As always, I have my eye on the queer parent athletes at the Olympics! Come meet them and see photos of their families! One met her future spouse when they were both 10 years old; the other is fighting for marriage equality in her home country.
The end of January is here, which to me means a last day for New Year’s resolutions. The middle of a global pandemic is perhaps not the best time to commit to any big life changes (though if you can pull them off, more power to you), so here are a few small, suggested resolutions for us LGBTQ parents as we start the new year. I hope that one or more of them speak to you.
Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is deeply ironic, then, that news broke this week of a Tennessee school board removing a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust from its curriculum—one of many recent attempts across the U.S. to ban or restrict books about marginalized groups.
The state of Michigan must continue contracting with child service agencies that discriminate against same-sex couples, according to the settlement this week of a long-running case whose outcome rested on a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision. The state’s Children’s Services Agency nevertheless reaffirmed its commitment to supporting LGBTQ people who want to foster or adopt or are already doing so.
A husband and wife in Tennessee are suing the state, saying that a state-funded foster care and adoption program turned them away because they are Jewish. To the best of my knowledge, neither is queer, so why am I writing about this on a queer website? Because discrimination in foster care and adoption is a very queer issue, and there is federal legislation pending that could end it for everyone, queer and otherwise.
Once again, let’s give Dr. King the floor today:
Preschooler Heather is no stranger to opposition. Lesléa Newman’s 1989 Heather Has Two Mommies, the first picture book to depict happily coupled same-sex parents and their child, faced opprobrium from conservatives since shortly after it was published. Now, it is one of a record number of books for children and teens, largely about people with marginalized identities, that are under attack across the country.
A new picture book by hip-hop group the Alphabet Rockers, based on a song from their latest Grammy-nominated album, reminds kids that they always belong and encourages them to celebrate themselves, support each other across differences, and speak out against injustice.
It’s time for another roundup of some of the LGBTQ parenting stories I haven’t covered elsewhere. This week is an international edition with stories from around the world, especially (but not exclusively) the U.K. and Ireland. Make yourself a cup of tea and have a read!
Two queer couples and their children have become the first LGBTQ families to benefit from the Connecticut Parentage Act (CPA), which Connecticut Rep. Jeff Currey (D), the bill’s lead sponsor, said “may be the most impactful moment for LGBTQ families since marriage equality.”
