Here’s what’s happening that I haven’t covered elsewhere—including lots of family profiles from across the spectrum!
Family Profiles
- HuffPo and RaiseAChild share the story of Natasha King, a lesbian mom who adopted through foster care.
- Babble tells us about Erik and Douglas Alexander of NolaPapa, who are inspiring other gay families in the South.
- The Sioux Fall Argus Leader shows us the challenges faced by dads Greg Roling and Larry Sandal as they raise their daughter in conservative South Dakota, where a law passed last month allowing adoption agencies to use their religious beliefs to deny placements to same-sex couples and others.
- Angela Sherbine, a straight foster mom in Alabama, explains in USA Today why a similar bill in Alabama would allow agencies to discriminate not only against LGBT potential foster parents, but against any potential foster parents. “In a state where there are simply not enough foster parents to give every child a home, the last thing lawmakers should do is empower private agencies needlessly to turn away qualified foster parents,” she says.
- Joey Allison Sayers at The Nib shares a comic about coming out to her daughter as trans.
- PGH Lesbian’s “Amplify” series profiles Krissy, a bisexual step-parent.
Politics and Law
- New York State Court of Appeals Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam was found dead in the Hudson River last Wednesday. She wrote the ruling in a major case last August involving a two-mom family, affirming that a person who is not related to a child by biology or adoption may still be considered a parent if they and the other parent agreed to have and raise the child together—even if the two adults are not married. She was the first African-American woman to serve on the state’s highest court, and the first female Muslim judge in the U.S. Police say she may have died by suicide, CNN reports.
- Nonbiological parents in Georgia may not have rights when it comes to child custody, explains the Georgia Voice, and profiles three attorneys—Denise VanLanduyt, Chris Hobson and Sarah Hobson—who are hoping to change that.
- While Sweden recognizes some nonbiological parents as parents if they are married or partnered with the biological parent, there are loopholes, The Local reports, requiring some to go through the lengthy adoption process.
Media and Entertainment
- In Canada, CBC Radio’s The Current looks at the new documentary Known Donor.