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New Dr. Spock Childcare Book Includes Gay and Lesbian Parents; Iffier on Transgender Issues
The new, 9th Edition of the venerable Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care by Dr. Benjamin Spock, first published in 1946, includes a section on gay and lesbian parents, the Washington Post informs us. I’ve taken a look, and while there is much to praise, there are also a few obvious gaps, particularly around gender [...]
Seeking LGBT Parents with Children on the Autism Spectrum
Cathy is a lesbian mom, a licensed social worker, and has a child on the autism spectrum. She also blogs about autism at Autism Home Rescue. She wrote to me asking if I could help connect her to other LGBT parents who have children on the autism spectrum, so consider it done. Go check out [...]
National Association of Mothers’ Centers Hosts Webinar on LGBT Children and Youth
The National Association of Mothers’ Centers (NAMC), “a collective voice for mothers and parents in the United States,” is hosting a Webinar on “Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: Navigating the Challenges for Parents, Teachers and Others,” January 24, from 1-2 p.m. ET. Pete Carney, LMSW Director of the Pride for Youth program at the Long [...]
Does Having Lesbian Moms Affect One’s Character?
Does having lesbian moms—or other LGBT parents—affect one’s character? Opinions are mixed, but not just between left and right. Iowa college student Zach Wahls, in his twice-viral video, famously said, “The sexual orientation of my parents has had zero impact on the content of my character.” And a University of Virginia study last year concluded what many [...]
TV Alert: Transgender Children on Anderson
Anderson Cooper covers the topic of transgender children in his new daytime talk show today. (Find airing times in your area.) Here are details about the show and two of its featured guests, via a press release: On Wednesday, November 16, Anderson Cooper’s new daytime talk show, Anderson, will focus on transgender children – children [...]
Role Models and Manly Things
I was recently asked by a mainstream journalist: “Are you worried about providing male role models for your son?”
I answered, as I always do to the question, “No.” It’s not that I don’t want him to have male role models; it’s just that I’m not worried about it. I think that very often, when the media asks that question, they are ignoring the realities not only of same-sex and single parents’ lives, but also of children’s lives in general.
(Originally published as my Mombian newspaper column.) The two eight-year-old girls said that meeting each other was like a dream come true. They both had similar interests—gymnastics, dance, singing, and songwriting—and similar styles in hair and clothing. Not only that, but for each of them, it was the first time they had met another child [...]
Coming Soon: Conference for Gender Non-Conforming Children, Youth, and Their Families
Gender Spectrum, an organization that provides “education, training and support to help create a gender sensitive and inclusive environment for all children and teens,” is hosting their annual Gender Spectrum Family Conference at the end of the month. I’ve never been, myself, but I’ve heard good things about it. (Please leave a comment if you’ve attended, [...]
Lesbian Mom Writes About Her Gender Variant Daughter
There’s been a growing amount of coverage lately about parents supporting their gender variant and/or transgender children—most recently in a worthwhile New York Times article last week. Veronica Rhodes of Parent Dish, however, gives us a perspective seen even less often—that of a lesbian mom with a gender variant child. Rhodes explains the extra criticisms [...]
The New York Times ran a must-read article yesterday on gender variance in children, “Boys Will Be Boys? Not in These Families.” Parents, says author Jan Hoffman, are increasingly accepting of gender nonconforming behavior in their children. “Rather than looking away,” she writes, “they are trying to understand their toddler’s unconventional gender behavior, in order [...]
New York Times’ “Coming Out” Youth Project
If you have not yet seen the New York Times’ excellent Coming Out project, which showcases the voices, words, and pictures of a diverse group of LGBTQ youth, get thee to their site and browse through it. There’s also a good introductory article here. Their stories are touching, sometimes heart-wrenching, but always inspiring. (Stories can [...]
The Kids Are All Right–But Hear It from Them
Although it’s been nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, most critics feel The Kids Are All Right, Lisa Cholodenko’s film about two lesbian moms, their teen children, and their sperm donor, won’t take home any prizes tonight. That’s okay. Whether it wins, or even if you disliked it (as many in the lesbian [...]
Known or Unknown Donors: The Kids Are All Right Either Way, Study Shows
More intriguing results from the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS) (about which more here and here). This time, Drs. Nanette Gartrell of the University of California, San Francisco and Henny Bos of the University of Amsterdam have found that “the development of psychological well-being” in children of lesbian mothers between ages 10 and 17 [...]
No Abuse Among Children of Lesbians in Long-Running Study
New results from the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS), the longest-running and largest study of American lesbian families, has found that the among the 78 17-year-old children of lesbian mothers in the study, none report having ever been physically or sexually abused by a parent or other caregiver. This contrasts with 26% of American adolescents who report parent or caregiver physical abuse and 8.3% who report sexual abuse.
Today Show Interviews Moms of Boys Who Dress Up as Girls
A few days ago, I mentioned the post over at Nerdy Apple Bottom about a mom’s support of her son when he wanted to dress up as Daphne from Scooby Doo for Halloween—and a few weeks ago, I posted about the mom who wrote My Princess Boy: A mom’s story about a young boy who [...]
A new study has found that children of same-sex parents are making progress through primary school at the same rate as children of opposite-sex couples. This will come as no surprise to most readers here; you’ve likely already read about this study and this one, which found that children of same-sex couples are just as [...]
LGBT Family Researcher Takes on Family Research Council
For your viewing pleasure today, here’s Dr. Abbie Goldberg, assistant professor of psychology at Clark University, and one of the foremost researchers on LGBT families today, debating Tom McClusky, Vice President of Government Affairs at the Family Research Council. Dr. Goldberg’s work was cited in the Prop 8 trial, among other places, and her book, Lesbian [...]
New Adoption Study: Parent’s Orientation to Kids More Important than Sexual Orientation
From the “not that those of us here needed proof, but it’s good to have” files, a new study from the University of Virginia has found that the adoptive children of same-sex parents were on average “developing in typical ways.” “We found that children adopted by lesbian and gay couples are thriving,” said U.Va. psychology [...]
(Originally published as my Mombian newspaper column.) Parenting took center stage in the closing arguments of the Prop 8 case on June 16. Attorney Ted Olson, by most accounts, made a superb argument for marriage equality. There was one point he left out, however, that is worth exploring here. Attorney Charles Cooper, speaking for the [...]
New Guide Offers Insights for Donor-Conceived Children
(Originally published as my Mombian newspaper column.) A long-running study of lesbian families created through donor insemination made headlines June 7 when it published new results showing that teens from these families tend to do better than their peers socially and academically. While these findings from the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study are positive, they [...]
Questions from Our Kids
Since we’ve had some great comment threads here about parenting issues lately, here’s another topic for discussion: What’s the question from your child(ren) that you’ve found most difficult to answer (LGBT-related or not)? OR What’s the potential question that you are most anxious about trying to answer? Leave a comment—or your advice for others about [...]
New Results from Largest Study of Lesbian Families Show Children Happy and Healthy
A new report from the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS), the longest-running and largest study of American lesbian families, has found that the 17-year-old children of lesbian mothers, all conceived through donor insemination, “were rated higher than their peers in social, academic, and overall competence, and lower in aggressive behavior, rule-breaking, and social problems, on [...]
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