My hometown team, the Boston Red Sox, is in the World Series. Earlier this week, New Jersey became the 14th state to enact marriage equality, with the possibility of several more to follow. All this got me thinking about parallels between the Red Sox and marriage equality.
There’s a recent AP news story going around about a “new twist” on baby making for two-mom couples. Thing is, it’s not so new — it’s the method my spouse and I used 11 years ago to start our family, with her carrying an embryo made from my egg and donor sperm. It seemed doubly appropriate to mention it again today because we started our family in New Jersey — and as of yesterday, same-sex couples in New Jersey can legally wed. We’re happy to be celebrating as former New Jerseyans.
As this year’s LGBT History Month gets into full swing, I find myself wondering, “Who was the world’s first known LGBT parent?” To the best of my knowledge, she was the Greek poet Sappho, whose island home of Lesbos gave us the term “lesbian.” Sappho seems to have had a daughter named “Cleis”—meaning we can trace LGBT parents back to about 600 BCE.
These two delightful videos will start your Friday right. Both show fathers who are awesome in different ways, and both have fun twists at the end.
Today is Spirit Day, a time to take a stand against bullying and show support for LGBT youth. Not all LGBT youth are bullied, of course, and not all victims of bullies are LGBT — but anti-LGBT harassment is still pervasive, even if things are slowly getting better. GLAAD, which is organizing the event, is urging
My spouse and I love to travel with our son, and we’re lucky that he’s adaptable and adventurous. While most of the problems we encounter along the way are things that could happen to any family — delayed flights, lack of convenient rest stops, forgotten teddy bears — we are also very aware that LGBT-headed families may have specific concerns when on the road. I’m therefore excited to invite you to a travel-focused Twitter party for LGBT parents on November 6, sponsored by Residence Inn by Marriott in partnership with Mombian, TravelingMom, and the Family Equality Council.
Lesbian moms have been a vital part of the LGBT rights movement since there was an LGBT rights movement. The documentary Mom’s Apple Pie: The Heart of the Lesbian Mothers’ Custody Movement gives us a look at several early custody cases involving lesbian moms—and shows how the activism they spawned has had a direct impact on LGBT people and organizations today.
Question: What 1952 — 1952! — book was about a married mother who leaves her husband for another woman, only to battle him in court for custody of their daughter? Read on for the answer, as well as more about the story coming to the big screen.
A treat for your weekend viewing: In honor of yesterday’s National Coming Out Day, Betty Crocker posted a wonderful video of LGBT families at the New York City and Twin Cities Pride events this year.
