Allison Einbinder of Queercents has written an informative post on the tax benefits of being a parent. Did you know that if you finalized an adoption in 2006, you may be eligible for an adoption credit of $10,960 for the 2006 tax year? Or that you can deduct expenses such as temporary storage of both […]
Women’s History Month is coming to a close, but I wanted to make sure I included the poem “Heroines” by poet and lesbian icon Adrienne Rich in my series of quotes about women and history. I am cutting here for purposes of length and copyright, but that is doing some injustice to Rich’s work. I
A lesbian mother has asked the Georgia Supreme Court to rule that second-parent adoptions are illegal. Sara Wheeler and her partner had started a family together, with Sara carrying the child and her partner Missy Wheeler adopting him. The two later split, and Sara would not let Missy see their son. Sara asked the county
The big news in lesbian sports this week was the resignation of non-lesbian Rene Portland, head coach of the women’s basketball team at Penn State. Her departure was ostensibly voluntarily, but it’s no great leap to think it had something to do with years of questions, investigations, and lawsuits (one championed by the National Center
My laptop experienced a fatal error yesterday that required a complete mindwipe and restore. Luckily, we have more computers than creatures in our house (even counting the cats), so it didn’t affect my blogging. Twice lucky, I’d just done a backup, so it didn’t affect my sanity. As I sat watching a repeat of last
Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.) introduced a federal hate-crimes bill that expands the definition of such crimes to include those based on sexual orientation. A similar bill is expected soon in the Senate. The recent gay bashing and death of 72-year-old Andrew Athos in Detroit is a tragic reminder of the need for such a law.
My son is in the throes of pre-reading mania. He reads letters on everything from milk cartons to street signs to his vitamin tablets. He points to the words on a book cover and moves his finger along, saying the title. He’s not actually reading it yet; it doesn’t work if he doesn’t know the
Originally published in Bay Windows, March 22, 2007.) Policy Issues Affecting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Families sounds like the kind of book that gathers dust on the shelves of politicians and policy wonks. Sean Cahill, Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) Policy Institute, and Sarah Tobias, who has been a
Last week’s episode featured the clever parenting trick of using code words to deceive your children. This week, we see yet another childhood staple—kids plotting with one parent to deceive the other. It’s not as evil as it sounds—I’m talking about surprise birthday presents here, not anything with malicious intent. Shane conspires with Paige’s son
Today is Rosie O’Donnell’s birthday, and I want to wish her all the best. Always outspoken, often controversial, she is nevertheless a champion of LGBT families and children in general, and one of the most visible lesbian moms in the U.S. Love her or hate her, she’s one of us. I can’t condone everything she’s
