One of the strengths of the LGBT parenting community is that we are a community. Whether online or in real life, we can share, support, and learn from each other. In order to help LGBT families connect with each other, the Family Equality Council today released “Promising Practices,” a toolkit to help those who wish to create new LGBT family support groups, and to help strengthen existing ones.
A new report out today from the Movement Advancement Project and a coalition of partners details the lives of children living in LGBT families of color. Among the findings of the report: LGBT families are more racially and ethnically diverse than families headed by married heterosexual couples. LGBT families of color face greater poverty.
I want to know what’s in the water up in Toronto, Canada. Just days after I post about S. Bear Bergman’s Toronto-based Flamingo Rampant project to produce books for trans-identified elementary school children, I find out about Cory Silverberg’s Toronto-based project to create a “What Makes a Baby” book that works for all types of families, no matter how they were formed or the number or gender of the parent(s). As Silverberg points out in the video below, kids want to know where babies come from, but they also want to know where they themselves come from–and the two questions don’t always have the same answer.
You’ve heard of Thomas Edison—but have you heard of Margaret Knight? She was a contemporary of Edison and the holder of at least two dozen U.S. patents. (Some sources say nearly 90, but the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says 26, and I take them for the authority.) She created her first invention, a safety mechanism for mechanical looms, when she was only 12.
Marriage equality took center stage again this week, but that’s not all that’s happening.
— A federal district court ruled that a key section of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)–the part that denies federal recognition to same-sex couples–is unconstitutional. But the the House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group said it will appeal the ruling.
— Opponents of marriage equality have asked the full U.S. 9th Circuit court to review the recent decision of a three-judge court panel that ruled California’s Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.
I’m starting a new feature here at Mombian, highlighting some of the posts from independent parenting bloggers that have especially caught my eye. I’ll keep the more “newsy” items in my LGBT Parenting Roundups—what I want to feature here are more personal posts about our lives as parents and LGBT people.
Yesterday, a federal district court ruled that a key section of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)—the part that denies federal recognition to same-sex couples—is unconstitutional. The plaintiff in the case, Karen Golinski, is an attorney and lesbian mom. I interviewed her last December about her accidental path to the DOMA challenge and the case’s impact on her family.
Last night’s Glee dealt with a tough and timely topic, bullying-related suicide. Even if its treatment felt somewhat superficial and hurried, it will have served its purpose if it helps save even one life. As a lesbian mom, too, I found it particularly interesting that when Kurt (Chris Colfer) is helping Karofsky (Max Adler) imagine a future to live for, he asks him think about having a son and taking him to his first football game. Karofsky’s face lights up at the thought. Fictional though the scene is, it reflects the truth that LGBT young people today can envision a future that includes children.
I spent President’s Day weekend with my family in a most appropriate place: Washington, D.C. I’m still catching up on laundry and such, so for today, please enjoy an image from our visit to the National Museum of American History. The museum, part of the Smithsonian, is now the repository for the papers and materials of LGBT equality pioneer Frank Kameny, as explained in a museum blog post last October.
Children’s books with gender nonconforming/transgender protagonists are rare, but over the past year or so there have been some encouraging signs of progress.
