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.
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.
Audre Lorde, self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,” would have turned 80 this week had cancer not taken her in 1992. Here’s what she said about family in 1975.
It’s a myth that LGBTQ parents will necessarily have LGBTQ kids. Some will, however, simply because some percentage of parents, LGBTQ and not, always will. At COLAGE’s KidSafe blog, Sonya, who identifies as queer and has lesbian moms, writes about being a “second-gen” LGBTQ person — but also about how she and her moms have “Two Separate Identities.”
Facebook took a positive step forward today by offering users the ability to indicate a gender option other than just female or male. Now one can choose transgender, trans woman, trans man, trans person, intersex, genderqueer, gender fluid, and many other variations — about 50 in all. But the range of choices to indicate family members who are also on Facebook remains traditionally gendered.
This post is all about our kids. First and most practically, COLAGE, the national organization for people with LGBTQ parents, has launched the KidSafe blog, an online safe space “to document the struggles, rewards and experiences that come along with having one or more LGBTQ parent.” Read on to learn more, along with a few additional recent tidbits about those with LGBTQ parents.
For Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, it seemed appropriate to mention two recent Internet postings that highlight issues of race and parenting.
Identity is a funny thing. Sometimes we think we will be known a certain identity, only to find out that is not the case, as a recent encounter with a neighbor reminded me.
If you read just one piece today, make it “Coming Out as a Modern Family,” by actor and activist Maria Bello (ER, Coyote Ugly, The Jane Austen Book Club, Prisoners, and the unfortunately short-lived U.S. version of Prime Suspect, among others). Bello writes in the New York Times about her relationship with another woman, coming out to her son, and why she refuses to put a label on her love.
Today marks the 15th International Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. My thoughts today are with all of the transgender community, their parents, children, and friends.
