Parenting Studies
- “How Does the Gender of Parents Matter?” asks the lead article in this month’s Journal of Marriage and Family. The answer, from sociologists Timothy Biblarz of University of Southern California and Judith Stacey of New York University, is that it doesn’t, with the “partial exception of lactation.” The gender of parents “has minor significance for children’s psychological adjustment and social success.” Not news to most of us, but if you’ve been following any of the Prop 8 trial out in California, you’ll know how important reputable academic research is for all of the political and legal battles we’re fighting.
Politics and Law
- A Miami-Dade judge has declared Florida’s adoption law “unconstitutional on its face” and allowed lesbian Vanessa Alenier to adopt the one-year-old she has been fostering. This is the third legal adoption in Florida by a gay man or lesbian, rare rulings in a state that bans gay men and lesbians from adopting. A sign of change, perhaps? We still await a ruling in the more well-known case of Martin Gill, who was permitted to adopt in November 2008, but is fighting a state appeal.
- A Vermont judge has given “ex-lesbian” mom Lisa Miller 30 days to appear in court with her daughter or face arrest. Miller fled with the girl to avoid a court order requiring her to turn the girl over to her other mom, Janet Jenkins, after Miller repeatedly ignored orders to permit the girl visitation with Jenkins.
- Last week, I mentioned a custody case in which a biological mom had begun a relationship with her sperm donor, and was trying to deny parental rights to her former partner. Nancy Polikoff writes of a similar case, although the bio mom and sperm donor are not romantically involved.
- An Ohio court ruled that a nonbiological mother has no parental rights over the child she and her now-ex partner planned, but that the sperm donor does—despite the fact that he signed an agreement give up all parental rights. According to Julie Shapiro, a professor at the Seattle University School of Law, if the biological mother had agreed to shared custody, the court would likely have granted it to the nonbiological mother. Because the biological mother insisted on sole custody, however, and had not signed a written agreement to co-parent, she could block out the nonbiological mother.
- Turning to some good news: The Supreme Court of Kentucky awarded joint custody to two former same-sex partners after finding that the non-biological mother was a de facto parent of her child. Nancy Polikoff has more on the legal basis of the opinion and why it is “stunning.”
Schools and Youth
- School board members in Wheatland, Wyoming, have prohibited banners from the Anti-Defamation League’s “No Place for Hate” campaign the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado is listed as a sponsor.
- Teaching Tolerance has a great article on anti-LGBT bullying in schools and the pros and cons of separate high schools open to LGBT students and allies.
Personal Stories
- The Township Journal of Sparta, New Jersey, profiles lesbian moms Tracy Bouma-Hannam and Chris Hannam, and looks at how the recent legislative defeat of marriage equality affects their family.
- Scott Moore, a transgender man, has announced his pregnancy, causing not only the U.K.’s Daily Mail but also the Advocate to proclaim him the “second pregnant man,” with the much-publicized Thomas Beatie being the first. Truth is, Moore is not the second, because Beatie is not the first—Beatie was just the first to be widely recognized for his pregnancy. There are several essays by and about pregnant trans men in Who’s Your Daddy?, the collection of queer parenting essays I wrote about a few months ago. There are also apparently 19 FTM subjects of Jules Rosskam’s 2005 film “Transparent,” although I have to take someone else’s word for that, as I have not seen the film myself. There were also a couple of other pregnant trans men who made the news shortly after Beatie announced his pregnancy. I wish Moore and his family all the best. I just wish people recognized that his pregnancy isn’t quite as rare as it seems. Do a little research, people.