Wishing a very happy Father’s Day (or Fathers’ Day, if that’s how you roll) to all of the dads out there! Gay dads, bisexual dads, transgender and gender creative dads, straight dads who love and support their LGBTQ children (or their LGBTQ parents), people who are father figures regardless of biological or legal fatherhood, and anyone else who uses this day to honor your parenthood, may it be a time of joy and love. In addition to new ties, however, get the dads in your life something they’ll really appreciate: your efforts towards equality! Here are three ways to do so.
- Sign Immigration Equality’s petition calling on the State Department to change its discriminatory policy treating the children of bi-national same-sex couples as born “out of wedlock.” One pair of dads, U.S. citizen Andrew Dvash-Banks and his husband, Israeli citizen Elad Dvash-Banks, are suing the State Department because it only recognizes one of their twin children as a U.S. citizen. (At least one two-mom couple is also suing for citizenship of their child.)
- Contact your members of Congress and tell them to support (or thank them for their support of) the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, which was just introduced in both houses of Congress. This bill would prohibit using religious beliefs as a reason to discriminate in foster care and adoption against LGBTQ prospective parents and others (such as those of different religions), and also offer protections for LGBTQ youth and others in child services.
- If you live in New York, visit the Protecting Modern Families Coalition to learn how you can help support passage of a bill that would legalize surrogacy in the state and offer a simplified path to legal parenthood for both members of a couple using assisted reproduction. Act quickly on this one, since the legislative session ends this coming Wednesday, June 19.
Looking for children’s books featuring queer dads or men? Try these!
