September 2011

Back-to-School Preparations for LGBT Families

(Originally published as my Mombian newspaper column the first week of September.)

Hurricane Irene raged up the East Coast this past weekend, sending people scrambling to the stores for bottled water and canned tuna. Of course, hurricanes weren’t the only thing I prepared for this week. Back-to-school time is here, so I’ve been buying pencils and erasers alongside the flashlight batteries. And because I am an LGBT parent, I’ve also been thinking about the “emergency supplies” we should have as we navigate the sometimes-stormy weather of our educational system, in case our children encounter anti-LGBT prejudice, bullying, or simply exclusion.

Weekly Political Roundup

The Michigan House voted to ban benefits for domestic partners of all public employees in the state. The bill now goes to the Senate. North Carolina’s legislature approved a ballot measure to ask voters whether to ban marriage for same-sex couples under the state constitution. It is already banned by statute. I covered the story

LGBT Characters in Young Adult Literature: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Authors Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith wrote in a post at Publishers Weekly this week that a literary agent told them to make a gay character in their young adult novel straight if they wanted the agent to represent them. It’s unfortunately not an isolated occurence. If you’re wondering why, author Patricia Nell Warren

New Standards for Same-Sex Parents and their Attorneys in Custody Disputes

If you’ve been following news about LGBT parents for any length of time, you’ve probably come across at least one, if not several, examples of custody cases in which a biological parent tries to deny custody to a former same-sex partner and non-biological parent, claiming that the latter is not really a parent to the

“Do Your Kids Care If You’re Married?”

Leslie Morgan Steiner has a piece up at Modern Mom and Mommy Tracked asking, “Do Your Kids Care If You’re Married?” Good question. Steiner observes that the latest Census figures show that unmarried adults almost outnumber married couples for the first time in recorded U.S. history, and that “More than ever, children today are growing up

Jane Lynch On Motherhood

Glee actor Jane Lynch spoke with the Advocate about her new memoir, Happy Accidents, her early life and career, coming out, and becoming a sudden mother after meeting and marrying psychologist Lara Embry, who has two children from a previous relationship. “Motherhood has changed me,” she says. You and all the rest of us, darling. But there’s

A Decade Later

I’ve posted a similar version of this for a few years now, but it seems appropriate to do so again. In honor of all the victims of the tragedy of September 11 and its aftermath, their families, and their friends. I will always remember, as will many of us, where I was the morning of

Weekly Political Roundup

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced new guidance related to rules that protect hospital patients’ right to choose their own visitors, including a visitor who is a same-sex partner. On a related note, HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration awarded $248,000 to the Fenway Institute in Boston, Mass., to create a

“Rory’s Story” About Son of Lesbian Moms in Ireland

Here’s a great new video from Marriage Equality, an organization dedicated to achieving equal access to civil marriage for same-sex couples in Ireland. It features Rory, the grown son of lesbian moms, who discovers that his lack of a legal relationship with his non-biological mother has some very serious consequences. (Thanks to the Irish Examiner

LGBT Parenting Roundup

Family Creation The American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s Sexuality, Reproduction & Menopause (SRM) e-journal has an article explaining, “What are the reproductive options when a same-sex couple wants a family?“ Law The New York Law Journal tells us, “Creative Parenting Agreements Still Needed With Same-Sex Marriage,” reminding us why second-parent adoptions are still needed even

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