The week is chock full of news: Former U. S. President Gerald Ford died this week. Both Pam at Pandagon and Planet Out document Ford’s support for lesbian and gay rights, including marriage equality. As expected, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin vetoed a bill that would have prevented the state from giving benefits to the partners […]
William Saletan of Slate, in his article Lesbians of Mass Destruction, uses Mary Cheney as a jumping-off point to argue the suitability of same-sex parents. (This will be, I suspect, Mary’s ongoing role, intentional or not, in the same-sex parenting debate.) Saletan nails some points like: If the direct evidence [against same-sex parents] doesn’t bear
As a writer, I think a lot about language, doubly so because I am also a lesbian mom at a time of raging debate over the terms used to define my family and our rights. Rather than do a traditional recap of news from 2006 to wrap up the year, therefore, I want to share
Two items of news today caught my eye: Pope Benedict XVI referred to arguments for recognition of same-sex relationships as “dismal theories.” The New York Blade recapped a UCLA study (cited in my Weekly Political Roundup last week) claiming “New Jersey florists, caterers, hotels and other businesses would bring in more than $100 million in
No pre-Christmas slowdown in LGBT news: Alaska governor Sarah Palin will comply with a state Supreme Court order to offer health and retiree benefits to same-sex partners of state employees. At the same time, “she supports denying those benefits through a constitutional amendment, if that’s what the public wants,” and signed a bill calling for
The U. S. Department of Labor (DOL) has published a “request for information from the public” on the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). It “invites interested parties having knowledge of, or experience with, the FMLA to submit comments and welcomes any pertinent information that will provide a basis for ascertaining the effectiveness of the
A reminder that I will be hosting the January Carnival of Bent Attractions here at Mombian. This blog carnival is published monthly and is made up of submitted posts on topics of interest to the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, trans and queer communities—not just LGBTQ parenting topics, though those are welcome. If you are interested in
Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) blocked the nomination of President Bush’s nominee Janet Neff to the federal courts. Brownback, who chaired her hearing, said he would only permit a vote if Neff agreed not to hear cases involving same-sex marriage, claiming that her attendance at the commitment ceremony of a neighbor and friend of 26 years
I was filling out a registration form for an online parenting community the other day. One of the questions was “Marital status?” Being an accepting sort of site, they gave the choices “Married, Partnered, Single.” My cursor went automatically to “Partnered,” since that’s what I had called myself for thirteen-plus years. “Wait,” I thought. “I’m
It’s easy for us as LGBT parents to focus all our political energies on LGBT-specific issues. I’m often guilty of it myself, especially as parenthood has reduced my available bandwidth for anything not related to teddy bears or Thomas the Tank Engine. I just received an invitation, however, from Families USA, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization
