Happy International Women’s Day

It’s International Women’s Day, a holiday first celebrated in 1909 in honor of a 1908 strike by women garment workers in protest at their working conditions. Now, it’s a holiday endorsed by the U.N., which has set the 2010 theme as “Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all.”

While the holiday gets little attention in the U.S., people in other areas of the world whoop it up, as evidenced by the many events listed on this slightly more commercial International Women’s Day site. (There are 238 events IWD events listed for the U.K., but only 124 in the U.S..)

I’m all about celebrating women here at Mombian, though, so here’s a topic for discussion today:

How has either being a mother or being LGBT changed your awareness and/or involvement in women’s rights and issues?

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Happy birthday to Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, who was born on this date in 1904. As those of you with children in elementary school likely know, today is also Read Across America Day, an an annual reading motivation and awareness program run by the National Education Association (NEA).

I feel obliged to point out, however, that while the NEA has a fascinating and packed Diversity Calendar, worth a read, there is one major heritage month missing from it. In June. Can you guess? Harumph.

Still, the good doctor himself remains a favorite of mine even now. In honor of the event, I invite you to leave a comment with any or all of the below:

• The name of your favorite Seuss book.
• A rewritten Seuss title, giving it an LGBT theme. (Of course, One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads has already been done for real.) My entry, in honor of the high-protein, low-carb diet I had to be on while taking one particular fertility drug: “In Vitro Fertilized Eggs and Ham.”
• A Seuss-style stanza about your family.

I am a member of the Amazon Associates program, and get a small referral fee from all purchases made at Amazon.com via links on this site. You are under no obligation to purchase through them.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

I’ve been posting this quote from Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King, Jr., every year at this time, but I think it bears repeating. Mrs. King was speaking at Lambda Legal’s 25th Anniversary Luncheon in 1998:

As Martin once said, ‘We are all tied together in a single garment of destiny… an inescapable network of mutuality… I can never be what I ought to be until you are allowed to be what you ought to be.’

Therefore, I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream to make room at the table of brother and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people.

After the jump, a number of books for young children about Dr. King. What struck me most about these books was the quality of the illustrations, consistently a notch above the average in children’s literature, and a fitting tribute to their subject. Read the rest of this post »

Happy New Year!

A joyous 2009 to you and your families!

May the year be full of love, happiness, peace, and equality for all.

Special wishes to same-sex couples in New Hampshire who are now able to marry. (It is, however, rather cold here in New England at the moment. I suggest a Polarfleece theme for your reception.)

A nod, too, to Californians, who are welcoming three pieces of legislation that expand rights for LGBT people:

• The Marriage Recognition and Family Protection Act, which states that same-sex couples married in any state or nation anytime before the passage of Proposition 8 must be recognized as married spouses in California. The new statute also confirms that same-sex couples married outside of California after November 5, 2008, must be given all of the rights, protections and responsibilities of married spouses under California law, with the sole exception of the designation of “marriage.”
• The LGBT Domestic Violence Programs Expansion Bill, which expands access for LGBT service providers to a state fund within the California Emergency Management Agency, which supports LGBT-specific domestic violence programs across the state. The new law also allows for more than four organizations to apply for programmatic funding each fiscal cycle and eliminates the requirement for providers to offer shelter – impediments to many smaller LGBT organizations.
• Harvey Milk Day, which will be celebrated on May 22, 2010, the first time in the nation’s history that a state will officially recognize and celebrate the contributions of an openly LGBT person with an annual “day of special significance.”

Happy Kwanzaa!

A very happy Kwanzaa to those of you celebrating it today. Kwanzaa is not part of our family’s tradition, but I love how it shows that we can honor our heritage in new ways, with traditions rooted in the past but developed in the present. (Kwanzaa was founded in 1966, which to me counts as present in terms of major holidays.) I like the way it draws from multiple African cultures regardless of religious faith and celebrates the diversity within a common identity. Lots of lessons there for all people.

Having said that it is not a part of my own family tradition, I should add: Last night at dinner, we were talking about various holidays. Helen’s side of the family is white and Protestant, and mine is Eastern European Jewish, though not observant. I’m a practicing atheist who spent my grad school years studying the medieval Catholic worldview. Our son, raised in our “We celebrate everything!” tradition, at one point proclaimed, “Let’s celebrate Kwanzaa!” and proceeded to demonstrate that he knew quite a lot about it, including its purpose and the meaning of the colors on the Kwanzaa candles. Let’s hear it for our modern, multi-cultural public education system. He was quite adamant that he wanted to observe it because he likes the idea of a harvest festival and celebrating people of all skin colors.

I can’t argue with that, although I am also aware of the dangers associated with cultural appropriation. Still, I see nothing wrong with simply talking about each of the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa during the course of the week. We’ll use it as an opportunity for raising our cultural awareness as well as discussing some of the commonalities across all our observances. Gotta go look up some kid-friendly poems or other short readings that might apply. (Suggestions welcome.)

Whatever holiday or holidays you observe, may you rejoice in your family’s heritage and your own unique interpretation of it.

I Saw Mommy Kissing Mrs. Claus

Merry Christmas to those of you observing the holiday. The joys of the season to you and your families.

Posting will be light here for a few days as I spend time playing with my son’s new toys. (He’ll have a lot; we can take turns.)

Give Your Kids Reindeer Food

No, I’m not suggesting you feed your children grass and lichens. One of the room parents at my son’s school made up the following recipe for each of the kids at their holiday party. Given my last name (Rudolph), it’s surprising I’d never heard of this before; I’m guessing it’s not that unusual. Still, it’s a fun little item you can give to your kids for Christmas, if you’re observing it.

Mix 1/4 cup plain, dry oatmeal (regular or instant) with about 1/2 tsp each red and green decorative sugar crystals.

My son’s room parent added this note to the bag:

On Christmas Eve,
Sprinkle this magic reindeer food
On your lawn.
The magic glitter
Sparkling in the moonlight
And the smell of oats
Will help guide
Rudolph to your house!

Anyone have any other traditions for feeding Santa and his team? (Me? I’d go multi-culti and leave him some latkes.)

Happy Hanukkah!

A very happy first night of Hanukkah to those of you observing it! If your family comes from multiple traditions, like mine, then I wish you joy as you light up the first of eight trees in your yard or the first of the red noses on eight reindeer statues, wear red fuzzy yarmulkes with white trim, or do whatever else you do to honor and celebrate your interwoven diversity in this season of miracles and light.

LGBT Families: Send the President a Holiday Card

A number of leading national and regional LGBT family rights groups have launched the “From Our Family to Yours Campaign,” urging LGBT families to send holiday cards to President Obama and his family. The goal is “to introduce the First Family to thousands of LGBT families” and to “increase visibility and awareness about the need for federal protections for the LGBT community.”

Here’s how it works:

To participate in the campaign, we encourage families to send holiday cards to the First Family, and share their photos and this message:

“Season’s Greetings, from our family to yours. May the next year bring peace and equality for all.”

Please send your holiday cards and photos to:

Family Equality Council
Attn: First Family
P.O. Box 206
Boston, MA 02133

or send a digital version to tina.walker-morin@familyequality.org by January 1, 2010. We encourage you to send your holiday cards as soon as possible so that we can compile all of the images into a holiday package to be delivered to the First Family.

Visit the partnership’s Web site for more details.

Sponsoring organizations include Center Kids: A Program of the New York LGBT Community Center; COLAGE; Equality California; Equality Federation; Family Equality Council; Family Matters: a program of the San Diego LGBT Community Center; L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Family Services Program; Lesbian and Gay Family Building Project; the Mega Family Project; National Center for Lesbian Rights; Our Family Coalition; Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG); and the San Francisco LGBT Community Center.

I say, while you’re at it, send cards to all of your state legislators and members of Congress.

Family Songs from Erin Lee and Marci

Children’s musicians Erin Lee and Marci bring us the next of their regular posts with thematic recommendations for kid-friendly music, plus activities to make the songs an interactive experience for the whole family.

Look for Erin Lee and Marci here on the first Monday of each month, or visit their homepage, www.gottaplay.org.

I’ve created links to Amazon for the full albums (click the album image or name), plus links to Amazon MP3 downloads, when available, for those who want only the singles. (Click the song name.) I also have a widget after the jump that will let you preview most of the songs without leaving Mombian.

One of the cool things about being a performer who sings for children – come December you get to celebrate every holiday, not just the one your own family celebrates. Hanukkah, Christmas, Solstice, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Day– you name it, we sing about it.

What all these holidays have in common is the joy of sharing them with family and friends. So here are some beautifully written songs by award-winning singer/songwriters about all of the wonderful people in our lives. These are some of our favorite songs that celebrate love, family and friendship. Read the rest of this post »