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To End the Silence
Today marks the 16th annual Day of Silence, an event sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), where students from middle school to college take some form of a vow of silence to call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment. But a federal bill reintroduced yesterday that would prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination, harassment, bullying, and violence in public schools faces a tough road ahead.
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Dr. Susan Love: Lesbian Mom, Cancer Researcher, Advocate, and Now Patient
Dr. Susan Love is one of the world’s foremost breast cancer researchers and a tireless advocate for finding both causes and cures for the disease. Now, however, this lesbian mom is also a cancer patient.
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Why I’m Writing a Blog for Choice
Today marks the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which also makes it the annual Blog for Choice day. The organizers have asked us to share our stories about why we are pro-choice. Here’s mine.
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Happy No Name-Calling Week!
Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day—but it also kicks off No Name-Calling Week, “an annual week of educational activities aimed at ending name-calling of all kinds and providing schools with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate bullying in their communities.”
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We Must Not Forget: A Guest Post from My Mom
Yesterday, I posted my column about the December 14th school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Today, I’m honored to bring you a guest post from my own mother, who had her own thoughts and offered to share them here. Some of our thoughts (not surprisingly) overlap, but she adds her own perspective as a mental health professional.
Thanks, Mom!
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In the Wake of Tragedy
(I wrote this for my newspaper column the day of the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. I hope 2013 is the year we as a country begin to take serious steps to ensure such tragedies never happen again.)
This was going to be a very different column. Then 20 children died in Connecticut.
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World AIDS Day: Remembering the Children
Today is World AIDS Day once again—and while Secretary of State Hilary Clinton may have a vision for an “AIDS-free generation,” HIV/AIDS continues to devastate lives and communities around the world. Since so many other LGBT sites are ably covering how it impacts the LGBT community, I want to instead once again highlight some recent statistics about HIV/AIDS and children.
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Facing the Storm as an LGBT Family
Here’s wishing safety to family and home for any of you in the path of Hurricane Sandy. We’re bracing for it here in Massachusetts—but I think those of you farther south will bear the brunt. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has produced a suggested Basic Disaster Supplies Kit that all families should keep on hand. LGBT families, however, should pay special attention to one item on the list.
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It’s Spirit Day! Speak Out Against Bullying
Today is Spirit Day, an observance begun in 2010 in response to the increasing number of young people known to have died by suicide after relentless bullying. Much of the focus is on harassment and bullying of LGBT youth (or those perceived to be), and rightly so—but let’s not forget that children of LGBT parents, regardless of whether they are LGBT themselves, may also be targets.
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Spring Valley Hospital in Clark County, Nevada, has denied a lesbian the right to make medical decisions for her pregnant domestic partner. When Brittney Leon and Terri-Ann Simonelli went to the hospital in July after Leon began experiencing complications with her pregnancy, an admissions officer told them that Simonelli could not make medical decisions for Leon without a power of attorney—despite the fact that they are legal domestic partners in the state, which should give them the same rights as married couples to make medical decisions for each other. Leon ended up losing the pregnancy.
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Children’s Health Care Facilities Named “Leaders in LGBT Healthcare Equality”
Several children’s health care facilities, including one of the top children’s hospitals in the country, were named “Leaders in LGBT Healthcare Equality” in HRC’s 2012 Healthcare Equality Index (HEI).
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New Resource for Mormon Parents of LGBT Youth
The Latter-day Saints (Mormons) as a group are not known for being particularly accepting of LGBT people. What happens, then, when a young person in a Mormon family comes out as LGBT? The Family Acceptance Project (FAP) at San Francisco State University, which has long studied and addressed the impact of family acceptance and rejection on the health and mental health of LGBT youth, has just released a new faith-based family education resource to help guide Mormon families in supporting their LGBT children.
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Lesbian Moms with Critically Ill Children
At least two of the entries to Blogging for LGBT Families Day were from lesbian moms whose children have serious illnesses. Jaime and Laura of Team Shimmy have a son with cardiomyopathy (whom I’ve mentioned before); Brooke and Liz of Lenox Slays the Leukemiasaurus have a daughter with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). I want to offer a special thanks to them for sharing their stories, not just on Blogging for LGBT Families Day, but on all the other days when they write about the good and the bad, the ordinary and the extraordinary, of their lives. They offer a gift to other families facing similar situations.
Because Brooke asked directly, “Hello? Any other lesbian moms going through this now? What is your experience like?” I also wanted to offer this post as an attempt to facilitate such connections.
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I don’t need to tell most readers that LGBT youth are at a higher risk than their non-LGBT peers for attempting suicide. Until today, however, no “Best Practices” have been identified or designated to help reduce vulnerability and risk among LGBT children, youth or adults. That has now changed.
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Post of the Week: “We Don’t Go Long”
Last week, after I posted the short documentary “Listen from the Heart,” several of you said you said you were touched by the story of lesbian moms Laura Fitch and Jaime Jenett, and their son, Simon Lev Fitch-Jenett, who is battling cardiomyopathy, a serious heart condition. Turns out they have a blog, and so my Post of the Week comes from them.
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Breaking the Silence: Today and Every Day
Today marks the 16th annual Day of Silence, an event sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) where students from middle school to college take some form of a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment. Looking back at my posts from previous years for and around the event, however, I have to ask myself: Are things getting better?
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ABC News Looks at Bullying of Kids with Gay Dads
What would you do if two young bullies began harassing the children of gay dads in a restaurant? More to the point, what would you expect the general public to do? ABC News asked that question and set up a situation using actors for both the children of gay dads and the bullies. Hidden cameras taped patrons’ reactions.
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New Site Allows Search for Health Care Plans that Include Same-Sex Partners
Need to find a health insurance plan that offers coverage for same-sex partners? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that the Health Plan Finder tool on HealthCare.gov now allows consumers to filter for plans that offer such coverage. Consumers can also compare the cost sharing and benefit choices of the plans.
As Kellan Baker of the Center for American Progress notes at the Health Insurance Resource Center, however, there is still room for improvement.
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Dr. Susan Love Recruits an LGBT Army Against Breast Cancer
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.
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An Ugly Shade of Pink: Susan G. Komen and the Politicizing of Cancer
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.
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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 [...]
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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 [...]
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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 [...]
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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 [...]
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