We in the LGBT parenting blogger community write often about bringing children into our families. We don’t often write about having them leave us. Timaree and Jodi, however, posted yesterday of the loss of their son, Caemon, who had been fighting a rare form of leukemia. My heart goes out to them.
Today is the 20th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), so it’s the perfect time to remind folks that FMLA allows people to take time off to care for a child (biological or adoptive) who is legally the child of a same-sex partner—that is, even if you are not on the child’s birth certificate or haven’t done a second-parent adoption. Here’s the story of two lesbian moms who used FMLA leave, despite having to be extra prepared to explain matters to their employer.
Twenty years ago, on February 5, 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act, allowing eligible employees to take time off to care for new children (biological or adopted) or family members with medical problems. The FMLA even allows employees to take time for a new child even if you are not the legal parent—but does not cover same-sex spouses or partners. The Family Equality Council is therefore collecting stories, good and bad, about how LGBT people have used—or been denied—FMLA. They want yours! Here’s how to submit your story.
Basketball star Kenneth Faried of the Denver Nuggets has two moms, as we found out a couple of years ago. He recently made a video with them for One Colorado, the state LGBT advocacy group that is leading the fight for civil unions in that state. “Nobody can ever tell me I can’t have two mothers, because I really do,” he said. Watch:
My spouse and I have tried to teach our nine-year-old son to use respectful language, and to model it ourselves. Melanie Coffee’s recent piece at HuffPo on “Talking About Martin Luther King Jr. and Race With My Biracial 5-Year-Old” struck a chord with me, however, because she’s made the same exception that I have. In trying to explain racial bias to her son, Coffee says, she used “the six-lettered s-word in our home that is considered profane”—”stupid.”
Today marks the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which also makes it the annual Blog for Choice day. The organizers have asked us to share our stories about why we are pro-choice. Here’s mine.
Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day—but it also kicks off No Name-Calling Week, “an annual week of educational activities aimed at ending name-calling of all kinds and providing schools with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate bullying in their communities.”
The Oxford Union Society, the venerable debating society whose membership comes mostly from Oxford University, held a debate yesterday on the motion, “This house would be glad to have gay parents.” The motion passed, 345 to 21—but not without controversy. Those arguing in favor of the motion were Benjamin Cohen, founder of PinkNews.co.uk and Out4Marriage, Richard Fairbass,
I often write about schools and education, but mostly from the perspective of parents or students. Debbie of A Day Is Short is a teacher, however, and wrote yesterday of her experience coming out to her third-grade class, in the context of her pregnancy and impending parenthood. It’s a raw, emotional post about the struggle of trying to be honest with her students while facing the fear of homophobia.
Wendy and Karen have been blogging at 2 Moms – It can be done since 2006. I liked Wendy’s recent post, “One Little Word 2013 — Manifesto,” because it not only gave me a glimpse into her own life, but also made me think about my own goals for the new year in a different way.
