Holidays

Cherry blossoms

Have a Happy Day, However Punctuated

Most of us have seen the New Yorker cartoon from 2011 that always seems to recirculate this time of year: A teacher leans over the desk of a child making a card that reads, “Happy Mothers’ Day.” The child looks up at the teacher and says, “I have two mommies. I know where the apostrophe goes.” It’s funny, of course, as it reminds the audience that yes, there are families with two moms (and kids who are really good at grammar). At the same time, though, I sometimes worry that the cartoon may reinforce the incorrect assumption which conflates all LGBTQ moms into two-mom units.

International Family Equality Day

Happy International Family Equality Day!

Today marks the 9th annual International Family Equality Day—and while this usually means in-person events across the globe, there are ways to take part this year even while isolating at home!

MLK Statue

Kids, Race, and Racism: Readings and Resources for MLK Day and All Year

Once again, for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I’m posting a revised list of resources for talking with kids about the holiday and about race and racism in general all year ’round. Here are some sites and articles I’ve found thought provoking, from a variety of perspectives.

Big tree - photo by Dana Rudolph

For the Holidays: Finding Family, Creating Connections

The end-of-year holiday season is hard for me now that my parents have passed. Thanksgiving had always been my Jewish family of origin’s time to gather. My brother and I have continued to celebrate Thanksgiving with our immediate families and his wife’s parents, but the absence of our parents makes the occasion bittersweet. I miss them, too, at Hanukkah, when we always lit a menorah and exchanged gifts. I’m finding comfort this year, however, in a new project to uncover and preserve our family history.

Marking 16 Years of Marriage Equality — and More

Today is a day of celebration! November 18 is the anniversary of the historic 2003 ruling that made Massachusetts the first U.S. state to allow same-sex couples to marry. It also marks the 2003 repeal of the U.K.’s anti-LGBTQ Section 28 law. Additionally, it’s the “Massaversary” of when my spouse and I legally wed (though we celebrate our true anniversary in April).

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