The Alabama legislature passed bills yesterday making it a felony to provide gender-affirming care to trans youth, banning trans children in K-12 schools from using bathrooms aligned with their gender identities, and banning discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in K-12 classrooms.
Ah, spring! Time of flowers, birdsong, and, for many of us parents and our children, college visits. My own son went through the college admissions process a couple of years ago. While I am in no way an expert on the topic, I thought I’d share a few things we found helpful.
Politicians in Florida are scrambling as a typo in the state’s new “Don’t Say Gay” law is sending the economy into chaos. Mistakenly written as “Don’t Say Pay,” the law now means that all money and payment systems in the state are illegal.
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) has issued guidance stating that it is illegal to deny minors gender affirming care when “medically appropriate and necessary,” and directing the HHS Office for Civil Rights to investigate violations of the applicable laws.
Many, many LGBTQ-inclusive kids’ books are at heart about love, but some foreground it more than others. Romantic love, familial love, and loving friendships—here are some of my favorite tales, for Valentine’s Day or any time of year!
The end of January is here, which to me means a last day for New Year’s resolutions. The middle of a global pandemic is perhaps not the best time to commit to any big life changes (though if you can pull them off, more power to you), so here are a few small, suggested resolutions for us LGBTQ parents as we start the new year. I hope that one or more of them speak to you.
I’ve been writing a lot about kids’ books—so for a change, here are some of the best recent parenting guides, memoirs, and social science studies for and about us LGBTQ parents.
Once again, let’s give Dr. King the floor today:
A thoughtful and practical new guide is intended to help all parents understand gender identity and expression, have healthy conversations with their children about gender, and create an affirming environment, whether their children are transgender, cisgender, nonbinary, gender expansive, or questioning.
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! Posting will be light here for a bit while I make merry with my multi-faith family (though next week I will post the second part of my year-end interview with leading LGBTQ family advocates, in which they share what they see ahead for 2022). I’ll also keep up the fun on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Please join me!
