Judy Gold has been a stand-up comedian for 20 years and won two Emmys for writing and producing The Rosie O’Donnell Show. She’s also a “Jewish lesbian mother of two,” and spoke recently with Forbes about where she gets her sense of humor, how she got started in standup, her one-woman shows, and what she thinks about labels.
Combine four boys of assorted ages, two dads, a Maine coon cat, and a dog named Sir Puggleton into a home and stir well. Sprinkle on a doting aunt, a surly neighbor, and assorted classmates. Season with a collapsing backyard hockey rink, an untimely power outage, and a Thanksgiving culinary disaster. Dana Alison Levy’s superb new middle-grade novel, The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher (Delacorte Press), combines all these ingredients and more to create a hysterically funny story that is simultaneously full of heart.
This week marks not only the start of fall, but also Banned Books Week, the annual celebration of the freedom to read. LGBTQ-inclusive books for children and young adults are often among those challenged by parents or library patrons — but many have escaped attempts to ban or restrict them. Is this good news or bad?
Just in time for the Jewish New Year comes a new picture book by Lesléa Newman, author of Heather Has Two Mommies, taking us on a year-long journey through the Jewish holidays.
Actor Sara Gilbert, co-host of CBS’ The Talk, announced on yesterday’s show that she and her spouse, musician Linda Perry, are expecting their first child together.
What do you get when you take two moms and five kids of assorted race and ethnicity, place in a home, sprinkle the neighborhood with other parental figures, and stir well? The answer is ABC Family’s The Fosters, which finished its second season in August. It remains not just a show about a lesbian-headed family, but one of the most thoughtful family shows on television. Here are some of the things I liked best about this season.
Madame Martine is the latest picture book from Sarah Brannen, the author and illustrator whose gay-inclusive children’s book Uncle Bobby’s Wedding sits on many of our shelves. It doesn’t have any explicitly LGBTQ characters this time, but it’s a charming tale and I’m happy to support an LGBTQ-inclusive author even on other projects, especially when they’re as charming as this one.
Last January, I wrote about the pilot for Transparent, a half-hour drama that centers around a transgender parent who is just beginning to transition. Amazon Studios had promised to use viewer feedback to determine whether to produce the full series — and I’m happy to say the results were favorable. Watch the trailer after the jump.
Like many writers, I love word games, and am eager to get a copy of the just-published fifth edition of The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, which includes more than 5000 new words. One of the new entries is the Yiddish word “schmutz” — and for those of you unclear on its meaning (hint: it’s not the same as schmuck), Judy Gold, a “comedian, actress, writer, and Jewish mother” (also a lesbian mom) is here to help you out.
The Fosters, ABC Family’s lesbian mom drama, airs its second season finale tonight. I hope you’ll join me (and many others) tonight at 9 p.m. ET to watch the show and tweet along using #TheFosters and #gaydybunch. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a big fan — how are the rest of you enjoying it? Any wishes or predictions for the finale and/or Season Three? (After the jump, catch a sneak peek of the Adams Fosters sitting down for family dinner in tonight’s episode.)
