It’s like our pal Reluctant Daddy Tod Abrams says, “Each and every one of us should have the right to be as miserably unhappy as our parents.” Read more...
President Obama, by stating that he supports my family’s right to equality, has given me hope that my son may grow up in a country where he is not disadvantaged because of anti-gay laws and attitudes. We’re still a long way from that–no laws have changed since he spoke–but I am optimistic that the President has set an example for others to follow. I am also delighted that he mentioned the positive influence of his daughters, who have friends with same-sex parents, and who accept them and their families as inherently equal. I believe many young people feel as they do, and that bodes well for the future.
Being rendered legally insignificant makes losing a loved one impossibly hard
This video shows the story of Shane Bitney Crone and Tom Bridegroom, a young California couple who started a business together, shared a mortgage and enjoyed a loving relationship. Despite these solid foundations, this tale takes a heart-wrenching turn for the worst.
Shane’s family was happy for him, but Tom’s wasn’t; when he told them about Shane, his father threatened him with a gun and his mother wanted to get him medical attention. In spite of his family’s lack of support, Tom gave Shane a promise ring. Then, something entirely unexpected happened. Read more...
Meri Perra blogs about the challenges she and her partner face in trying to raise their girls with feminist values
I went to journalism school with a sports writer who landed a part-time job at a parenting magazine right after graduation. She got the job after she completed an internship we both applied for. (She got the internship, I went elsewhere.)
She’s a smart, career-focused, young woman, who is not a parent. The type who’d probably never picked up a parenting magazine, except to prepare for the interview that ultimately landed her the job (I mean, why would she read a parenting magazine?) Meanwhile, I’d spent a year of mat leave reading them.
Jobs are so weird.
Now I’m writing NHL score re-caps, taking on some extra work for a client. Those who know me, understand this is much more ironic than the above-mentioned non-mom landing the parenting magazine gig over me. As in, this is way, way ironic. As in, Alanis had nothing on this. As in, it’s i-ron-ic. Read more...
Meri Perra blogs about the challenges she and her partner face in trying to raise their girls with feminist values
It could be my twisted sense of humour, but sometimes the news is just, funny. Here is my round-up of queerly-themed parenting stories that I found both newsworthy and laugh-worthy this week.
1. Turns out, same sex marriages aren’t a threat to the whole institution after all
According to a website run by journalism graduate students at Northwestern University’s Medill school, gay marriages don’t ruin straight ones. Hear this out. It’s almost as though we help straight marriages. States that allow same sex marriages have the lowest divorce rates in the U.S, and same-sex couples divorce at slightly lower rates than straight folks. Read more...
2. What do you get when you cross a Maggie Gallagher with Veruca Salt? A 14-year-old Maryland girl who asked her state legislators to vote “no” on gay marriage for her birthday . She argued it’s a choice and kids of queer parents are missing out and how dare some people challenge the definition of the word “marriage” and blah blah blah. We’re going to go out on a limb and say when this girl turns 18, she’ll meet more people, do a 180 and learn some compassion. Read more...
Judges’ panel find that Proposition 8 was a violation of the civil rights of gays and lesbians
Today an appeals court ruled 2-1 that a previous judge’s interpretation of Proposition 8, a ban on same-sex marriages, as unconstitutional, was correct. According to the Associated Press, backers of the same-sex marriage ban, the haters, will likely appeal this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Although the Constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable, it requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people differently. There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been enacted,” the ruling states.
So, the good guys haven’t won the battle just yet. No same-sex marriages can take place in California until the haters miss their deadline to appeal. Fingers crossed that they just get some sense and let it go. But that’s not terribly likely. Say the haters, Read more...
5. The video of Zach Wahls speaking about his two moms and marriage equality rights went viral in February, and seemed to have a second go-around this past Wednesday and Thursday. Turns out, his resurgence in popularity was due to a Q-and-A session on Reddit. It’s definitely worth watching again. Also, we love that his forthcoming book is tentatively titled My Two Moms: Everything I Needed to Know About Gay Marriage I learned in Boy Scouts. Read more...
2. Is your family comfortable using traditional and/or proper words for anything related to bathroom functions? Too many euphemisms could make things difficult in the future…
3. Have a baby and want to make friends with people who are not in the baby-having world? Check out this advice.
5. In a new Tide spot, a prim and proper pink cardigan-wearing mother laments the fact that Tide was in fact able to get rid of the stains on her tomboy daughter’s daughter clothes. Le sigh. Read more...
