A very happy Mothering Sunday to my readers in the U.K. and other countries that are celebrating it today. Here in the U.S., our Mother’s Day isn’t until May, but at Mombian, of course, every day is Mother’s Day (or Mothers’ Day, depending on your relationship status), so have a great day no matter where you live.
This week’s selection, “Breathing Room,” comes from Lyn, who blogs with her partner Gail at First Time, Second Time. Lyn and Gail are both mathematicians, fell in love at Math Camp, and seem to favor the number two. They describe themselves as “two lesbian moms who created an intentional family via donor conception. We’ve both given birth, both been NGP’s (non-gestational parents), both nursed, both worked for pay, and both stayed at home with kids.”
I chose “Breathing Room” because it shines a light on one of the less-discussed transitions of family life, when children leave early childhood and parents are able to take a little more time for themselves and each other.
Sometimes a story about an LGBT family comes along that really stands out for its warmth, understanding, and optimism. Today, NPR’s StoryCorps ran “A Mom Becomes A Man, And A Family Sticks Together,”about Les GrantSmith, a transgender man, his husband Scott, and their two daughters. It’s a wonderful account that stays consistently positive without hiding the challenges the family faced. Here’s the lovely beginning:
Washington State residents John and Dorothy Reitan, who have two gay grandsons, speak up on behalf of marriage equality in this charming video. The Reitans should know a thing or two about marriage, having been married for 70 years. John Reitan is also a pastor and World War II Navy veteran.
Washington Governor Chris Gregoire (D) signed marriage equality into law February 13, 2012, but opponents are trying to prevent it from going into effect in June by forcing it to a referendum in November.
If more families felt like the Reitans, we wouldn’t need to worry.
This week’s highlighted post, “Pregnancy Changes Things,” comes from Yin of Living a Loving Life as Wife and Wife. She talks about how pregnancy has changed her relationships with her partner, her mother, and her friends. It’s a quiet reflection on changes that I’m guessing many others have felt, too.
There are big changes afoot here at the House of Mombian. I’m delighted to report that I’ve just taken a part-time job as the Online Content Manager for the SEED Project on Inclusive Curriculum, a 26-year-old diversity program that helps educators “examine contemporary scholarship as well as ‘the textbooks of our lives’ in order to inform community conversation about schooling and culture.” It explores gender, race, culture, sexual orientation, and other aspects of identity, and prepares educators to bring their learnings back to their own schools.
(I wrote this for my newspaper column a couple of months ago, but never posted it. Enjoy.)
This column marks five years of Mombian columns for me. Looking back, it’s been a time of tremendous change for LGBT families and for me personally. I’ve learned a lot over these years, both as a parent and a chronicler of our LGBT parenting experiences. The best part of doing this column has been speaking with a wide variety of LGBT parents, authors, activists, and others working towards equality for our families. If my words here mean anything, it is because they have been informed by theirs. Here are a few of the things I’ve gleaned along the way.
Once again, it’s time to highlighting a post from an independent parenting blogger that has especially caught my eye. This week, it’s “Parenting without gender expectations means accepting all outcomes,” from Aly Windsor, who is parenting two kids with her partner and just started blogging at Embrace Release.
One of the strengths of the LGBT parenting community is that we are a community. Whether online or in real life, we can share, support, and learn from each other. In order to help LGBT families connect with each other, the Family Equality Council today released “Promising Practices,” a toolkit to help those who wish to create new LGBT family support groups, and to help strengthen existing ones.
A new report out today from the Movement Advancement Project and a coalition of partners details the lives of children living in LGBT families of color. Among the findings of the report: LGBT families are more racially and ethnically diverse than families headed by married heterosexual couples. LGBT families of color face greater poverty.
