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The Power of Storytelling — and Retelling
At first, I ignored it when I saw a few people posting the Zach Wahls video again over the past few days. The Iowa college student with two moms had shot to viral fame last February when he spoke at an Iowa House hearing about a bill to ban marriage for same-sex couples. I’d posted [...]
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 [...]
LGBT Parenting Roundup
Here are some of the parenting-specific LGBT stories of late: Deborah Skolnik of Parenting.com writes at CNN of “The new normal: Stay-at-home Dads and gay parents.” A nice piece that shows the many different varieties of families and family organization. Allison Sherry at the Denver Post profiles U.S. Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and Cory Gardner [...]
LGBTQ Parents Needed for Study: Massachusetts and Texas
Kate Henley Averett, a graduate student in sociology at the University of Texas, is seeking LGBTQ parents for a study of parenting philosophies and practices. At the moment, she says at her Web site: I am looking for LGBTQ couples in Massachusetts and Texas who are parents of children ages 10 and under to be [...]
Blogging for Adoption: There Are No “Alternative” Families
The Family Equality Council is holding a “Blogging Adoption” day today in honor of National Adoption Month. I’ve written a lot about adoption lately—some great new resources have just come out, including a book looking at recent research on adoption by lesbians and gay men, edited by David Brodzinsky and Adam Pertman of the Evan [...]
TV Alert: Transgender Children on Anderson
Anderson Cooper covers the topic of transgender children in his new daytime talk show today. (Find airing times in your area.) Here are details about the show and two of its featured guests, via a press release: On Wednesday, November 16, Anderson Cooper’s new daytime talk show, Anderson, will focus on transgender children – children [...]
LGBT Parenting Roundup
Just a few articles this week, but they’re juicy, so enjoy! Denise Balkissoon writes in Toronto’s Globe and Mail about “The seven habits of highly effective lesbian families.” ”A series of studies in Canada and elsewhere over the past decade has found that the children of lesbians aren’t just well-adjusted—they excel.”It’s a good article for explaining some of the [...]
Blog for Adoption November 21
Passing this along from Steve Majors, director of communications at the Family Equality Council. Looking forward to reading your posts! On Monday, Nov. 21, we are inviting you to Blog Adoption. As you may know, November is National Adoption Month and we are working to raise awareness about the obstacles LGBT families face in opening [...]
Journalist Seeks Known Donors Involved “Part-Time” with Kids
I’m passing along this message in the hope some of you can help. Tim Murphy, a journalist in New York City, is doing an article on straight sperm donors who remain involved “part time” in the lives of the children. Please contact him directly (or pass this message along) if you or someone you know can [...]
Missouri Teen of Lesbian Moms Profiled
The video below is a mostly positive profile of a teen with lesbian moms — especially coming from a Fox News affiliate in Kansas City, Missouri, a network and a state not known for their LGBT friendliness. The family shines, especially 16-year-old Samantha. I have two criticisms, though. First, the coverage focuses too much on [...]
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 [...]
LGBT Parenting Roundup
Schools The Sydney Morning Herald looks at what parents and teachers are doing in Australia to address hetero-centrism in elementary schools. The Buffalo News reports on gay and lesbian teachers—why it can be hard to be out, and why many nevertheless feel it is important. Family Portraits Mark Daniel Snyder at HuffPo talks about the true diversity [...]
New book Explores Lesbian and Gay Adoptive Families
(November is National Adoption Month. Here’s my review of a new book on adoption by lesbians and gay men. Originally published in my Mombian newspaper column.) There have been a number of studies over the past 25 years on lesbian and gay parents and their children, but few have looked specifically at lesbian and gay [...]
Weekly Recap
I’ve posted a few longish pieces recently, How to Help Aging LGBT Parents and Are Boys in Princess Dresses the Scariest Thing on Halloween?, along with information about a couple of major new reports on LGBT families, “Expanding Resources for Children III: Research-Based Best Practices in Adoption by Gays and Lesbians” and “All Children Matter: [...]
How to Help Aging LGBT Parents
How do we help our parents as they age? For adults with non-LGBT parents, there are plenty of resources on how to help parents through the various legal, financial, and emotional issues of growing old. Search the Web or your favorite online bookstore for “aging parents,” and you’ll be swamped with results.
For adults who wish to help their LGBT parents, however, the resources are far fewer. And while many of the issues older LGBT and non-LGBT people face are the same, some are not.
LGBT Parenting Roundup
Politics and Law The U.S. Supreme Court denied Lambda Legal’s petition to have them hear the case of a two gay dads seeking a new birth certificate for their adopted son. The boy was born in Louisiana but adopted in New York, and the men wanted a birth certificate listing them both as parents—not least [...]
A Bit of Lesbian Mom History
I posted this newspaper column of mine last year, but I think it bears repeating as part of LGBT History Month. Enjoy this look back at how lesbian moms have been a central part of the LGBT rights movement since the beginning—while simultaneously waging some intensely personal battles to maintain contact with their children.
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 [...]
Gay Mayoral Candidate and Daughter in Ad
San Francisco mayoral candidate Bevan Dufty, a gay dad, has a new ad out featuring him and his daughter. The wonderful thing about the ad is that they could be any candidate and child—the fact that he’s a gay dad is completely incidental. The ad is very sweet—and that’s not an adjective I often use [...]
Role Models and Manly Things
I was recently asked by a mainstream journalist: “Are you worried about providing male role models for your son?”
I answered, as I always do to the question, “No.” It’s not that I don’t want him to have male role models; it’s just that I’m not worried about it. I think that very often, when the media asks that question, they are ignoring the realities not only of same-sex and single parents’ lives, but also of children’s lives in general.
First Openly LGBT Parent in Congress
Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) and his partner Marlon Reis welcomed their son Caspian Julius into the world today, making Polis the first openly LGBT parent in Congress. Congratulations to the family. Thanks to Family Equality for the heads up. (Click their link for a photo.)
New Resource for Teaching LGBT History in Schools
There’s a great new resource for teaching LGBT history in middle and high schools—and it might even teach us parents something. The Anti-Defamation League, Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), and StoryCorps have just released Unheard Voices, “an oral history and curriculum project that will help educators to integrate LGBT history, people and issues into their instructional programs.” [...]
LGBT Parenting Roundup
A few items of interest to start your week: Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), the first Republican member of Congress to cosponsor the Respect for Marriage Act, has had her viewpoint on LGBT equality shaped by her experience as the mother of a transgender child (now grown), reports the Miami Herald. Can a same-sex couple who [...]
Parenting Funnies at Autostraddle
Lesbian news and entertainment site Autostraddle is terrific, but perhaps not the first place you’d turn for parenting information. If you haven’t read executive editor Laneia’s posts on “How to Live With Kids: Toys & Entertainment” and “How to Live with Kids: Food & Cooking,” however, you’re missing two of the funniest yet most truthful [...]
