Parent Hex: Harry Potter Redux

[I published a version of this two years ago when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows first came out. I thought it was worth revisiting now that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is in theaters. (No, I haven’t seen it yet. Hope to soon.) Warning: Serious geekiness ahead.] The below list of charms and […]

TV Alert: Trans Parent on “Primetime: Family Secrets”

Tune in to ABC’s Primetime: Family Secrets at 10 p.m. ET tonight for the story of Chloe and Rene Prince and their two sons, ages six and seven. Chloe, formerly Ted, underwent gender reassignment surgery last year, and the show explores how her transition has impacted her and her family. Six-year-old Barry explains, “She had

Heather’s Mommy Has Two New Books

“Writing has always been my political activism,” said Lesléa Newman, author of Heather Has Two Mommies, the classic 1989 children’s book that was one of the first to feature a child with two moms. Her two new books, however, are sweet, simple tales of family life, without any overt politics or agenda. Mommy, Mama, and

Tour the Moon, No Rocket Required

Here’s a fun one for the kids (and grown-ups, too), in honor of the 40th anniversary of the moon landing: Google has launched an upgrade to its Google Earth software with information and activities about the lunar landings. According to Google, you can now: Take tours of landing sites, narrated by Apollo astronauts View 3D

Lesbian Moms vs. Gay Donor: A Cautionary Tale

Two lesbian moms who had a child in Florida are in the midst of a custody battle with their known sperm donor. The donor, Ray Janssen, and his partner Craig were involved with the child’s life until the moms, Katherine Alicea and Ana Sobrino, moved to California. Janssen then sued them for custody. A Miami-Dade

Weekly Political Roundup

The U.S. Senate unanimously adopted the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as an amendment to the Department of Defense authorization bill. This means its fate is tied to whether the president will veto the bill because it also includes funding for F-22 fighter jets, which he opposes. The NAACP announced a partnership with National

“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 75

Helen and I discuss the lesbian moms who appeared on Showtime’s Nurse Jackie this week, and tell you why we thought the portrayals by Blythe Danner and Swoosie Kurtz broke new ground. We also share highlights from our recent trip to Washington, D.C., and offer some tips for traveling with kids so the whole family

Bruno: the Herald of the Gayby Boom?

Johann Hari at HuffPo reports that—shock—we’re in the middle of a gayby boom, and Bruno is spreading the word. He writes, “This quiet trend has finally poked its way to public attention with the sight of Bruno – the crazed Austrian fashionista played by Sasha Baron Cohen – sitting with a little African baby on

LGBT Parenting Roundup

Politics and Law First, a great ruling from the Oregon Court of Appeals via the vigilant Nancy Polikoff: “If the biological mom’s partner consents to the insemination [of her partner], she is also the parent of the resulting child.” The ruling states, in part: “There appears to be no reason for permitting heterosexual couples to

No Aversion to Conversion

My spouse Helen, whom I’ve lured into blogging, has just posted about the opportunity for lesbian and gay stay-at-home parents to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth. Because Uncle Sam still doesn’t recognize a partner’s income when we file our federal taxes, most of us lesbian SAHM’s (and gay SAHD’s) end up in a

Scroll to Top