The media has been full of stories about bullying and its damaging effects—but most stories have centered around middle-school and high-school students. Less has been said of bullying in elementary schools. A new study from the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), however, shows that such bullying does exist—including bullying and teasing based on homophobia and gender-nonconformity. Those […]
New results from the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS), the longest-running and largest study of American lesbian families, show that the quality of life—a measure of positive psychological adjustment—of 17-year-olds raised by lesbian moms did not differ from those who grew up with heterosexual parents. The study took 78 17-year-olds from the NLLFS—all of whom have lesbian
My last name is the same as that of the famous reindeer. I also have red hair—which meant I was the target of quite a number of “Rudolph the Red-Haired Person” jabs when I was a kid. It wasn’t bullying, but it was annoying, until I learned to embrace the difference and just lord it
Here’s today’s must-read article: Melissa Bollow Tempel, a first-grade teacher in Jackson, Wisconsin, has written at Together For Jackson County Kids about how she approaches issues of gender stereotypes, gender variance, and gender-based bullying. It’s full of insight and actionable ideas. Good stuff, and worth sharing. (For more on the topic, you might also want to
(I broke this story a few weeks ago in my Mombian newspaper column, reprinted below. It’s about a lesbian teen making a difference—and underscores for me how much things have changed since I was a teen. Despite the horror stories we still hear about bullying, suicide, and other ills, there are more gay-straight alliance clubs,
A U.S. House panel ordered the House general counsel to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court, even though President Obama recently said his administration would no longer defend it. Members of the U.S. Congress introduced a passel of bills this week designed to protect students from bullying, and including explicit protections on
Here’s another must-read for your coffee break as you’re getting back to work after the holiday: Sarah Hoffman’s excellent piece for Salon, “My son, the pink boy,” in which she argues that her son is not “confused,” but Dr. Phil is. She concludes: As social acceptance of gay people grows, it’s time to look critically
Some of you may remember the great post last November by “Cop’s Wife,” the mom who blogs at Nerdy Apple Bottom. She wrote about her five-year-old son, who wanted to be Daphne from Scooby Doo for Halloween, and the intolerant comments from other moms at the son’s preschool. The son’s church preschool. Now, it turns
Maybe it’s the fact that my last name is the same as the famous reindeer, but I couldn’t help writing a little piece over at Change.org on what Rudolph might say as part of the It Gets Better campaign in support of LGBT youth. Hope you’ll go have a read. And who here also thinks
Ladies’ Home Journal, the venerable women’s magazine that launched back in 1883 and has helped define the genre, has published a major article this month on anti-gay bullying, “Gay Teens Bullied to the Point of Suicide.” The sub-header hints at the broad range of political and religious beliefs held by LHJ readers: “It’s a shocking trend.
