Tuesday Break

Taking a queer parenting info vacation!

Bringing Home Baby

Always love finding lesbian parents represented in mainstream places! Today I was pleasantly surprised to find another lesbian couple on one of those TLC baby shows. Vanessa, Angie, 4 year-old son and new baby boy are featured on today’s 3:30 episode of Bringing Home Baby titled, Chef’s Second.

Pen Pals

COLAGE does lots of great things and I am happy this is one of them! Their Pen Pal program provides a safe forum for kids to connect with other kids whose parents are LGBTQ. Based on a basic questionnaire, COLAGE screens all applicants and matches potential pen pals to someone with similar interests, age and experiences. Pen pals can write to one another via email or the old fashioned way, with a pen and paper.

You can apply here.

Mind the Gap

Here are a few headlines from this week that I didn’t bring you, but luckily lots of other people did!

1) What do you do about a Homophobic Teacher?(Family Equality Council)

2) The Return of the Penguin (Mombian)

3) Adoption Rights for Lesbian and Gay Couples in Tennessee (Proud Parenting)

4) $65M for Gay Rights, HIV/AIDS Groups (CNN)

5) Foster Bid Refused Over 'Beliefs' (BBC)

6) Senate OKs Bill Aiding Non-Parents [non-bio parents too] Seeking Visitation (Desert News)

Involved, Invisible, Ignored

Yesterday, GLSEN released the first comprehensive report on the experiences of LGBTQ families in education. Their findings are not encouraging. Despite LGBTQ parents, on average, being more active in schools and in more regular communication with school administors and teachers than hetero counterparts, kids are still being given a hard time. Not surprisingly in schools where anti-harassment and bullying initiatives are in place both parents and children reported more positive experiences.

A few statistics:
Nearly a quarter of students feel unsafe around other students due to others’ negative attitudes toward people with LGBT parents.

42 percent of students said they have been verbally harassed at school in the past year because their parents are LGBT.

Nearly a quarter of students said that a teacher, principal or other school staff person had discouraged them from talking about their family at school.

Unacceptable.

Read the report here.

NY Divorce Precedent

It is a good week to be a gay divorcee in NY.

In the first ruling of its kind, a judge will allow a couple married in Canada to file for divorce and settle a custody dispute in the state; a step in the right direction for New York.

What is really more interesting then the exciting new divorce rights we just attained, is the custody dispute that is going along with the divorce. I feel a little soap opera-y writing all the details out, but here it goes.

Donna, is the bio parent of both of the couples kids. Beth, didn’t adopt either of their daughters. Beth filed a motion to determine her parental rights and monetary obligations to her kids. Donna claims Beth has no right to the girls and that the case should be dismissed. But, Justice Laura Drager of New York County Supreme Court denied Donna’s motion to dismiss the case.

As far as custody goes, Drager is going against the 1991 ruling in Allison D. v. Virginia M. that found a woman whose partner had birthed their babies and who had not adopted those babies to be a “legal stranger” to the children. Drager is citing more recent appellate rulings challenging the precedent.

Here’s where the marriage part comes back in. Drager stated that the fact they entered into a marriage agreement is significant in determining custody even if they live in a state that does not grant marriages to two women. "These factors significantly affect the children's welfare... Although people enter into marriages for many reasons, creating familial bonds is one of the most significant reasons, particularly for the benefit of their children”

Interesting. Adopt those kids. Or at least get yourself married.

It's Elementary on the Radio

You can hear Debra Chasnoff talk about the re-release of It's Elementary here.

Leap Year

Slim pickings around the web when it comes to interesting leap year resources. Here is the best of what I found:

1) Brain Pop features another great animated guide for kids. Check it out here.

2) Brush up on the whose and whats of leap year, so you are ready to explain just why February gains and looses that day. Here’s a pretty comprehensive overview.

3) Leap year is not the best occasion for e-cards, but the final line on this one is kind of clever. It reads “Do something EXTRAordinary with this EXTRA day”. Send it to a little one from here.

4) Embrace the leap year frog theme, by making your own paper pond full of leaping creatures. Instructions for origami frogs can be found here or here.

5) If the leap year spirit really has a hold on you, Wilton’s site features a how-to on making a lucky leap frog cake that serves 50! Check it out here.

Just the Facts

I like to keep up on the resources schools are using to figure out how to address the needs of our kids. Download the new edition of "Just the Facts about Sexual Orientation and Youth: A Primer for Principals, Educators and School Personnel."

Here is a blurb from the AP press release:
It is intended to help school administrators foster safe and healthy school environments, in which all students can achieve to the best of their ability. "Just the Facts" includes the most recent information from professional health organizations, as well as up-to-date information on the legal responsibility of school officials to protect students from anti-gay harassment. "Just the Facts" has been mailed to all 16,000 public school superintendents in the United States.

FYI: Family Research Council has their own school related resource with a decidedly different spin. Their pamphlet titled, "Homosexuality and Your Children’s School," takes issue with publications like "Just the Facts" (and lots of other gay things). If you are up for a little bigotry you can read a synopsis here.

It's Elementary

It’s Elementary is being re-released on DVD! Broadcast in 1999 on PBS channels throughout the US, It’s Elementary, looks at discussions about LGBTQ people and issues in six elementary and middle schools. As their website says, “It's Elementary models excellent teaching about family diversity, name-calling, stereotypes, community building and more.”

The DVD edition comes with lots of goodies. Included is: the full-length film, a 37-minute educational training version of the film, and a 136 page guide to “to community organizing, professional development and K-8 curriculum” in PDF form. Also on the disc is new documentary titled, It’s STILL Elementary, that looks at the effects the originally film had on the lives of some of the children and teachers featured in the film.

It’s a little out of my price range at the moment, but I will be waiting and hoping it comes to a PBS station near me soon! Ground Spark is taking pre-orders now.

Broadway Baptist Church

The 125th anniversary edition church directory of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, TX has been making news lately. Apparently the church has a reputation for being open and welcoming to LGBTQ Christians. It is so open and welcoming that the church’s board of deacons voted to exclude family photos from this year’s directory, so that people wouldn’t be offended by the inclusion of photos of queer families. Lame.

Here's a link to an article in Monday's Dallas News.

New Sibling Registry

I just read that a free alternative to the Donor Sibling Registry is in development. Donor Offspring Matches’ site is under construction. It is light on info, but if it is something that's of interest to you take a look here.

My Really Cool Baby Book

In all the hours I have spent in the kid’s section, I never noticed Todd Parr’s, “My Really Cool Baby Book”. Parr’s inclusive story lines and signature style make his books an easy sell for queer families. His baby book is no different. I love that there is a page that reads, “Some special babies are adopted.” and then there is an option to check “I am”. Learn more about Parr here.

Tru Loved

Lesbian pregnancy movies are a dime a dozen at queer film festivals. But a teen movie about a high school student with two moms who move her from her friendly San Francisco neighborhood to a conservative suburb is a little more rare. Tru Loved is such a movie and it is premiering this week at the Sedona Film Festival. Read more here.

Buddy G

I am so happy to see some high quality kid’s programming in which the parents just happen to be lesbians. Though I haven’t seen the first episode yet, the sneak peek available on the Buddy G website looks promising.

The animated show stars 5-year-old Buddy G, a blond haired little boy who loves science and adventure. In episode #1, The Lost Rings, Buddy G along with his armband computer, Socrates, and best friend Owen, learns the value of being truthful and picks up a few science facts along the way.

Creators Donna Colley and Margaux Towne-Colley have this to say about their inspiration and hope for Buddy G:

We know we are a minority and that most kids have a mom and a dad, but for little guys like our son we thought wouldn’t it be grand if there were something more available to them. Something like a cartoon, like a Caillou with two moms or dads. The more we talked about it the more important it became. It was almost like, if we didn’t do something about it after we had this fantastic idea, then we were somehow being irresponsible parents. So out of that, “Buddy G” was born. It took longer, cost more and was way harder then we thought it would be, but we couldn’t be happier or more proud of the cartoon and the potential it represents. “Buddy G” has added incredible joy to our family and we hope he adds a little happiness to yours.

The DVD is available here for $10.