LGBTQ Parenting Roundup

• LGBTQ Parenting Roundup • australia, canada, queerspawn, second-parent adoption

LGBTQ Parenting RoundupSome of the stories I haven’t covered here yet, but which deserve a read. We’ve got research studies, a look at “the new battleground” after marriage equality, progress in Kansas, a couple of pieces by adults with same-sex parents, and much more.

Research

  • A study from the University of Texas has found that same-sex parents spend more time with their kids than different-sex ones. I’d covered this research when it appeared last spring in another journal, and had some cautionary thoughts.
  • Conversion therapy is harmful to LGBTQ youth and such efforts “are not appropriate therapeutic practices,” states a new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Their conclusion is (I hope) not news to readers here; SAMHSA’s public support is always appreciated, though.

U.S. Politics and Law

  • “The new battleground for same-sex couples is equal rights for their kids,” says Law Professor Tanya Washington of Georgia State University at Raw Story. I couldn’t agree more—though I would have said “same-sex parents,” just to acknowledge that not every same-sex couple (nor every different-sex couple, for that matter) has or wants to have kids.
  • Kansas has agreed to issue birth certificates listing both same-sex parents in two cases, but says this is not a policy change. Future applications will be reviewed “on a case-by-case basis.”
  • New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) is considering whether to lift the state ban on gestational surrogacy.

International Politics and Law

  • A new bill in Victoria, Australia, if passed, will allow same-sex couples to do second-parent and joint adoptions.
  • A bill in Ontario, Canada would make second-parent adoptions and court orders of parentage unnecessary for the legal recognition of both parents in a same-sex couple. Hmm. Conceptually, I like the idea—but I have to think that, as in the U.S., adoptions/court orders may still be a good idea when traveling to places that don’t recognize the parents’ relationship.

Family Profiles

  • The moms who led Michigan’s fight for marriage equality, April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, and whose case was part of the consolidated lawsuit that won at the U.S. Supreme Court last June, began their journey simply trying to adopt each other’s legal children. Now they’re making the adoptions official.
  • Elizabeth Collins writes in Salon about growing up with “A gay dad and a mom who wears mens’ clothes, in the Lone Star State.”
  • Marissa Munger writes at the University of Tennessee Daily Beacon about being raised “by two women who have been strong their whole lives, facing many challenges like being deaf and coming from poor families.” She tells us “I grew up more in the deaf community than the gay community, but growing up with lesbian parents definitely opened my eyes to diversity and how important it is to get to know people regardless of their differences.”

Sports

  • And, because I totally missed this news at the end of the summer when I was busy getting my son ready for school: Tennis star Amelie Mauresmo had a baby. She retired from competition in 2009, but is currently coaching Andy Murray. Yes, that’s right. One of the top two men’s players in the world is being coached by a lesbian mom. Here’s Mauresmo’s awesome pre-birth Twitter announcement:

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