Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has told the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to investigate parents of transgender children who give them access to doctor-prescribed, gender-affirming medical care—which he calls “child abuse.” This abhorrent act ignores legitimate science on the matter and will in fact endanger children’s lives and well-being.
A new ad, “My Heroes,” shows the negative effect that Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill could have on children with same-sex parents.
Many journalists, including myself, have recently reported on the increasing number of attempts to ban children’s and young adult books with LGBTQ characters or ones with other marginalized identities. In this column, however, I want to focus not on the bans themselves, but on the ways people have mobilized to stop them—and to ensure that students continue having access to books that reflect their identities and experiences and those of our diverse world.
A Florida Senate committee passed a bill this week that would quash discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in classrooms and could out LGBTQ students to parents. President Biden quickly condemned it and expressed his support for LGBTQI+ youth. Here’s what’s happening, and how you can help fight this bill, too.
A coalition of libraries, community groups, and children’s book creators in Rhode Island have responded to the spate of book bans around the country by creating a festival celebrating diverse children’s books and featuring two Newbery Honor authors. It will give local families a way to engage with diverse books, but also offers a model for other communities.
It’s time for another roundup of LGBTQ parenting news I haven’t covered elsewhere, with stories on family creation, politics, censorship—and penguins!
A Mississippi Friends of the Library group has launched a crowdfunding campaign after their town’s mayor said he is withholding $110,000 in library funds unless LGBTQ books are removed from the shelves.
As always, I have my eye on the queer parent athletes at the Olympics! Come meet them and see photos of their families! One met her future spouse when they were both 10 years old; the other is fighting for marriage equality in her home country.
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.
Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is deeply ironic, then, that news broke this week of a Tennessee school board removing a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust from its curriculum—one of many recent attempts across the U.S. to ban or restrict books about marginalized groups.
