Florida “Family-Friendly” Film Tax Credit Would Exclude Movies with Gay Families

Watching the Oscars tonight? Here’s some filmmaking news that will have you seething:

Florida lawmakers are considering an incentive package to attract film and entertainment jobs to the state.  Productions with “nontraditional family values,” however, would be ineligible.  State Rep. Stephen Precourt (R-Orlando), who introduced the bill, said that films depicting gay families should not get the tax credit, reports the Palm Beach Post.

Gov. Charlie Crist agreed, defining “traditional” families as those with a married man and woman. (Someone should tell him that according to the 2000 U.S. Census, less than 25% of all families in the U.S. consist of a married, opposite-sex couple living with their own (biological or adopted) children.)

The bill (HB 697) was approved unanimously last week in the House Economic Development Policy Committee, and is apparently a priority for Republicans as part of their promise to create jobs.

Not everyone who wants to limit the tax credit to “family-friendly” films agrees with Precourt about the definition of family values. Some say that limiting the tax credit to “G-rated” films is enough. It is also unclear whether the language about “nontraditional family values” would make it through the state Senate version of the bill. Still, this type of thing sets my teeth on edge.

After the jump, the relevant section of the legislation. “Nontraditional family values” are lumped in with smoking, sex, nudity, gratuitous violence, and vulgar or profane language. There go my hopes of selling a screenplay that’s a sort of Heather Has Two Mommies meets Pulp Fiction. Read the rest of this post »

Music for All Families: “And Mom and Kid”

As regular readers will know, I’m a big fan of They Might Be Giants and their great new kids’ album Here Comes Science. They also did a fun song called “And Mom and Kid” for Rosie O’Donnell’s recent HBO special A Family Is a Family Is a Family. (While I had some criticisms of the film, and Shannon raised some very good others, the music is still pretty fun.)

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Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Happy birthday to Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, who was born on this date in 1904. As those of you with children in elementary school likely know, today is also Read Across America Day, an an annual reading motivation and awareness program run by the National Education Association (NEA).

I feel obliged to point out, however, that while the NEA has a fascinating and packed Diversity Calendar, worth a read, there is one major heritage month missing from it. In June. Can you guess? Harumph.

Still, the good doctor himself remains a favorite of mine even now. In honor of the event, I invite you to leave a comment with any or all of the below:

• The name of your favorite Seuss book.
• A rewritten Seuss title, giving it an LGBT theme. (Of course, One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads has already been done for real.) My entry, in honor of the high-protein, low-carb diet I had to be on while taking one particular fertility drug: “In Vitro Fertilized Eggs and Ham.”
• A Seuss-style stanza about your family.

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Travel Songs 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 most of the songs without leaving Mombian.

It seems like March is always a month to travel. Some schools have a March Break and some families are just sick of winter and head South! So whether you are heading to a resort or your relatives, here are some great songs to sing en route. Read the rest of this post »

Read LGBT Books, Win Prizes

I was delighted to discover the new(-ish) blog GLBT Reading, home of the GLBT Challenge 2010. The goal of the site is to encourage people to read books about GLBT topics and/or by GLBT authors.

To participate in the Challenge, simply read relevant books (or short stories, poems, or essays), post reviews on your blog, and enter the Challenge as directed. Participants will also be entered into drawings for a variety of prizes.

There are also mini-challenges each month, in which people are encouraged to read and post about books on particular topics. The mini-challenge for February is People of Color, and for March it is Graphic Novels. Young Adult works are coming up in April, and Picture Books in September, among other categories.

I know many of you are voracious readers. Go show GLBT Reading some love!

Johnny Weir, His Mom, and Gay Guinea Pigs

What does Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir have to do with gay guinea pigs? The talented Sarah Brannen, author and illustrator of Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, the much-challenged children’s book about two male guinea pigs who marry, made a name for herself with photographs and watercolors of ice skaters long before she turned to furry rodents.

She’s captured the images of Olympic skaters like Weir, Rachael Flatt, Sasha Cohen, and many others. Check them out in the Figure Skating section of her Web site. (Please keep in mind that they are subject to copyright.)

Brannen is a regular contributor to Skating Magazine, and along with 2006 Junior World Champion pair skater Drew Meekins, writes and contributes photographs to a regular column on Ice Network. One of Brannen’s drawings is in the collection of the World Figure Skating Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

If any of you have children who skate, you might want to read Sarah and Drew’s column from a couple of years back, in which they ask Johnny Weir’s mom Patti for her thoughts on being Johnny’s mom and her advice for other skating parents.

I took my own son skating for the first time yesterday, and he had a blast. I have no idea if his interest will last, but I think Patti Weir’s tips could be applied to many other sports and endeavors. It sounds like she has a healthy perspective on what really matters: “Be the positive reinforcement to your child.”

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2010 Rainbow Bibliography Highlights LGBT Books for Kids

(Originally published as my Mombian newspaper column.)

The American Library Association’s Rainbow Project has just published its third annual Rainbow Bibliography, a list of recommended, LGBT-inclusive books for readers under age 18.

Nel Ward, head of the Rainbow Project, says one of the biggest problems librarians have with including LGBT-inclusive books in their collections is that they don’t know what to buy. The Bibliography is designed to help them select a range of appropriate, quality publications.

LGBT book-award programs, such as the Lambda Literary Awards or the ALA’s own Stonewall Book Awards, “highlight just the very, very best,” Ward noted in an interview. In contrast, the Rainbow Bibliography takes a broader view. “There’s just a lot of good reading out there, some with literary merit, some genre stuff, that doesn’t see the light of day or is in hiding,” she explained. “Once you’ve bought the top two, three, four on a list, where do you go from there?” Read the rest of this post »

A Lesbian Olympic Soundtrack

Thanks to the industrious folks at After Ellen, we now know there are four (count ‘em, four!) out lesbian athletes in this year’s Olympics, and no gay male ones.

That didn’t stop Olympic organizers from having k.d. lang perform at the opening ceremonies, or prevent NBC from using Melissa Etheridge’s “This Moment” for the closing montage of their Sunday night coverage.

This got me thinking (though perhaps my brain was addled from watching the speedskaters earlier—mmm, speedskaters): Many of Melissa’s songs seem to match up well with Winter Olympic sports, to wit:

• “Bring Me Some Water”: Cross-country skiing.
• “Like the Way I Do”: Pairs skating.
• “You Can Sleep While I Drive”: Bobsled (drivers only).
• “Brave and Crazy”: This could fit a lot. Ski jumping and halfpipe snowboarding come to mind.
• “An Unexpected Rain”: Downhill skiing (at least so far this week).
• “Nowhere to Go”: Short-track speedskating.
• “Touch and Go”: Short-track speedskating relay.
• “Precious Pain”: Pretty much any of them.
• And for the athletes who don’t medal, we have “Stronger than Me,” “I Could Have Been You,” and “No Souvenirs.”

Too much lesbian sporty geekiness? Naw. No such thing.

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“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 98

Helen and I tackle financial literacy for kids and the origin of piggy banks. We then explain why indie rock band They Might Be Giants is becoming the Schoolhouse Rock for a new generation—and why the band has a special connection to LGBT families. On a somber note, we mourn the death of Brendan Burke, the gay son of Brian Burke, general manager of the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team. Brian Burke had several months ago spoken out strongly in support of his son and against homophobia in sports.

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

They Might Be Allies

I was thrilled to hear indie band They Might Be Giants performing the theme song for Rosie O’Donnell’s recent HBO special, A Family Is a Family Is a Family.

Unfortunately, the song, “And Mom and Kid,” isn’t yet available online. I give you instead “Roy G. Biv,” from their generally awesome album Here Comes Science. At least it has a rainbow theme. (It’s from their weekly podcast, so there’s a short spoken intro.)

This also serves in lieu of our vlog for the week, which won’t be happening because of unforeseen circumstances. Stay tuned for one next Thursday. (And please leave a comment if there’s a topic you’d like to hear us address!)

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