I’m always thrilled at how really, truly diverse the LGBT community is, beyond just the broad categories people tend to think of when they typically think of “diversity.” We subdivide down into a glorious array of shared identities and individuality. Two writers proved that recently by each offering a different perspective on parenting as a butch.
Many of us have been there. As we grow our families, we realize we can no longer hide . . . the fact that we drive a minivan. Betsy of Turkey Baster and a Bottle of Wine wrote recently of overcoming her own internalized vanophobia in “Imposter . . . or not.”
TED Ed, the educational branch of the organization that puts on the thought-provoking TED Talks, recently posted a five-minute video on “The History of Marriage” that is wonderfully inclusive of same-sex couples and aimed at anyone from older elementary kids to adults. I thought I couldn’t be more excited about their videos — and then I saw another, on a topic I couldn’t have guessed, that is seamlessly inclusive of a same-sex romance. I may even love this second one more.
The two dads and their son featured in a recent commercial for Honey Maid graham crackers tell us about their family — while making s’mores, of course.
Want an excuse to visit the U.S. capital? Or do you live there and want to socialize with other LGBT families while being entertained by one of the funniest lesbian moms around? You’re in luck. Rainbow Families DC is holding its biennial 2014 Family Conference, “a day of learning, networking and fellowship,” on Saturday, April 26. LGBT parents, their children, family members, and prospective parents are all invited.
Although there is an increasing amount of research on the general well-being of children with same-sex parents, little has been done that looks at the parents’ experience in school settings. The few existing studies have focused on elementary schools. A new study, however, seeks to broaden our understanding by looking at the considerations of both same-sex and different-sex adoptive parents when choosing a preschool.
MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry, who has a new baby, spoke recently with ThinkProgress about motherhood and the need for better policies for working parents. As usual, she says a lot of on-target, sensible things — but I have to amend her on one point.
A new picture book by Sarah and Ian Hoffman, Jacob’s New Dress (Albert Whitman, 2014), is welcome addition to the small but growing number of books for and about young gender nonconforming and transgender children.
I dislike filling out tax forms, and am lucky to have a spouse who actually kind of enjoys it. (She was a financial advisor for a while.) This year is tricky for us, however, since we are married in our state and must now fill out federal tax forms as “married” for the first time. In a way, it’s easier than doing the three federal forms we had to fill out in previous years — one for each of us as “single” and a “dummy” married one that we used to complete our state (married) form — but it raises its own set of questions. For same-sex couples married but living in states that don’t recognize their marriages, the questions may be even more complicated. Luckily, there’s help out there.
Transparent, a new half-hour drama from Jill Soloway (United States of Tara, Six Feet Under), centers around a transgender parent who is just beginning to transition and come out to family members. But an even more impressive portrayal of a trans character right now may be that of trans teen Cole on The Fosters.
