Most of us LGBT parents will agree, I think, that we need more LGBT-inclusive children’s books — and more inclusive books across various dimensions of diversity. That’s why I’m so excited that a wonderful group of writers and publishers has created the “We Need Diverse Books” campaign to “to raise our voices into a roar that can’t be ignored.” All they need now is people’s participation.
I have a new post up at HuffPo that I hope you’ll pop over and read (and please “Like” it over there if you enjoy it): “In the Sandbox.” It’s a revised version of an old piece from when my son was younger, describing the first time another child asked him, “Where’s your dad?”
Two relatively new picture books—one about families with two moms and one about those with two dads—are delightful additions to the growing number of LGBT-inclusive children’s books. They are particularly notable because they speak not only to children with same-sex parents, but also to children whose friends have same-sex parents.
Since we’re talking more than usual about books this week (it being Banned Books Week), I wanted to expand the conversation beyond just LGBT-inclusive children’s books, and point out some very good posts about racial and ethnic diversity in children’s books—specifically related to the covers of such books. It’s easy to quote the proverbial lesson about books and covers, but the reality is a bit more complex.
Authors Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith wrote in a post at Publishers Weekly this week that a literary agent told them to make a gay character in their young adult novel straight if they wanted the agent to represent them. It’s unfortunately not an isolated occurence. If you’re wondering why, author Patricia Nell Warren
(Originally published as my Mombian newspaper column, October 25, 2010.) Gay dads Mitchell and Cameron of ABC’s Modern Family were looking for a preschool for their daughter Lily in the October 20 episode of the hit series. Mitchell was worried that a failure to get into the “right” preschool would have a negative impact on
Many of you followed last spring’s story about the uproar by some conservatives when the Alameda, California school board decided to adopt an LGBT-inclusive safe-schools curriculum. Now comes a new ruling stating that because the diversity curriculum doesn’t constitute health education, parents cannot opt their children out of it. Finally, a glimmer of understanding that
(Originally published in Bay Windows, August 6, 2009.) It is August now, and for many parents, that means the all-too-swift descent towards back-to-school time. It seems apt, then, to take another look at the ongoing issue of including discussion of LGBT families in classrooms. Many ultra-conservatives warn that our schools are being invaded by nefarious
(Originally published, with slight variation, as my Mombian newspaper column.) “I felt that teenagers in particular were really affected by anti-gay prejudice,” said Academy Award-winning filmmaker Debra Chasnoff, “but so much of the conversation that’s been had to date about that prejudice has been solely focused on how homophobia affects youth who are self-identified as
The award-winning film about teaching LGBT inclusion in schools, It’s STILL Elementary, is having its national television premiere this Saturday, March 7, on LOGO at 8 p.m. EST. I interviewed Academy Award-winning director Debra Chasnoff in 2007 about the film. She also spoke about her film That’s a Family, which caused a brouhaha in Evesham,
