After a long effort by LGBTQ parents, prospective parents, and other advocates, the State of New York will finally legalize gestational surrogacy—and simplify and strengthen the laws around recognizing nonbiological parents and single parents in all families formed through reproductive technologies.
A recent episode of Disney Junior’s animated series T.O.T.S.—a sweet show about friends and families—included a two-mom couple.
Isolating from a pandemic isn’t how I wanted my spouse Helen and me to spend our 27th anniversary. We usually go out to dinner and enjoy having someone else do the dishes. This year, we’re stuck at home, properly distancing ourselves from the rest of the world. Still, our weathering the pandemic together says more about our relationship than a fancy meal.
Prolific and honored children’s book author and illustrator Tomie dePaola died today at age 85 after complications following a fall. Among his many works, DePaola, who was gay, wrote one of the earliest picture books to feature a boy who could be read as queer and “didn’t like to do things that boys are supposed to do.” The book was based on his own childhood experiences.
Ellen DeGeneres and Harvey Milk are the subjects of two new board books offering the youngest children simple biographies of LGBTQ heroes. But are they really simple enough for the board-book age range?
Nina Willbach and her wife, a Philadelphia couple, have been trying to get pregnant since last June via assisted insemination. On March 13th, they were told that their most recent attempt didn’t work—and they couldn’t try again because COVID-19 had put a stop to “elective procedures” in Pennsylvania. “I know a lot of folks are going through much worse right now, but it feels like a big blow when every month counts and we’ve had this many no’s,” Willbach told me in an online message. They’re not the only ones to have family-making plans halted during the pandemic.
An updated and expanded edition of a Stonewall Honor-winning book for middle-graders on Pride and the LGBTQ-rights movement is just the thing for anyone wanting to bring some queerness into their COVID-19 homeschooling—but it’s also bound to be a much-read volume for years to come.
NASA Astronaut Anne McClain has spent 204 days in orbit, sharing tight quarters with other astronauts. In a recent post, she shared some tips for living in confined spaces—good advice right now as so many of us are holed up at home because of COVID-19.
Snap’s town has a witch. “She fed her eye to the devil. She eats roadkill and casts spells with the bones,” or so the rumor goes. But when Snap is forced to seek her help, she discovers there’s more to the witch, Jacks, than first appears, in a new queer-inclusive middle-grade graphic novel from one of the creators of the lauded Lumberjanes comics.
It’s Census time here in the U.S. and we’ll all be getting Census mailings over the next few weeks. While the questions have expanded since 2010 to be more inclusive of same-sex couples, though, they still don’t fully reflect LGBTQ identities or families. I’m forcing myself to complete it to the best of my ability, however. Here’s why you should do the same.
