Catch up on some news about LGBTQ families that I haven’t posted about separately! There’s political news, to be sure, but also some celebrity tidbits to keep things light.
Politics and Law
- The Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Nicole Junior and Chanel Glover, a formerly married couple fighting over parental rights, reports Philadelphia Gay News. They had started their family together via assisted insemination, with Glover carrying the child. Although they retained a lawyer in preparation for doing a co-parent (second-parent) adoption, they divorced before this took place. In 2023, as I reported, the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that Junior had no parental rights. The same court then heard the case “en banc” (with all the judges of the court) and reversed the ruling, affirming Junior’s parentage. Glover then appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, where her lawyers argued that a contract to conceive is not the same as a contract to parent, and that the court should not recognize parentage by intent. Junior’s lawyers argued that the state should recognize parentage by intent to close a gap in state law that leaves parents at risk. (I’ll add that it’s really the children who are at risk here.)
- Germany’s Justice Ministry has proposed draft legislation to update the country’s adoption laws, making it possible for two unmarried adults to adopt a child and for children to have two co-mothers from birth, without the nongestational mother needing to do a stepparent adoption as is currently the case. The new legislation still does not allow for more than one man in a two-man couple to acknowledge paternity, however, reports DW; the nongenetic father must still do a stepparent adoption.
- Rolling Stone reports on one family, with a trans parent and a nonbinary kid, that fled Florida in the wake of anti-trans laws.
Prominent Figures and Celebrities
- White House press secretary and lesbian mom Karine Jean-Pierre was promoted to senior adviser to the president, reports ABC News. She will continue her role as press secretary, but “Her counsel will be critical to get as much done as possible for the American people in the coming months,” said Jeff Zients, the president’s chief of staff.
- Actor, rapper, and queer mom Queen Latifah received a National Medal of Arts at a White House ceremony. She and Missy Elliott, who was likewise honored, are the first rappers to receive the award, per BET.
- Actor and lesbian mom Jodie Foster spoke with People about her feelings as her grown sons are “at that age where they’re starting their careers,” and about why, when they were younger, she didn’t tell them she was an actor. “I wanted them to know me as their mom,” she said.
- Dads Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka recently celebrated their twins’ 14th birthdays. and People did a roundup about their family.
- Georgia NPR station WABE profiled Atlanta school teacher, social media influencer, and queer mom Jere Chang, whom they dub the “lesbian Mr. Rogers”—which is a little misleading, since her videos are mostly aimed at adults, not kids, although she teaches kids in the classroom. Still, it’s a flattering look at this popular and entertaining queer parent.
- Basketball superstar and queer mom Breanna Stewart was part of the New York Liberty team that just won the WNBA championship (in as exciting a series as I’ve ever seen in any sport)—and she, her spouse Marta Xargay Casademont (a former WNBA and Spanish professional basketball player), and their children celebrated after the final game—with media coverage of their family that I could only have dreamed of when the league started in 1997. See below:
