With Eric Stonestreet winning an Emmy Sunday for his portrayal of a gay dad in ABC’s Modern Family, and the summer movie about two lesbian moms, The Kids Are All Right, garnering early Oscar buzz, it is easy to forget what things were like just 25 years ago. Then, people both inside and outside the […]
(Originally published as my Mombian newspaper column.) The so-called “gayby boom” may be a relatively new phenomenon, but lesbian moms have been a vital part of the LGBT rights movement since shortly after the Stonewall Riots in 1969. The documentary Mom’s Apple Pie: The Heart of the Lesbian Mothers’ Custody Movement gives us a look
(Originally published as my Mombian newspaper column, October 2009.) October is, among other things, LGBT History Month, which makes it the perfect time to write about Gay America: Struggle for Equality (Amulet: 2008), by Linas Alsenas. The book is a history of gay men and lesbians in the U.S. from the mid-nineteenth century through 2005. It
(Originally published in Bay Windows, February 26, 2009. I did this piece to cover a local event, but I thought it might be of wider interest. Phillips Academy Andover has the second-oldest gay-straight alliance in the country—though it is perhaps better known for being the school of George H.W., George W., and Jeb Bush. Stay
In June, I was happy to relate the news that two pioneers of the lesbian- and LGBT-rights movements, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, would be the first same-sex couple to marry legally in San Francisco. Today, I am saddened by the news of Martin’s death. She and Lyon had celebrated over 50 years together.
(This was a bit of local coverage I did for Bay Windows, but I think it may be of interest to anyone interested in the history of social justice movements and the interaction among various progressive groups.) Twenty years ago, when the first Gay-Straight Alliance was created, with the goal of making schools safer for
