This Sunday, May 5, marks the second annual International Family Equality Day, when LGBTQ family organizations from around the world will join forces to raise the visibility of our families. Over 40 cities around the world will be hosting events, including ones in the US, Europe, Canada, Japan, and Australia. Find out if there’s one near you!
The best parental advice I’ve heard this week is not LGBT specific, but still speaks directly to who I am as a lesbian mom, a self-proclaimed nerd, and the mother of one. An attendee at the recent Calgary Comic Expo asked actor, writer, and dad Wil Wheaton (of Star Trek:TNG fame) to give some advice to her infant daughter (to be recorded for later viewing) on “Why it’s awesome to be a nerd.” Wheaton’s response is empowering and inspiring, not only for nerds, but for any of us who have ever felt like our interests—and our loves—were outside the mainstream. Share this one with your kids.
(I mentioned my 20th anniversary here a few weeks ago. Here are my further thoughts on the milestone, from my Mombian newspaper column.)
My spouse Helen and I recently celebrated our 20th anniversary. Only about six of those years have been as legal spouses—but that just gives us a chance to celebrate both our real anniversary and our Massachusetts “Massaversary” several months from now. (Twice the cake is always a good thing, I say.) Hitting the 20-year milestone, however, has made me reflect on some of the things I’ve learned about marriage in that time, and some of the things I never expected when we started out.
Are you a woman raising a child/children in a same-sex relationship where one of you had the child(ren) in a previous opposite-sex relationship and the other is a stepparent? Katie Acosta, an assistant professor of sociology at Tulane University, wants you to take part in her new study of same-sex stepparents.
Joe is an 11-year-old boy who lives with his mom in Pennsylvania. He recently wrote a letter to his member of Congress, asking, “Please don’t let [my mom] get fired because she is gay.”
Two thoughtful pieces this week reflect on supporting our children’s gender expression, and both are worth a read.
The French National Assembly and a Rhode Island Senate committee each passed a marriage equality bill yesterday, making them likely to become law in both places. The Delaware House also passed one on to the Senate, and the Nevada Senate took the first step towards repealing its constitutional ban on marriage for same-sex couples. Good news. But for Ariana and Diana, two lesbian moms, only a repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and a reform of immigration law will allow them to keep their family together without the risk of deportation.
Save the date! Monday, June 3, will be the 8th Annual Blogging for LGBT Families Day, hosted right here at Mombian—but powered by your blogs! Anyone who wants to post in support of LGBT families is welcome. The event is a time for us to share stories and make connections both within and outside the LGBT community, rejoicing in both our similarities and our diversity. Details and banners after the jump. Please help spread the word!
The Boy Scouts of America have proposed a policy change that would allow gay Scouts in their ranks, but would continue to deny leadership positions to “open or avowed homosexuals.” This policy is both a step forward and a slap in the face.
I am writing, slowly and painfully, about the tragedy here in Boston this week. I want to give that proper thought, however, so in the meantime, please enjoy this second trailer for the upcoming Jennifer Lopez-produced series on ABC Family about a lesbian couple and their adopted, biological, and foster kids.
