“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 100

Helen and I take an Olympian approach to our 100th vlog. After watching the Olympics non-stop for two weeks, we bring you the “Top Ten Reasons Parenting Is Like the Olympics” (and not just because it’s like sliding down an icy track at 90 miles per hour).

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

Brought to you in partnership with After Ellen.

NCAA Pulls Focus on Family Ads

Under pressure from LGBT advocates, including Pat Griffin, Change.org, and (I imagine) many of you, the NCAA has pulled the Focus on the Family (FOF) ads from its Web site.

As I wrote yesterday, the ads were running at NCAA.com, a site managed in partnership with CBSsports.com. CBS came under fire for running FOF ads during the Super Bowl in January.

There’s still no word about future ads, or about the rumor that CBS will run FOF ads during the upcoming NCAA basketball championships, so stay tuned. Reproductive health blog RH Reality Check also covered the story. (FOF is as anti-choice as they are anti-LGBT.) The story made the virtual pages of Inside Higher Ed, though (h/t, Andy), so let’s hope that not only the LGBT community, but also the community of all fair-minded people in higher education can keep the pressure on.

Tell the NCAA to Stop Running Ads for Focus on the Family

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is running banner ads for ultra-conservative group Focus on the Family. You can see them at NCAA.com. (If you don’t, just reload the page; the ads are in rotation with some others.)

This is an affront to all LGBT, feminist, and allied NCAA athletes and former athletes. I was an NCAA athlete myself, and I’m personally pissed.

I first learned of the incident from Pat Griffin’s LGBT Sport Blog. Griffin is the former director of It Takes A Team, an education and advocacy project addressing LGBT issues in sport. She observes:

The NCAA constitutional principles include an explicit prohibition on discrimination based on sexual orientation. Lesbian and gay student-athletes, coaches, and administrators are a significant part of the NCAA’s membership. Women are a significant part of the NCAA on all levels. Many of the individual institutions [i.e.,  colleges and universities] that belong to the NCAA have policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. Yet the NCAA apparently thinks it is just fine to support an anti-gay agenda.

Griffin also says (which I cannot confirm, but have no reason to doubt) that CBS plans to air FOF ads throughout the men’s NCAA basketball tournament in March “with the complete complicity, consent and support of the NCAA.” CBS, as you may know, came under fire for running an FOF ad during the Super Bowl. Read the rest of this post »

“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 99

Helen and I talk about watching the Olympics with our son, teaching him to skate, and keeping kids active during the winter in a snowy climate.

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

Brought to you in partnership with After Ellen.

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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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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In Memoriam: Brendan Burke

Last November, I posted about Brian Burke, the gruff president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who very publicly supported his gay son Brendan, a hockey player for Miami University. Today I just learned of the sad news that Brendan was killed in a weather-related two-car accident in Indiana Friday afternoon.

My deepest condolences to Brendan’s family, who loved him unconditionally.

Hockey Dad, Gay Son

This ESPN story is apparently breaking all over the sporting news today and will surely hit the LGBT news soon. Brian Burke, president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, “a most public example of hockey machismo,” has a gay son, and accepts him. Not only that, but the son, Brendan, plays hockey for Miami University, and is helping break down the walls of homophobia in sports.

Here’s what Brian Burke had to say: Read the rest of this post »

“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 83

Helen and I discuss a melodrama shot entirely at Ikea (without the staff knowing) and how motherhood may have helped Kim Clijsters win at the U.S. Open. We also give you our thoughts on the anime-crossover movie Ponyo, now out from Disney with Tina Fey, Cate Blanchett, and Lily Tomlin among those redubbing the Japanese original.

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

Brought to you in partnership with After Ellen.

Love (Kisses) and Basketball

Ever watch an NBA game? In many arenas, there’s a “KissCam” that puts images of couples in the audience on the overhead Jumbotron screen, so the rest of the audience can encourage them to kiss. It’s silly but harmless.

Go to a WNBA Washington Mystic’s game, however, and you won’t find a KissCam, even though the NBA’s Washington Wizards use one. Why? According to Sheila Johnson, the Mystics’ managing partner, “We got a lot of kids here. We just don’t find it appropriate.”

The Washington Post’s sports columnist Mike Wise, however, explores the notion that fear of spotlighting the team’s many lesbian fans drove the decision: Read the rest of this post »