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Heather’s Mommy Has Two New Books
(Originally published in Bay Windows, June 25, 2009.) “Writing has always been my political activism,” said Lesléa Newman, author of Heather Has Two Mommies, the classic 1989 children’s book that was the first to feature a child with two moms. Her two new books, however, are sweet, simple tales of family life, without any overt [...]
Vermont Author Writes Teen Novel of First Love
(Originally published in Bay Windows, May 15, 2008.) “It’s the book I wish I’d read when I was 13,” says Vermont writer Jennifer McMahon about her new young adult book, My Tiki Girl (Dutton/Penguin: May 2008). “I wish I had a time machine to send it back to my 13-year-old self. When I fell in [...]
Studying Our Children, from Birth to Adulthood
Dr. Nanette Gartrell is the principal investigator of the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS). “Longitudinal lesbians?” you may ask. Parse it differently, however, and it’s a multi-year, repeated study of a group of lesbian moms and their children, the longest-running and largest investigation of its kind. Dr. Gartrell was kind enough to take time [...]
How Do Our Children Compare?
(Originally published in Bay Windows, January 22, 2008). Dr. Blase Masini wants to spend time with your family—or at least with data about you. The developmental psychologist and head of the research department at Howard Brown Health Center, a leading LGBT health care organization in Chicago, has launched a nationwide study of LGBT parenting, and [...]
Family Voices XVI
Here’s this week’s post in my Family Voices series. COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere) member Terrance talks about being the gay son of a gay dad, his many non-profit activities, and some of the lessons he’s learned over the years. A big thank you again to COLAGE for asking their members to participate [...]
Family Voices XV
Here’s this week’s post in my Family Voices series. COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere) member Asha talks about being second-generation queerspawn, how to survive when families get “messy,” and why COLAGE matters to her. Tell us a little about the family in which you grew up. Who was in it? Anything particular you’d [...]
Family Voices XIV
Here’s this week’s post in my Family Voices series. COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere) member Isabel talks about having a mother who came out, the importance of being yourself and letting your children be themselves, and why COLAGE means so much to her. Tell us a little about the family in which you [...]
Family Voices XIII
Here’s this week’s post in my Family Voices series. COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere) member Sara tells us about her blended family, the influence of Ellen, and why it’s important for children of LGBT parents to remember that it’s okay not to be perfect. She also relates one of the best coming out [...]
Family Voices XII
Continuing my Family Voices series with the next post by a member of COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere). Below, Scout talks about having both gay parents and gay grandparents, dealing with bias against her disability and her family, and watching her grandfathers marry after being committed to each other for over 50 years. [...]
Family Voices XI
Continuing my Family Voices series with the second post by a member of COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere). Below, Jonathan shares a bit of his “lovably bizarre” family, talks about his experience as the son of a transgender father, and reminds us of the importance of keeping a sense of humor. Tell us [...]
Family Voices X
This is the first post in the second phase of my Family Voices series. Over the next several weeks, members of COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere) will share their thoughts on having one or more LGBT parents, and how that shaped them as both children and adults. Below, Kate, a social worker from [...]
Family Voices: Interlude
Over the past few months, I’ve been pleased to work with the Family Pride Coalition and their OUTSpoken Families program to bring you a series of Family Voices, interviews with LGBT parents around the country. For the next phase of Family Voices, I’m proud to join with COLAGE, Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere, to [...]
Family Voices IX
This week’s Family Voices interview is with lesbian moms—and grandmothers—Barbara and Patricia. Below, they talk about their multi-religious and multi-ethnic family, being mothers to a young child while also having grown children, coming out to older children, and their love of P-town. As with the previous families highlighted in this feature, they are members of [...]
Interview with Sherron Mills, Reproductive Pioneer, Part II
Yesterday, I ran the first part of an interview with Sherron Mills, founder and CEO of Pacific Reproductive Services. Here is Part II. I asked Mills what advice she would offer those considering parenthood. She first cautions, “There’s not enough knowledge out there in the general population about how soon fertility begins to decline in [...]
Interview with Sherron Mills, Reproductive Pioneer, Part I
Sherron Mills, founder and CEO of Pacific Reproductive Services (PRS) in California, is a trailblazer in helping lesbian couples and single mothers create their families. She’s been doing so for nearly a quarter century. Mills took a break from running PRS to speak with me about the past, present, and future of her work, and [...]
Family Voices VIII
This week’s Family Voices interview is with lesbian moms Rachel and Sandy, who live in Washington state with their four children and co-parent with the biological dad of three of them. Below, they talk about their successful efforts to create safer schools and influence politicians, the benefits of co-parenting, being an egg donor to another [...]
From the Ivory Tower to the Family Room
(Originally published in Bay Windows, August 23, 2007.) “I just keep having this desire to do work that seems impossible,” says Dr. Abbie Goldberg of her research on LGBT and other understudied families. The assistant professor of psychology at Clark University in Worcester is passionate about delving into these areas few other social scientists have [...]
“Family Voices” in Spanish
For the past two months, I’ve posted Family Voices, a series of interviews with LGBT families from around the country. The families volunteered because of their involvement in the Family Pride Coalition’s OUTSpoken Families program, and their commitment to speaking with their local communities and media about their lives and the need for LGBT equality. [...]
Family Voices VII
This week’s Family Voices interview is with lesbian moms Nikki and Jody, who live in New Jersey with their infant daughter and Nikki’s father. Below, they talk about their tempestuous first meeting, using a known donor, being out to employers, dealing with relatives, parenting as the lesbian daughter of a gay dad, having a civil [...]
Family Voices VI
Back after a short summer break, this week’s Family Voices interview is with California dads David and Clay. Below, they talk about the importance of dinnertime, storytime, and time off, and share a bit of parenting haiku. As with the previous families highlighted in this feature, they are members of the Family Pride Coalition’s OUTSpoken [...]
Family Voices V
This week’s Family Voices interview is with lesbian moms and lawyers NS and AH, who live in California with their toddler. Below, they talk about their extended family of over 20 nieces and nephews, sleep deprivation, balancing family and work, and more. As with the previous families highlighted in this feature, they are members of [...]
(Originally published in Bay Windows, June 28, 2007.) Is your child’s school inclusive of LGBT families? If not, how can you improve it? Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director of the Family Pride Coalition, recently spoke with me about their new interactive tool that helps parents answer these critical questions. What is the Rainbow Report Card (RRC)? [...]
Family Voices IV
This week’s Family Voices interview is with gay dads Rod and Lindel, who live in Massachusetts with their toddler Hugh. Below, they share their thoughts about adoption, extended family, routine, visibility, and more. As with the previous families highlighted in this feature, they are members of the Family Pride Coalition’s OUTSpoken Families program, and committed [...]
Family Voices III
This week’s Family Voices interview is with lesbian mom Ruth, who lives in San Antonio with her partner Della and their eight children. Ruth writes “We have kids created nearly every way but alien abduction.” Although they live in a fairly conservative area of the country, their experiences with the legal and medical systems and [...]
Last Monday, I posted an interview with Tina Owen, one of the winners of this year’s Point Foundation scholarships. Today, the other Point Scholar who is also a parent, Utah resident Kim Hackford-Peer, gives us her thoughts on winning the scholarship, parenting, and education. Kim is pursuing her PhD in Education Culture and Society at [...]
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