Milestones in LGBTQ Parenting History
October is LGBT History Month, and I want to celebrate with a look at some of the historical milestones—of laws, visibility, and community—related to LGBT parents in the U.S.
Remembering (LGBTQ History)
Watch: Story of One of First Gay Men to Adopt in U.S.
NPR’s excellent StoryCorps program last week ran a segment on Bill Jones, one of the first single men–and gay men–to adopt a child in the U.S. There’s even more to know about this pioneering gay dad, however.
Seeking LGBTQ Parents in History
Opponents of LGBTQ equality often try to make LGBTQ parents seem like a new and untested phenomenon, and therefore something to be avoided. The history of LGBTQ parents and our children, however, goes back further than one might think.
“Radical Relations”: A History of Lesbian and Gay Parents
The history of out lesbian and gay parents started decades before the term “gayby boom” was coined in 1990. A new book charts that history—so of course I had to review it.
Classic Film About Lesbian Mothers Now on DVD
The Fosters, ABC Family’s drama about two moms raising their five children, ended its very successful first season at the end of March. But The Fosters — and many real-life two-mom families — owe a debt of gratitude to a film that premiered 30 years ago and is now newly remastered and available on DVD: Choosing Children, the first documentary to look at lesbians who became parents after coming out.
1978 Comic Shows Lesbian Trying to Get Pregnant
I’m always fond of showing just how far back the history of LGBT parents goes. Here’s a fun historical find, then: a comic from 1978 (that’s 36 years ago!) telling the story of a lesbian trying to get pregnant.
Watch Now: “If She Grows Up Gay” — 1983 Short Film About a Lesbian Mom
I love this short film about a blue-collar, African American, lesbian mom in the early 80s — a lovely portrait of a life at a time when lesbian lives, much less those of lesbians of color and lesbian moms, were little known.
The World’s First LGBT Parent
As this year’s LGBT History Month gets into full swing, I find myself wondering, “Who was the world’s first known LGBT parent?” To the best of my knowledge, she was the Greek poet Sappho, whose island home of Lesbos gave us the term “lesbian.” Sappho seems to have had a daughter named “Cleis”—meaning we can trace LGBT parents back to about 600 BCE.
A Tasty Slice of Lesbian Mom History
Lesbian moms have been a vital part of the LGBT rights movement since there was an LGBT rights movement. The documentary Mom’s Apple Pie: The Heart of the Lesbian Mothers’ Custody Movement gives us a look at several early custody cases involving lesbian moms—and shows how the activism they spawned has had a direct impact on LGBT people and organizations today.
LGBT History Month Parenting Trivia Answer
And the answer to yesterday’s LGBT History Month parenting trivia question is: