In my post yesterday about the new Amtrak ads, I mentioned that it was good to see same-sex parents of color in the media. In discussing the ads with a friend and educator who is Black and a lesbian, however, I came to realize my White perspective was only giving me part of the story.
Amtrak has just launched a lovely new advertising campaign featuring lesbian moms and gay dads. The company has marketed to the LGBT community for several years, but chugs into new territory with its latest two ads that focus on same-sex parents.
Please welcome to the blogosphere Charlotte and Betsy, who recently launched one of the best-titled blogs I’ve seen in a while: Turkey Baster and Bottle of Wine. Their subtitle clarifies: “On being a queer, non-gestational parent.”
(The following is a guest post from Meg, who works on the Children’s TYLENOL® brand team at McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Division of McNEIL-PPC, Inc. In this post, she writes about her thoughts on the brand’s support of LGBT families and what it means to her as a lesbian.)
My wife and I just bought our first home together, nestled in Cherry Hill, NJ. It’s been a lengthy process moving in, with its ups and downs, a ton of boxes, and weeks of unpacking, but every moment has been worth it. For both of us, it is such a monumental point in our lives. And now we’ve reached the stage in our journey where we’re considering starting a family.
(The following is a guest post from Brent Wright, father of two and Director of Programs at Family Equality Council, a nonprofit organization that connects, supports, and represents the one million parents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender in this country and the two million children they are raising.)
I truly believe that we are all the sum part of all our childhood experiences. Every backyard BBQ and schoolyard tussle—every campout under the stars and timeout in the principal’s office—every childhood friendship and teenaged broken heart.
Tomorrow, July 28, marks the start of Family Week, the annual event in Provincetown, Mass. hosted by the Family Equality Council for LGBT families and our children. I won’t be there in person this year, alas, but in honor of the event, I’ll be bringing you two special guest posts next week.
Maya Wiener Berkowitz and her brother grew up in Minnesota with their two moms. Now, she is speaking out against a ballot measure in Minnesota that would make marriage for same-sex couples like her moms unconstitutional.
Lesbian moms Charlie and Karen Morgan talk in this video about the impact of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on their family. Charlie is a Chief Warrant Officer 2 in the New Hampshire National Guard and has terminal breast cancer. The couple are among the plantiffs in a case challenging DOMA.
My son loves his stuffed bear in a way that makes me hope that when he’s older, he marries someone he loves just as much. (The bear, I suspect, may be his best man.) I was therefore touched by a heart-warming story in early June about a Boston transit worker who stopped a train in order to rescue a little girl’s stuffed bunny that had fallen onto the tracks. I saw the story on several mainstream news channels, including the NBC Nightly News—but I somehow didn’t make the connection that the family involved was that of lesbian moms Casey and Michelle and their daughter Roozle, whose adventures Casey chronicles at Life with Roozle.
Thanks to the leadership of the Family Equality Council, federal employees may now extend medical coverage to children who are legally those of their same-sex domestic partner. Domestic partnership requires a simple declaration; it is not necessary to live where there is a formal DP registry or other formal relationship recognition.
