A Short History of LGBTQ Parenting
It’s LGBTQ History Month, so here’s a revised and expanded version of a piece I wrote last year on the history of LGBTQ parenting in the U.S.
lgbtq history month
“He’ll Always Be Dad”: Recalling Billy Tipton
Let’s continue our LGBTQ History Month exploration of LGBTQ parents in history with a look at jazz musician and bandleader Billy Tipton, who was also transgender and dad to three sons.
A Look at LGBTQ Parenting History
I’ve written a lot about the history of LGBTQ parents to help show that we’re not really a newfangled and untested phenomenon, despite opinions to the contrary. We have a past to be proud of and the shoulders of role models to stand on. Here’s a recap for LGBTQ History Month.
LGBTQ Families, Past, Present, and Future
I love LGBTQ History Month almost more than I love Pride Month. Going to grad school in history will do that. Keeping in mind the truism “History is written by the victors” and philosopher George Santayana’s observation, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” I find there’s something about looking at our queer past that feels empowering and vital.
Milestones in LGBTQ Parenting History
October is LGBT History Month, and I want to celebrate with a look at some of the historical milestones—of laws, visibility, and community—related to LGBT parents in the U.S.
Watch Now: “If She Grows Up Gay” — 1983 Short Film About a Lesbian Mom
I love this short film about a blue-collar, African American, lesbian mom in the early 80s — a lovely portrait of a life at a time when lesbian lives, much less those of lesbians of color and lesbian moms, were little known.
The World’s First LGBT Parent
As this year’s LGBT History Month gets into full swing, I find myself wondering, “Who was the world’s first known LGBT parent?” To the best of my knowledge, she was the Greek poet Sappho, whose island home of Lesbos gave us the term “lesbian.” Sappho seems to have had a daughter named “Cleis”—meaning we can trace LGBT parents back to about 600 BCE.
LGBT History Month Parenting Trivia Answer
And the answer to yesterday’s LGBT History Month parenting trivia question is:
LGBT History Month Trivia: Name that Famous LGBT Parent
What better way to celebrate LGBT History Month than with a trivia question about a historical LGBT parent? Can you name this famous LGBT parent, described by his son as below (after the jump)?
Lesbian and Gay History for Teens
(This is a slightly revised version of a piece I wrote for my Mombian newspaper column several years ago, but which seemed worth reposting in honor of LGBT History Month.)
Gay AmericaLGBT History Month is the perfect time to write about Linas Alsenas’ Gay America: Struggle for Equality (Amulet: 2008), a history of gay men and lesbians in the U.S. from the mid-nineteenth century through 2005. It fills a much needed gap, not because of the subject (there are a small but a growing number of LGBT-specific histories), but because of its audience: teens.