LGBTQ Parenting Roundup
It’s time for another roundup! Here’s what’s happening that I haven’t yet covered during this shortest of months.
Advocating
New Jersey’s Paid Family Leave Law Now Includes Chosen Families
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) yesterday signed a bill expanding the state’s paid family leave law in a number of ways—notably, by expanding the definition of “family” under the law to include chosen families and by expanding the definition of “parent” to include foster parents and those who become parents via gestational surrogacy.
France to Use “Parent 1” and “Parent 2” on All School Forms
France’s National Assembly has passed legislation that will require schools to use “Parent 1” and “Parent 2” on all school forms, instead of “Mother” and “Father,” in order to recognize the variety of families today.
In Memoriam: Sharon Mattes (Bottoms), Who Fought for Custody of Her Child
Sharon Mattes, known as Sharon Bottoms when she fought to overcome anti-LGBTQ bias in a legal battle for custody of her son in the 1990s—a headline case for queer parents—has died at age 48.
Trump Doubles Down on Discrimination that Will Keep Children from Finding Homes
President Trump last week told attendees at the National Prayer Breakfast that adoption agencies can discriminate against LGBTQ people or others and still be able to get federal funding. A plan to make that happen is already in motion—but there’s action you can take against it.
Transgender Servicemember and Parent to Be Pelosi’s Guest at State of the Union
Army Captain Jennifer Peace will be a guest of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) at tonight’s State of the Union address. Capt. Peace, an active-duty officer who was profiled in the documentary Transmilitary, is also the parent of three children whom she is raising with her spouse Deborah. Â
LGBTQ Parenting Roundup: Polar Vortex Edition
Here’s the latest news to warm your heart or boil your blood—either way, it will keep you toasty in the polar vortex!
HHS Tells South Carolina It’s Okay to Discriminate in Foster Care and Adoption
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services yesterday granted South Carolina a waiver so that federally funded adoption and foster care agencies in the state may discriminate based on a person’s religion, LGBTQ identity, or other factors that do not harmonize with the religious beliefs that the agency espouses.
Transgender Military Ban Will Harm Families and Children
“She was the breadwinner of the family,” says Deborah Peace of her spouse, Army Captain Jennifer Peace, in the documentary Transmilitary. Service members like Capt. Peace will find it harder to provide for their families, however, if President Trump’s ban on transgender service members goes into effect. With the U.S. Supreme Court today refusing to delay the ban as it works its way through the courts, these parents and their three children—and many others like them—are at risk.
LGBTQ Parenting Roundup
Lots of moving family stories in this roundup, including a family living full time in their RV; a couple who induced lactation so they could both nurse; a trans dad and his spouse who started their family with two known donors, also spouses; stories of infertility and miscarriage, and more–including penguins!