“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 75

Helen and I discuss the lesbian moms who appeared on Showtime’s Nurse Jackie this week, and tell you why we thought the portrayals by Blythe Danner and Swoosie Kurtz broke new ground. We also share highlights from our recent trip to Washington, D.C., and offer some tips for traveling with kids so the whole family enjoys the experience. (See also the list of travel tips compiled by Robin at The OTHER Mother, which very much parallel our philosophy.)

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“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 68

Helen and I bring you the inside scoop on our recent trip to Disney World, including our son’s obsession with teen secret agent Kim Possible (think Buffy meets James Bond) and our disappointment that we couldn’t find any Kim merchandise among the princess and pirate paraphernalia. We also tell you what we love about Disney World despite its stereotypes and offer some hints for those visiting with or without children.

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Where Do You Socialize with LGBT Families?

Let’s do another poll and explore how we build community and friendship:

LGBT Parenting Roundup

It’s time for another collection of news and fun stuff for LGBT parents:

• Put on your flak jackets. “It is same-sex parenting that is heating up as the next skirmish in the nation’s culture wars,” asserts the Chicago Tribune.
• Nancy Polikoff points out just how scary are the proposed Bush rules that would allow healthcare workers to refuse to participate in procedures on moral grounds. She says they would allow doctors and others to restrict assisted reproductive treatments to (heterosexually) married women. Pam has more, and notes that both the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Hospital Association (AHA) oppose the regulations.
• Forbes has an article by the daughter of a single (non-lesbian) mom searching for her donor dad. Good article, although the lesbian mom she quotes who says “the only children she’s met with a passion to track down their donors are raised by just one parent,” seems to be a minority opinion. My sense is that there are many children of two moms who want to know their donor. Read the rest of this post »

“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 47

I’m vlogging alone this week while Helen is away on business, so I offer some tips for other traveling parents and the ones staying home.

I also discuss the theatrical release of a new movie documenting the fight for marriage equality in Massachusetts, Mary Cheney’s not-so-excellent dinner, and a lesbian mom presidential candidate.

Watch Mombian: She Got Me Pregnant, 10-16-2008 in Family Videos  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

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Philanthropy and Family a Sweet Combination

(Originally published with slight variation in Bay Windows.)

For Jen Rainin, creating a lesbian travel company based on the idea of giving back to the world was an extension of her role as a philanthropist, but also a way to convey positive values to her children. Rainin is one of the founders of Sweet, which will offer “voluntourism” vacations that combine fun and relaxation with opportunities for giving back to the communities they visit. Her co-founder and the company’s CEO, Shannon Wentworth, is a marketing executive with experience at established lesbian travel company Olivia, PlanetOut, and Care2, a social network for people who want to improve the world.

For Rainin, philanthropy is a way of life. Her primary job is as chair of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation established by her father, an entrepreneur who built a leading scientific instrument company. Now she is carrying on both his entrepreneurial and philanthropic traditions through Sweet. “I feel like if I didn’t share the good fortune that I’ve experienced in my life, then shame on me. With the foundation, I’m able to do that. Then Sweet came along and the idea that there will be even more opportunity for hands-on giving back really appealed,” she says.

As the mother of two young boys, part of the appeal for Rainin is also what this work can teach her children. She explains, “As a mom, a big part of my job is instilling values in my kids and trying to be a role model. What I’m doing is what I hope my kids will want to do in the future, to find something that they feel passionately about that really does make a positive difference in the world and pursue it with their whole hearts.” Read the rest of this post »

Gay Pilgrims’ Progress

I don’t often post about purely local events, but since this one has ties to national history, here goes:

Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts, the site of the first Thanksgiving, will host “Out at Plimoth Plantation” on September 13. The event will “offer a glimpse into the lives of 17th century LGBT pilgrims and Native Americans,” according to Bay Windows. The day includes two historical presentations and a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

The Plantation’s PR manager, Jennifer Monac, told Bay Windows, “At Plimoth Plantation we feel that history is everybody’s story,” and stressed that the event was meant to be a family affair: “We want same-sex parent families to feel that they can come with their children for a place that’s safe for them to be who they are for the day, explore the sites and really enjoy it as a family experience.”

This isn’t the American history I grew up with—and that’s a good thing.

“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 34

Helen and I talk about Family Outing, the funny, raunchy new memoir by a man whose mother was outed to him by her ex-girlfriend when he was 10 years old. (Not the recommended way of doing things, might I add.) We also share more highlights of our recent vacation to California, including San Francisco Pride’s Family Garden and how we got through hours of plane and car travel with a five-year-old. This leads us to a discussion of the mainstreaming of the LGBT community and radical suburbanism.

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Update from the Road

Despite my earlier qualms, it looks like I will be online this week. I’m sitting here in the middle of King’s Canyon National Park in California, in the common room of the rustic John Muir Lodge, rough-hewn beams overhead, with six other people and their laptops, all taking advantage of the free WiFi. Gotta love the National Park Service. (Another part of me, though, would rather be off in the woods with nothing but a pocketknife, a bandanna, and a bottle of water.)

On a parenting note: If you’re going to be visiting a national park and have children over five, check out the Junior Ranger program. Kids complete a self-guided set of activities based on age range (pick up a booklet at the visitor centers) to earn their Junior Ranger badges. They learn about the wildlife, the parks themselves, and protecting our natural resources. Our son is totally excited about doing this—and I recall from seeing other kids get their badges that the rangers try to make a big deal out of the presentation.

On a political note: Sunday, Helen and I went to the After Ellen meet-up in San Francisco’s Castro district, and hung out in a gay bar with a bunch of cool lesbians. Monday, on the road out here to the park from Fresno, we passed a church with a “God Made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve” sign out front. It’s going to be one long, hard slog until November, folks, even if the competition lacks originality.

“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 23

Helen and I did not go to the Dinah Shore weekend this year, but we recreate the event (minus the lesbian pool parties) with a homemade mini-golf tournament in our living room. Yes, it’s harder to take off for events like the Dinah when you have kids, but there’s no excuse not to travel with your young ones. In between holes, we offer some tips for doing so.

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