) in the latter’s LGBTQ Writers in Schools Program, which connects authors with classrooms through in-class visits or Skype to discuss the authors’ work and LGBTQ issues.