What Legislation Matters Most to You?

This week Reps. Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin, and Jared Polis introduced an LGBT-inclusive version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing on the LGBT-inclusive Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Within a week or so, the Supreme Court should file a response to the case filed by GLAD to determine the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). More and more high-ranking military officers are calling for repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. On a state level, many things are happening, including the possibility of marriage equality in New York.

Lots of legislation buzzing around, then. But which will have the most direct impact on your family?

[Update: My poll plugin doesn't seem to be playing nicely with the latest version of WordPress. While I work on it, here are the choices I had thought of. Please leave a comment with your selection, or add one! (I've also amended the comments above based on Diane's comment on the GLAD case.]

• LGBT-inclusive federal ENDA
• LGBT-inclusive federal hate crimes
• LGBT-inclusive state ENDA
• LGBT-inclusive state hate crimes
• Full federal marriage equality and repeal of DOMA
• Federal benefits equivalent to marriage (e.g., civil unions) and repeal of DOMA
• State marriage equality
• State marriage equivalent (civil unions, domestic partnerships)
• Adoption rights for LGBT families
• Automatic recognition of non-bio parents
• Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
• Other

Prop 8: How Do You Think They Will Rule?

The California Supreme Court will announce their decision on the legality of Prop 8 this coming Tuesday.

How do you think they will rule?

What Was the Hardest Part About Starting Your Family?

What did you find most difficult about the path to parenthood? Feel free to elaborate in the comments. (I realize this poll doesn’t really capture the experiences of those who began their families while in opposite-sex relationships; I would like to explore that in a future poll. I’ve been doing these polls rather sporadically, but am hoping to make them a more regular feature.)

Where Do You Socialize with LGBT Families?

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

What Was Your Favorite L Word Parenting Storyline?

Time for something frivolous—an L Word quiz, but with a Mombian twist:

Poll: School Vacation Week

Many school districts had the week off. How did this affect you?

Poll: Lesbian Parenting Books

It’s time for another poll:

Feel free to leave comments about what you liked/didn’t like about any of these books or others. More books for and about lesbian families, as always, in the Mombian Shop.

What’s On Your Mind?

Back-to-School Poll

There are only a couple of weeks left until school starts in most areas of the U.S. For those of you with school-age children, here’s a quick poll:

Who Will Star in L Word Spinoff?

After Ellen brought us news late last week that there is an L Word spinoff in development. After the show finishes its sixth and final season next year, one storyline will be carried into an online series that will then segue into the new series, if Showtime approves it. The new show will star one of the current L Word actors.

Spinoff shows are always a gamble. Given the relative lack of lesbian programming on television, and the strong fan base of The L Word, though, I’d give this one better than even odds of success. The question of course is which actor will be the new star. My money’s on Leisha Hailey. Her character Alice is a consistent scene stealer, and she brings a comedic touch that could help define the new series. Besides, her character founded the social network Our Chart, which series creator Ilene Chaiken transformed into the real online Our Chart. I think there’s strong incentive for Chaiken to keep that part of the story active in all the media she can. It’s just good marketing. (Full disclosure: Our Chart is a paying advertiser on Mombian, but they have not asked me to write about them.)

What do you think?