Selves and Identities

Coming Out As an LGBT Parent

It’s National Coming Out Day once again, so I hope you’re having a happy day no matter where you are in your coming out journey. Here’s an updated version of a piece that sums up a lot of my thoughts on coming out as an LGBT parent. It has become something of a truism in

A Bit of Lesbian Mom History

I posted this newspaper column of mine last year, but I think it bears repeating as part of LGBT History Month. Enjoy this look back at how lesbian moms have been a central part of the LGBT rights movement since the beginning—while simultaneously waging some intensely personal battles to maintain contact with their children.

Steve Jobs, Pancreatic Cancer, and Adoption

Like Steve Jobs, my father passed away recently because of complications after pancreatic cancer. If you want to learn more about this disease, I recommend checking out the Lustgarten Foundation, which is dedicated to its treatment, cure, and prevention. I’m also going to jump on the bandwagon and share the Steve Jobs video that is

Role Models and Manly Things

I was recently asked by a mainstream journalist: “Are you worried about providing male role models for your son?”

I answered, as I always do to the question, “No.” It’s not that I don’t want him to have male role models; it’s just that I’m not worried about it. I think that very often, when the media asks that question, they are ignoring the realities not only of same-sex and single parents’ lives, but also of children’s lives in general.

Conference Offers Lifeline for Gender Variant Children, Families

(Originally published as my Mombian newspaper column.) The two eight-year-old girls said that meeting each other was like a dream come true. They both had similar interests—gymnastics, dance, singing, and songwriting—and similar styles in hair and clothing. Not only that, but for each of them, it was the first time they had met another child

A Parent By Any Other Name

I’ve been delighted and fascinated by your great responses to yesterday’s unscientific survey on what our kids call us—so much so, that I’m going to encourage readers again to participate, if you haven’t already. (Please click the link to submit your answers to the spreadsheet; don’t just leave a comment.) So far, we’ve got lots

What Do Your Kids Call You? An Unscientific Survey

One of the first questions that crosses prospective LGBT parents’ minds is “What will our kids call us?” And many of us also search for what to call donors, surrogates, birth parents and other similar figures in our children’s lives. So here’s a small way to share some of that information—just fill out the anonymous form below.

Coming Soon: Conference for Gender Non-Conforming Children, Youth, and Their Families

Gender Spectrum, an organization that provides “education, training and support to help create a gender sensitive and inclusive environment for all children and teens,” is hosting their annual Gender Spectrum Family Conference at the end of the month. I’ve never been, myself, but I’ve heard good things about it. (Please leave a comment if you’ve attended,

Butches and Babies: Tumblr Love

There’s nothing I want to share with you more today than Butches & Babies, a delightful new Tumblr microblog site by Meaghan O’Malley. (Thanks to lesbian wonderland Autostraddle for the tip.) Meaghan brings together butch, “in all of its iterations,” and babies (“human”), saying that she’s “fascinated by the juxtaposition of a baby nestled in a butch’s

Proud Parents

I keep seeing bumper stickers around town with slogans like, “Proud Parent of a Middle School Honor Student,” and “Proud Parent of a Soldier.” They remind me, in this season of LGBT Pride, of how often “pride” is associated with both LGBT identity and parenting. We LGBT parents have a lot of which we can be proud, in a lot of different ways.

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