Two recent pieces of legislation in Washington State show once again the interconnectedness between family rights and LGBT rights, a topic I have covered before. Governor Christine Gregoire last weekend signed domestic-partner legislation that will allow same-sex couples to receive a variety of rights over inheritance, hospital visitation, and medical decisions. The Washington State Senate […]
Today is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, “designed to expand opportunities for girls and boys, expose them to what adults in their lives do during the work day, show them the value of their education, and give them an opportunity to share how they envision their future.” I find it telling, however,
My son and I went to his first Music Together class in our new area today. We’d done Music Together for over two years before we moved, and I knew it was a program I wanted to continue. Not only did we have a fabulous teacher back in New York, but I liked the pedagogy
If you’ve read any LGBT news sites today, you know we’ve moved one step closer to an important protection for LGBT Americans. Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA), Deborah Pryce (R-OH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Chris Shays (R-CT) introduced the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which makes it illegal to base hiring, firing, promotion, or pay decisions on someone’s
Every young child I know loves to smear things on walls, whether food, paint, or merely dirty hands. Channel that impulse with a three- or four-inch paint roller. It’s not for children who like to bludgeon with such objects, but for others, it can provide a surprising amount of amusement, indoors and out. “Paint the
While we’re on the subject of April observances, I’ll note that today is the traditional (though perhaps incorrect) celebration of Shakespeare’s birthday. In honor of the Bard, therefore, yet in keeping with the theme of this site, I give you two quotes. The first is from his gender-mix-up comedy Twelfth Night. Viola, disguised as a
April seems to have more than its fair share of awareness-raising observances. I’ve already written about National Poetry Month, the Day of Silence, Global Youth Service Day, and Earth Day. Coming up, we have: April 22-28: the Week of the Young Child, “an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young
Earth Day 2007 is tomorrow, so I thought I’d start a thread on things we do as parents to protect the environment and save energy. From carpooling to soccer practice to favoring toys with minimal packaging, how do you take care of our planet? How do you teach your children to do so? Where do
Preschoolers are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables when the produce comes from their own garden rather than a supermarket, concludes a study by researchers at Saint Louis University. More specifically, preschool children from rural southeast Missouri were more than twice as likely to eat the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables per
Originally published in Bay Windows, April 19, 2007. When I first read the title of Waiting for the Call: From Preacher’s Daughter to Lesbian Mom, I expected the tale of a woman rejecting her religious upbringing and denouncing her parents as she came out. Jacqueline Taylor’s memoir is thankfully not as simple as that. It
