Archives › Health and Safety

Dr. Susan Love Recruits an LGBT Army Against Breast Cancer

Dr. Susan Love

Since the blogosphere has been abuzz with news about breast cancer organization Susan G. Komen for the Cure pulling funds from Planned Parenthood, I thought I’d post the slightly revised version of an interview I did several years ago with Dr. Susan Love.

An Ugly Shade of Pink: Susan G. Komen and the Politicizing of Cancer

pink_ribbon_gs

As most of you have likely heard by now, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the country’s leading breast cancer charity, is revoking its grant to Planned Parenthood.

This Week Only: Free Streaming of Anti-Bullying Film

In honor of No Name-Calling Week, educational film company Groundspark is offering free streaming of its anti-bullying and anti-name-calling film Let’s Get Real. Aimed at students in grades five through nine, it is notable for not preaching at kids, but rather letting them speak in their own voices about  race, sexual orientation  (real and perceived), learning [...]

Bias, Bullying, and Homophobia in Elementary Schools: Are Teachers Prepared?

The media has been full of stories about bullying and its damaging effects—but most stories have centered around middle-school and high-school students. Less has been said of bullying in elementary schools. A new study from the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), however, shows that such bullying does exist—including bullying and teasing based on homophobia and gender-nonconformity. Those [...]

Lesbian and Bisexual Women Diagnosed with Breast Cancer Needed for Study

Dr. Susan Love is something of a legend in the world of breast cancer research and advocacy. (She also happens to be a lesbian mom.) Her Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation launched the “Army of Women” in October 2008 with the goal of recruiting one million women of all ages and ethnicities, including those who have never [...]

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 [...]

World AIDS Day: Remembering the Children

Today marks World AIDS Day. HIV/AIDS continues to impact many people we know and many communities of which we are part. Since so many other LGBT sites are ably covering how it impacts the LGBT community, I want to do what I have done in previous years, and highlight some recent statistics about HIV/AIDS and [...]

Would You Let Your Teen Have Sex in Your House?

“For American parents,” says the publisher’s blurb for Amy Schalet’s new book, Not Under My Roof: Parents, Teens, and the Culture of Sex, ”teenage sex is something to be feared and forbidden: most would never consider allowing their children to have sex at home, and sex is a frequent source of family conflict.” Contrast this to [...]

Steve Jobs, Pancreatic Cancer, and Adoption

Like Steve Jobs, my father passed away recently because of complications after pancreatic cancer. If you want to learn more about this disease, I recommend checking out the Lustgarten Foundation, which is dedicated to its treatment, cure, and prevention. I’m also going to jump on the bandwagon and share the Steve Jobs video that is [...]

Back-to-School Preparations for LGBT Families

(Originally published as my Mombian newspaper column the first week of September.)

Hurricane Irene raged up the East Coast this past weekend, sending people scrambling to the stores for bottled water and canned tuna. Of course, hurricanes weren’t the only thing I prepared for this week. Back-to-school time is here, so I’ve been buying pencils and erasers alongside the flashlight batteries. And because I am an LGBT parent, I’ve also been thinking about the “emergency supplies” we should have as we navigate the sometimes-stormy weather of our educational system, in case our children encounter anti-LGBT prejudice, bullying, or simply exclusion.

Talking to Kids About Japan’s Earthquake

Have you spoken with your kids about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan? We’ve touched on it with our seven-year-old, trying to provide some insight into the world beyond our borders—but also wondering whether too much detail will just scare him. So far, I think we’ve managed a balance, though we’ve avoided talking about nuclear [...]

New Fertility Resources for Same-Sex Couples

(Originally published as my Mombian newspaper column.) For same-sex couples wanting to have children, knowing where to begin can make a big difference. For couples starting their families through biological means, one new resource is the Family Building Options Web site, part of the Fertility Lifelines educational program created by pharmaceutical company EMD Serono. Despite [...]

Stealing Lines from Glee: The Big Sex Talk

If you don’t watch Glee regularly, or missed it last Tuesday, get thee to the Fox Web site and watch it. Not only were there two—count ‘em, two—queer storylines, but they were handled with a sensitivity and honesty that puts most other shows to shame. (If you don’t believe me, go read Dorothy Snarker’s perspective [...]

“It Gets Better” Says Rudolph

Maybe it’s the fact that my last name is the same as the famous reindeer, but I couldn’t help writing a little piece over at Change.org on what Rudolph might say as part of the It Gets Better campaign in support of LGBT youth. Hope you’ll go have a read. And who here also thinks [...]

What Helps LGBT Youth? Family Acceptance

It may seem obvious to many of us: LGBT youth whose families are accepting of their LGBT identities are more likely to become happy, healthy adults, and less likely to have depression, suicide risk, substance abuse, and similar problems. But Dr. Caitlin Ryan of the Marian Wright Edelman Institute at San Francisco State University, in [...]

World AIDS Day

Today marks World AIDS Day. AIDS continues to impact many people we know and many communities of which we are part. Since this is a parenting blog, however, I want to do what I have done in previous years, and highlight some recent statistics about AIDS and children. The numbers, of course, don’t capture the [...]

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.

Bullying: What We Can Do

(Originally published as my Mombian newspaper column, October 13, 2010.) Children in the LGBTQ community are dying. As LGBTQ parents, we need to be on the front lines working to help them. We’ve all heard by now of the string of suicides by youth bullied because they were LGBTQ or perceived to be. Children of [...]

Incorrigible Bullies and Intolerant Jerks

Brett Berk, a former teacher and preschool director and author of The Gay Uncle’s Guide to Parenting, might be expected to have a few thoughts on the subject of bullying and schools. We’re lucky he’s taken time from his more recent topics of Glee and cars to ask (and answer): “Would Kids Be Such Incorrigible Bullies [...]

“Sparking” the Discussion About Bullying

If you don’t yet know the films of Groundspark’s Respect for All project, you really should—and now you can do so for free. Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Debra Chasnoff and her team have created a lauded series for students and educators about family inclusion, gender stereotypes, and bullying. In response to the recent media attention [...]

Heartbreaking Story of Youth Lost to Violence, and His Two Moms

At a time when our community is already grieving too many of its young people, here is another story to break your heart. Frankie Valencia, Jr. was randomly shot by a gang member in Chicago last fall. As if that wasn’t tragic enough, his non-biological mother, Siu Moy, was fired from her job after his [...]

Bullying and Safe Schools: What the Federal Government Is Doing

Bullying is on everyone’s mind this week. I’ve been covering some of the recent happenings for Keen News Service: “Fed grants awarded to begin addressing bullying and safe schools,” coverage of some moves the federal government is making to address the problem, based on my interview with Kevin Jennings, Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office [...]

Ellen’s Message About Bullying

I’m preempting my Weekly Political Roundup this week as our community grapples with the recent string of bullying-related suicides. Here’s Ellen on the subject—well worth watching if you haven’t yet. Afterwards, go check out columnist Dan Savage’s “It Gets Better” project, a collection of YouTube videos with messages of hope for LGBTQ youth. May we [...]

New Gender Spectrum Web Site

Gender Spectrum, which “provides education, training and support to help create a gender sensitive and inclusive environment for all children and teens,” has launched a beautiful new Web site with a ton of information and resources. Parents of transgender or gender-variant children will find the site (and organization) of particular interest, but other parents and [...]

On Being Tolerated

I’m very pleased today to publish a guest post by J.A. Madrone, who also posts at Our Big Gayborhood. Please enjoy! On Being Tolerated By J.A. Madrone My ear cocked back when I heard the kids in my carpool group all talking in the back seat on the way home from school that day. “Jane [...]