My love of both Legos and the Olympicsis well documented. My son is also obsessed with the former and learning to love the latter.

I was thrilled, therefore, to see this astounding recreation of the Beijing Olympic facilities in Legos, including the Bird’s Nest, the Water Cube, the beach volleyball court, the equestrian arena, and more. (More photos here, including cutaways that show how they did the patterns in the walls of the Water Cube.)

Show this to your kids and hear them say “Wow!” (Then quickly explain why you can’t run out to the nearest Lego store and buy them enough bricks to do it themselves.)

(Thanks, Slashdot.)

A few items from recent news:

• Which state has the highest percentage of LGBT couples with children? Mississippi, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, and reported by The Daily Mississippian. (Thanks to the Family Equality Council for the link.) The state also has the highest percentage of African American same-sex couples. The Census data does not, however, record the number of LGBT single parents out there.
• Nancy Polikoff, author of Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage: Valuing All Families under the Law, brings us up to date on legislation in D.C. that would give expanded rights to non-biological parents in cases of donor insemination.
• Two publishers in Sweden are facing criticism over their efforts to be more inclusive of non-traditional families and gender roles in their books.
• The Family Equality Council has posted photos from Family Week 2008 in Provincetown, MA, and Between the Lines reports on the Family Week in Michigan run by Rainbow Families Great Lakes.
• Following the success of Camp fYerfly, a summer camp for LGBT youth in Edmonton, Canada, two new camps will launch next summer. The new camps, in Ottawa and British Columbia, will carry the Camp fYerfly name and follow the same philosophy of “youth teaching youth.” Two more camps, in Halifax and Saskatchewan, will open at a later date.
• Lesbian mom and Republican scion Mary Cheney and her partner Heather Poe have donated $3,000 to fight Proposition 8, the marriage-equality ban in California.
• Conor Pendergrast, a 22-year-old son of lesbian moms, writes in The Irish Times about his family and urges the Irish government “to provide the means of extending the rights and responsibilities of biological parents to non-biological parents.”

Out-of-state same-sex couples could marry in Massachusetts later today. Lawmakers have attached an emergency preamble to the bill lifting marriage restrictions on out-of-state couples, stating that it will take effect as soon as the governor signs it, rather than after the usual 90 days. The bill could go to the governor today, according to the Associated Press.

Undoubtedly some couples will be lining up outside the State House with extra pens, in case he needs one (though I’m guessing his daughter will make sure he’s well provided).

OK, I need a break from the serious posts, and I suspect you do, too. Here’s a clever little online app that’s been taking too much of my attention: Fantastic Contraption: A fun online physics puzzle game is exactly that. Add rods and rotating wheels to move a ball from one part of the screen to another, over a variety of obstacles. (Thanks to Good Morning Silicon Valley.)

Another fun stop if your kids are as Lego-obsessed as mine (and as I am, let’s face it) is Gizmodo’s exclusive Inside the Lego Factory video series. There are three parts, about a minute long, with great images and fun facts like “The machines produce more than two million pieces per hour.”

Of course, I’m old-fashioned when it comes to Legos, and think they’ve gotten way too specialized. I also have a certain fondness for the consistently happy, smiling, clean-faced Lego minifigs from years ago, not the sometimes scowling, unshaven ones we have now. I know it’s an unrealistic utopia, but hey, I can have that in at least one part of my life now, can’t I?

Helen and I highlight a new guide for parents of transgender kids and, on the other side, one for kids of transgender parents. (Regular readers may have seen my written piece on these books earlier in the week. It’s only the first couple of minutes of the vlog, though, so you won’t get bored if you watch the whole thing.) We then admit that we buy some toys for our son because we want to play with them, too, and share a couple of our recent favorites. Finally, in response to a viewer question about homophobia and kids, we discuss the process of explaining our families to others.

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(If the Veoh video above isn’t working, try it at Dailymotion.)

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Helen and I share the story of a Pride brunch hosted by the mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who is herself a lesbian mom—and grandmother. I even go so far as to show off my t-shirt from the event, the only pink piece of clothing I’ve owned in my adult life.

We then bring you our review of a brand-new electronic reading system for kids from Leapfrog. Is it right for your kids or nieces/nephews? Our son even offers his opinion.

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(If the Veoh video above isn’t working, try it at Dailymotion.)

Brought to you in partnership with After Ellen.

• Barack Obama appointed David Noble, director of public policy and government affairs at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and former executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats, as director of the LGBT vote for his campaign. The presidential candidate also sent an open letter to LGBT voters and said “I will place the weight of my administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes and pass a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.”
• A federal appeals court upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit filed by 12 gay and lesbian veterans challenging the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
• Four legal groups and five other leading LGBT groups put out a joint statement advising same-sex couples who go to California to marry not to return to their home states to sue. The statement says ill-timed lawsuits are likely to set back the fight for marriage equality.

Read more »

In a move to remind all the same-sex couples flocking west to marry that Massachusetts is the original Gay State, Katherine Patrick, daughter of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, has just come out as a lesbian.

I jest about the motivation, but the fact of the matter is true. In an interview with Bay Window’s Laura Kiritsy, Katherine and her parents said they wanted to avoid ” a ‘gotcha’ news story about Katherine’s sexual orientation that might give the false impression that the family was anything less than accepting and supportive of Katherine.”

Supportive they were. Even before Katherine came out, her father celebrated the final defeat of attempts to ban same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. When she came out to him a few weeks later, he hugged her and said, “Well, we love you no matter what.”

Gov. Patrick chides himself for not realizing his daughter’s orientation sooner. “I think when Katherine started to memorize all the episodes of The L Word, there was some hint that maybe she was sending us.” Katherine, however, is reluctant to watch the show with her dad, despite his offer. “I love you, but there’s certain things, there’s certain lines [you don’t cross].” The Governor also bemoans the fact that his daughter’s potential wedding (she is single at the moment) may cost him a fortune. It’s a wonderful article, and worth reading in full. Read more »

Helen and I celebrate our 30th vlog with a special edition on kids and video games, specifically, younger children and Web-based games. We’re tackling this topic in conjunction with Angela and Tracy of Lesbiangamers.com, who will be doing an upcoming episode of their vlog Gay Girls Who Game that looks at older kids and other gaming systems. (If you have older kids who game or you’re a gamer yourself, you should definitely check them out.)

We share a slew of our favorite games, including some associated with TV shows and other mass-market products, as well as a bunch of independent games from places you might not expect. One show-based game even features an actor from the lesbian comedy 3Way, featured at After Ellen. (Bonus points if you can guess who before watching the vlog.) We also discuss our philosophy of video games and the benefits and perils of letting young kids play. Plus: panda-goats and a reminder about Blogging for LGBT Families Day.

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Helen and I bring you the first signs of what could be growing ultra-right opposition to Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, a new children’s book featuring gay guinea pigs. (Regular blog readers will know about this from my earlier post; since this video is crossposted at After Ellen, though, there’s sometimes a little overlap in order to inform viewers there.)

We then give you a parent’s-eye view of one of our favorite stores, IKEA. It’s not just good for parents in search of cheap furniture, we argue, but can be a whole day’s worth of activities for children as well. We also offer some suggestions to new parents looking for baby gear and anyone whose home hosts both small children and large pieces of furniture. We next recommend some additional tools to improve your furniture-assembling prowess and ensure that your bookshelves are straight, even if you aren’t.

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If the Veoh video above isn’t working (sometimes their server can be flaky), you can try it at Daily Motion.

Brought to you in partnership with After Ellen.