LGBT Parenting Roundup: Mother’s (s’) Day Edition

Happy Mother’s Day or Mothers’ Day to all of you who proudly bear the title!

Here’s some of what’s been happening in the world of LGBT parenting:

Media Coverage

• The headline sounds promising: “More lesbian couples becoming moms.” C.W. Nevius’ article in SF Gate, however, begins and ends with sperm. Not that finding sperm is an insignificant part of many of our paths to parenthood, but a) not all of us do it that way (some adopt; some have children from previous opposite-sex relationships); and b) There’s really so much more to being a lesbian parent than that. Focusing on the one biological bit that we haven’t got is a very limited view of the whole endeavor.
• The Washington Post’s Petula Dvorak takes a broader view, and looks at gay and lesbian families and issues of inclusion in schools.
• The old marketing truism about same-sex couples with disposable income isn’t so true any more, says the U.K.’s Guardian (who can refer to the alliterative “pink pound”). The reason? More of us are settling down and having kids, and that’s changing how we think about money. (I’m inclined to believe that the “pink pound” (or “gay greenback”) was never really as widespread as some believed. Urban gay men, the epitome of the trend, were always only one part of our whole community.
• Same-sex couples in Denmark can now adopt jointly, instead of just as individuals. Same-sex adoption? Home of the Lego company? I foresee a rise in immigration.

Presidential Notice

• For the first time in history, the president mentioned two-mom families in his Mother’s Day proclamation. I have more on the proclamation and its historical context over at Keen News Service.

Personal Reflections

• Erika Milvy at Slate is brave enough to admit that although she loves being a lesbian and a mom, she doesn’t want to share Mother’s Day. She wrote a similar piece last year, as did Harlyn Aizley. See the “Baba’s Day Proclamation” over at LesbianDad for her solution to this dilemma. In my household, we tend to celebrate Mother’s Day as an all-around family holiday for a couple of days in a row (but I come from a tradition of eight-day holidays, so it doesn’t seem odd).
• Shannon at Peter’s Cross Station uses the occasion of Sandra Bullock’s adoption to recap some of her thoughtful posts about white people adopting children of color.

Entertainment

• SheWired lists the top 10 reasons lesbians love actor and lesbian mom Sara Gilbert.
• Fans of Pixie Hollow, the Disney children’s gaming Web site, can now create a male fairy character as well as female ones (though Salon, via Queerty, notes that he’s actually not a fairy; he’s a “sparrow man”). A rose by any other name, I say.

In the “even this can’t ruin our Mother’s Day” category:

• Iowa State Senator Merlin Bartz doesn’t want the state Department of Natural Resources to make same-sex couples eligible for family camping at state parks—even though they can marry under state law. Families are allowed to put up more than one tent on a camp site. Apparently, letting same-sex-headed families do the same constitutes too big a change in the definition of “family” for Bartz to handle. Change.org has more, plus a petition to Bartz and others who will decide on such matters. (If you drive all the lesbians away from the campsites, who will help the suburban straight men put up their tents?)