February 2006

The L Word: Upcoming Books

No politics in this post. I promise. The L Word is spawning a pair of books this spring. The L Word : Welcome to Our Planet is an “official guide” to the show, with interviews, photos, peeks “behind the scenes,” and a ranking of sex scenes. Reading The L Word : Outing Contemporary Television looks […]

France Legalizes Same-Sex Parent Rights

France’s highest court ruled Friday that same-sex partners both have parental rights, even if only one is the biological parent of a child. Same-sex couples cannot currently adopt children, however, but they can register for civil unions. PlanetOut speculates that the new ruling could trigger changes in these laws. Vive la France!

South Dakota Legislators Ban Abortions

I was really trying to avoid the serious politics for a few days. Then the South Dakota legislature passed a bill banning almost all abortions, even in the case of incest or rape. The only exceptions would be if the mother’s life was in danger. According to the Associated Press report, the governor is “inclined”

Ban Republican Adoptions

Keeping with the theme of political satire today: Ohio senator Robert Hagan is seeking sponsors for a bill that would forbid households with one or more Republicans from adopting children or becoming foster parents. He cites “Credible research” that suggests such children “. . . are more at risk for developing emotional problems, social stigmas,

Educational Testing

I’ve written a lot about politics this week, so in lieu of the weekly political roundup I’ve been doing, I’ll point out a hysterical satire on educational testing by Anna Quindlen in Newsweek. I’ve written before that I take a dim view of “teaching to the test”; Quindlen, however, dares to dream what might happen

Healthy Snacks for Kids

The Christian Science Monitor wrote this week about healthy snacks for kids. It’s pretty common-sense stuff, but has a few recipe suggestions if you’re at a loss for ideas. One thing the article doesn’t mention, however, is what I consider the most important factor in establishing kids’ eating habits: a good example. Kids who see

A Genetic Basis for Sexual Orientation?

New research from UCLA indicates that the mothers of multiple gay sons tend to process X chromasomes differently from other mothers. This provides further evidence that sexual orientation is genetically determined. The results aren’t conclusive at this point, and other researchers caution that further study, with a larger sample, is needed, but it’s still an

Should We Forbid Children to All But Married Couples?

That’s the very tongue-in-cheek premise of a scathing article in the Hartford Courant, in response to a request by the conservative Family Institute of Connecticut to weigh in on same-sex marriage before the state Supreme Court. The Institute claims that children are “disadvantaged” living in same-sex households, and thus same-sex couples shouldn’t be allowed to

Newer, Cheaper IVF Possible

A new IVF method that lets fertilization and embryo development occur inside a woman’s body, rather than in the lab, could mean more options and cheaper IVF treatments. (Thanks to Blogging Baby for the sighting.) Egg and sperm are placed in a special vial and inserted into a woman’s vagina to develop into embryos, when

Bans on Same-Sex Adoption

USA Today has just published a piece on same-sex adoption, noting that 16 states have now taken action to pass laws or create November ballot initiatives to ban it. One member of a conservative “pro-family” (gag!) group sees this as an extension of same-sex marriage bans: by preventing same-sex marriage, and then defining marriage as

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