Catch up on a few of the stories about LGBTQ parents and our families that I haven’t covered already, including family profiles, information on paid leave for chosen families, and why no one should mess with lesbian mom and Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig.
Family Stories
- Actor Cheyenne Jackson spoke with the Advocate about his career and being a father to kindergartener twins with his husband, entrepreneur Jason Landau. “It is the hardest job I’ve ever had,” he said, adding, “You’re not raising kids, you’re raising humans.”
- Minnesota Representative Zack Stephenson, who has two children with his wife, wrote a piece for the Advocate about why he came out as bisexual, initially feeling that since he was in a relationship with a woman, “it would be exploitive, inauthentic, and unnecessarily disruptive.” Eventually, though, he realized, “There are many bisexual people in long-term committed relationships with people of the opposite sex. As an elected member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, I have the opportunity and, frankly, the obligation to show that.”
- Ziya Paval, a trans woman, and her partner Zahad, a trans man, who live in the southern state of Kerala, have welcomed their baby, carried by Zahad. News sources indicate that Zahad is the first trans man in the country to be pregnant, and Paval’s Instagram says she is “India’s first trans mother.” It’s possible that, as was the case in the U.S., the first to make the headlines isn’t really the first—but regardless, thanks to Paval and Zahad for sharing their family story with the world.
Politics and Law
- The Guardian looks at the impact of changes in the U.K. this year that will allow donor-conceived children reaching 18 to have access to identifying information about their donors. (See also my post yesterday about COLAGE’s new guide for donor-conceived people with LGBTQ parents.)
- Prism reports on new leave policies that allow LGBTQ people (and others) to care for chosen family. Fun fact: This isn’t a newfangled idea. The article notes, “Oregon’s law, originally passed in 2019, allows sick and family leave to be used for ‘any individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with a covered individual is the equivalent of a family relationship.’ This language was first used during the Vietnam War to allow federal employees to take funeral leave for family members killed in combat.”
- Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), the first lesbian mom elected to Congress, was assaulted in her DC apartment building yesterday, but fought off the attacker by throwing hot coffee on him. Her chief of staff said in a statement that the attack did not appear to be politically motivated, reports NPR. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar (D) tweeted that after the attack Craig “went straight to the Hill this morning and attended a meeting in the Senate with the Governor and me and several members of our delegation about legislation for the people of her district. No one messes with Angie.”