President Obama named 16 recipients for this year’s Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor. They include tennis and women’s rights legend Billie Jean King and LGBT-rights pioneer Harvey Milk, and very many other worthy people. I’m a bit disappointed not to see Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon on the list, but maybe next […]
Here’s a little piece of advice for families living in Washington, D.C.: The city recently passed laws recognizing same-sex couples who were married or legally partnered in a “substantially similar” way outside the District. HRC warns people, though that if you are already hitched and want to cover your spouse or partner through your employer’s
Helen and I use the arrival of Cat Cora’s fourth child to talk about creating our own, using a similar egg donation process (though without the simultaneous pregnancies of Cat and her partner Jennifer). We also use a passing comment about two moms and two mortgages on Nurse Jackie to discuss saving for a child’s
Phyllis J. Fleming, who died last month at the age of 84, was a pioneering physics professor. She received her doctorate in 1955, when such degrees in any field, much less the hard sciences, were rare for women. She spent 50 years of her life teaching at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. While I did not
Ever watch an NBA game? In many arenas, there’s a “KissCam” that puts images of couples in the audience on the overhead Jumbotron screen, so the rest of the audience can encourage them to kiss. It’s silly but harmless. Go to a WNBA Washington Mystic’s game, however, and you won’t find a KissCam, even though
My friend Prof. Moss at The Two Body Solution, a blog about gender and popular culture, raises an interesting question: Now that politicians’ affairs have cheapened marriage and various mainstream media channels have effectively declared American marriage dead, are people more willing to open it up to same-sex couples? “Just like the country had to
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In early June, the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Kathryn Kutil and Cheryl Hess, a lesbian couple who have been fostering an 18-month-old girl since shortly after she was born, can maintain custody and not turn the child over to an opposite-sex couple for adoption, as ordered by a lower court. Here’s my
Today marks the birthday of Louise Brown, the world’s first “test-tube baby.” Her birth in 1978 heralded a new era of fertility services for many women, including lesbians. Helen and I conceived our own son this way, using my egg and her womb, so we bear a personal debt to Ms. Brown, her parents Lesley
Confused by the bevy of marriage-related lawsuits now in play? Lisa Keen at Bay Windows breaks it all down in a multi-part series. (Parts I and II are out; Part III will be next week.) Chris Geidner does a similar breakdown for federal hate crimes legislation. Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed the Defense Department authorization
