Kris Perry is the titular plaintiff in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case challenging the constitutionality of Prop 8. She and her partner Sandy Stier have four boys. Perry told journalist Karen Ocamb recently: Sandy and I have both been active members of PTA and sit on education fundraising boards. We go to our kids’ athletic […]
The big Perry v. Schwarzenegger trial, aka the Prop 8 trial, begins today in California. My piece looking at some of the items the defense might use to justify Prop 8 is up at Keen News Service. If you want a refresher on what the case is all about, Lisa Keen’s latest article is a
Amanda Simpson started work as as Senior Technical Advisor in the Bureau of Industry and Security, becoming one of the first transgender people to receive a presidential appointment to an executive branch post. Dylan Orr, who began work in December as Special Assistant to Assistant Secretary of Labor Kathleen Martinez, was the first. California Assemblyman
The New Jersey Senate voted to deny marriage equality yesterday and the Perry v. Schwarzenegger Prop 8 case starts next week. Anti-equality rhetoric is ramping up in Iowa and New Hampshire as well. No matter the outcomes, there will be much in the news about the issues, including commentary from the anti-equality side. Those of
In our first vlog for the new year, Helen and I show off the new Wii Santa brought our son. (Clever Santa.) We discuss the communal nature of today’s video games, setting video game limits with kids, and violence in Legoland. Helen also talks about a wonderful and slightly gender-bending new children’s book about Emily
The long-running custody dispute between Janet Jenkins and her former partner Lisa Miller made headlines again this week. I’ve written an article about it for Keen News Service, trying not only to cover this week’s actions but also to put it in the context of related cases. Keen News Service is a news organization run
Personal Stories The Iowa Press-Citizen profiles Iowans Dawn and Jen BarbouRoske, who talk about their 19-year relationship, their new legal marriage, and their children. Both the women and their two children—at the children’s urging—were plaintiffs in the case that won marriage equality in the state. The article gives us our Quote of the Week: More
Melissa Hart is the author of Gringa: A Contradictory Girlhood (Seal, 2009), a memoir of growing up in the 1970’s separated from her mother, who lost custody of her children after she divorced their father and came out as a lesbian. (More about it in my 2009 Review of LGBTQ Family Books.) She also teaches
Children’s musicians Erin Lee and Marci bring us the next of their regular posts with thematic recommendations for kid-friendly music, plus activities to make the songs an interactive experience for the whole family. Look for Erin Lee and Marci here on the first Monday of each month, or visit their homepage, www.gottaplay.org. I’ve created links
“Ex-gay” mom Lisa Miller has failed to show up at her ex-partner Janet Jenkins’ parents’ home in Falls Church, Virginia, to transfer custody of their seven-year-old daughter Isabella as ordered by a Vermont court. The couple had a civil union in Vermont before having their daughter, and although the girl was born in Virginia, the
