Proud Parenting

LGBTQ Parents - Lesbian Moms & Gay Dads

Gay dads turn to ‘hero’ sister in surrogacy struggle

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Craig Parkes and Matthew Hinton’s son, Fitzgerald, was born earlier this year, and although he’s been more than a welcome addition, the road to his birth was anything but easy.

“It’s been a lengthy progress,” says Hinton. The couple originally attempted insemination with a surrogate in India, but without success. On top of that, while he was there, the country shut down surrogacy for gay parents.

The solution eventually arrived through a familiar face. Hinton’s sister Laura volunteered to be a surrogate for the couple. Although that solved the issue of who would carry the baby, they still required an egg donor, which was unavailable in Canada.

“We ended up having to go through an agency and actually compensate an egg donor, which you can’t do in Canada. So because Laura lives in South Carolina, it actually worked out for us,” says Hinton.

Since the birth of their son, Parkes and Hinton were approached by Tylenol to star in its newest commercial. Parkes says it was an opportunity to destigmatize gay couples having children.

CBC News

Catholic school allows students to work on gay rights project

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The principal at a Catholic school in Ottawa, Ontario is now allowing two sixth-grade girls to present a social justice fair project on gay rights. The project had been turned down by the school in November.

The students, their parents and the principal of St. George School met to discuss the project, then Ottawa Catholic School Board wrote an email statement:

“The girls will be doing a project on how the topic of gay rights is addressed by a Catholic high school’s equity club. The girls will be welcome to present their project at the social justice fair.”

The students and their mothers went public in late November with the school’s decision not to allow the project.

ottawanew121114

All Canadian schools must allow ‘gay-straight alliances’ under new anti-bullying bill

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Schools in Canada won’t be able to stop students from forming gay-straight alliances if changes to a proposed anti-bullying law are passed. This includes Catholic schools. The government supports the Accepting Schools Act. The move comes as an amendment to the government’s anti-bullying bill, which should pass before the legislature is slated to rise for its summer break June 7.

The ASA will require all school boards to support students who want to lead activities that promote gender equity, and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, including groups with the name gay-straight alliance or another name.

[via TheRecord]

Ottawa school board to participate in its first gay pride parade

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Ottawa-Carleton District school board trustees hope more than 100 students, parents and staff will join them as they march in their first gay pride parade. Openly gay District school board trustee Donna Blackburn will be leading the contingent. “I just thought it was a natural extension of what the board has been doing for many years now to support gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth,” said Blackburn. The board held its first “Pink Day” at many schools this past year, where students wore pink to back the fight against homophobia. Blackburn told CBC News there hasn’t been any backlash and it was time for the board to step up its endorsement of gay rights.

[via CBC News]

Canadian man goes to jail for attacking lesbian moms

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Mark Scott, 43, has been sentenced to four months in jail and a year’s probation for violently attacking a lesbian couple [pic] at their child’s school in November 2008. Scott was also ordered to undergo anger management counselling and to provide a DNA sample to a provincial databank. According to prosecutor Paul Murray, the judge presiding over the case found the attack “was not motivated by hatred arising from the victims’ sexual orientation.”

[via Canoe.ca]

10/29/2009
Ontario man beat lesbian mom until her face ‘burst open’

A woman told an Ontario court Wednesday that a man yelling gay slurs punched her partner until her face “burst open.” Mark Scott of Oshawa, Ont., is facing two counts of assault causing bodily harm after the couple was attacked outside of their children’s elementary school. The 44-year-old has pleaded not guilty in the November 2008 beating. Anji Dimitriou said Scott called her and Jane Currie “dyke bitches”. Dimitriou, 31, said he spat on her face and punched her twice, once near her left eye and again on the left side of her head. He also punched Currie so hard her face “burst open” and she started bleeding, Dimitriou said.

Currie, 38, wept during her testimony when she told the court of her six-year-old son witnessing the attack.

“I remember hearing (him) crying,” she said. “I’ve never heard a scream like that.”

Both women testified that Nov. 3 was not the first time they had met Scott. They said he twice blocked the handicap parking spot Dimitriou used when picking up her children. Last December, police said Scott would not face hate charges, despite pressure from the Oshawa community.

11/16/2008
VIDEO: Hundreds rally for lesbian moms assaulted at elementary school

More than 500 people – from Oshawa, Toronto, Sudbury, Calgary and Newfoundland – came to support the moms who were attacked outside their local elementary school.

Kids at Gordon B. Attersley Public School witnessed the lesbian couple being verbally and physically assaulted while picking up their children. Speaking to the crowd Jane Currie said:

“There are voices of hate in all of our cities and there are voices of hate in all of our religions and those voices of hate sometimes incite violence or sanction violence. We can disagree with each other without being hateful. So we want to hear from the voices of inclusion and we invite religious leaders in particular to speak out for inclusion. Eleven days ago, my life, our lives, your lives were forever changed. Now is the time for change. No more fear. No more anger. No more hate. I don’t want our children, anybody’s children, to be scared of who they are or what they are, regardless.”

She and Dimitriou were overwhelmed by the crowd.

“I want to thank each and every one of you beautiful people that are here this evening. The people in front of me and the people behind me, you’re all fantastic an d you have no idea how much your gestures have not gone unnoticed,” said Currie.

“And the support doesn’t end in Canada, I don’t know if you guys know that this has gone worldwide. It’s not just here. It’s gone to the (United) States, Australia, Turkey, Scotland, England, Costa Rica even Madrid. And everybody knows what happened, but now it’s time to stop it from happening again to anybody. You guys showing up here just prove that we can change and we will change. We want to change all hate laws. We’re talking about everybody. We don’t care what race, what religion, what gender, it doesn’t matter, hate is hate.”

Wayne Harrison, vice-president of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) travelled from New Brunswick to bring a message that they will be working to have this crime “upgraded to a hate crime to prevent the horrific and brutal assault of Anji and Jane” from ever happening again.

WATCH:

11/10/2008
Lesbian moms attacked outside elementary school

A Toronto-area lesbian couple were the targets of an unprovoked attack and assault by a parent at an elementary school. The women were picking-up their kids Friday, after school, when the man attacked.

Local news reports, “Ms. Dimitriou, 30, and her lesbian partner Jane Currie, 37, said Friday they still can’t believe what happened. ‘He clocked me right in the face, like right in the side of my face, and I hit my truck and I couldn’t see anything, like I blacked out,’ Ms. Dimitriou said. ‘I was awake but I could hear everything but I just couldn’t see anything. Then I think he clocked me again right in the top of my head.’ Classes had just let out Monday at Gordon B. Attersley elementary school on Attersley Drive, according to the couple. Ms. Dimitriou said she was helping her son put his backpack into the car when another student’s father came toward her and began yelling. He referred to her and Ms. Currie as men, she said, as she recounted what happened. Ms. Dimitriou said the man swore at her, called her a slang word for lesbian in an aggressive and derogatory way, then ‘out of nowhere’ spit in her face and punched her.”

Dimitriou’s partner Currie was also assaulted when she came to Dimitriou’s assistance. Currie required four stitches. The attack happened in front of the couple’s children, the attacker’s children, and other kids at a school. Mark Scott faces two charges of assault.

Canadian gay dad challenges Family Law Act

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A bitter break-up between a two Calgary dads with a small child has resulted in a challenge to the province’s Family Law Act. After dating for several years, the pair contacted a woman who became a surrogate for them. For several years, the plaintiff and his boyfriend raised their daughter. Then, in ’06, they had a nasty split. Several court orders favored the plaintiff’s right to see the child. Yet, he said, he didn’t receive enough rights because the Family Law Act favored the biological parents – his ex and the birth mother. As a result of the ongoing legal battle, the plaintiff said he’s now broke. He expects to return to the courthouse today as his home is going into foreclosure. David Dear, spokesman for Alberta Justice, said the government did not believe the legislation was in any way discriminatory.

[via Calgary Herald]

Rainbow Family Day in Ottawa

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The first annual event to attract all types of families was held at the Jack Purcell Community Center on Elgin Street, on February 21. Organizers attracted all types of families to the free, all-day event: traditional families, same-sex couples, singles living together, multi-generational groups. This is the first Rainbow family day since Canada declared same-sex marriage legal in 2005. The event featured a pancake breakfast, a family swim and family skate, performances, a Zumba class, a youth café and many more activities.

[via Ottawa Citizen]

Catholic school district in Ontario lifts ban on gay student groups

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Trustees of the Halton Catholic District School Board repealed a ban on gay student groups which was implemented earlier this fall. A grade 11 student leader says, “We as students are asked to be chaste so sexual activity at this point, whether heterosexual or homosexual, should really be moot.” The ban had been implemented by the previous school board. The old board acted on the advice from the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario which sent a letter warning that gay student groups “imply a self-identification with sexual orientation that is often premature among high school students.”

Trustees voted 6-2 to recommend lifting the ban while a new inclusion policy is drafted, but the entire board has yet to be consulted on the vote.

Third Party Reproduction News Out of Canada

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Canada – Alot going on in Canada this past week, including interesting issues being presented in the “sperm donor” case. Case in now in the hands of the judge – not sure on timeline for decision.

Alberta – definition of parenthood:

New legislation in Alberta, Canada looks to change the legal definition of parenthood. An update to the law would “make sure child support orders can be enforced in cases where children are born using assisted reproduction.”

The change would also clarify the issue for the Canadian courts who do not have a universal standard upon which to base their parenthood decisions, partly due to the gap between the existing law and the advances in the field of assisted reproductive technology.

“Bill 22, the Family Law Statutes Amendment Act, would make changes to three existing laws: the Family Law Act would be updated to clarify parentage rules for children born using assisted reproduction. The status of illegitimacy would also be removed from the act, the Maintenance Enforcement Act would be amended to ‘enhance administrative fairness’ and boost the ability of officials to collect outstanding funds and the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act would be changed to “make orders between Albertans and parties in other jurisdictions easier to enforce,” the province said in a release.

If the legislation is passed Alberta will be the only place in Canada with this type of law.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2010/11/02/calgary-parental-rights-alberta-law-definition.html

British Columbia:

Judge Reserves Decision in Sperm Donor Trial:

A woman conceived through sperm donation knows she’ll likely never learn her biological father’s name, but she hopes a B.C. judge will decide that in the future the offspring of artificial insemination will be able to get that information.

In the case, Olivia Pratten explains the following:

“If you found out today that your father was a sperm donor, would you want to know more about him? Would you fight to find out his medical history? Olivia Pratten, 28, found out she was conceived by donated sperm from her mother when she was 5 years old.

As she explains on Canadiandonoroffspring.com, “She told me a simple story of the seed and the egg and how ‘daddy didn’t have enough so a nice man gave us extra.’ I was told in a way that made me feel very special, wanted and loved.”

In the 1990’s Ms. Pratten tried to gain access to her donor-father’s records by speaking to the government and various government agencies. There was a glimmer of hope when Bill C-6 was passed into federal law and the Reproductive Technology Agency was established. However, when she asked to have past files protected, as promised when the legislation was passed, they told her they didn’t think it was in their jurisdiction and therefore couldn’t help her. It was then that she felt compelled to file a class action lawsuit. That was two years ago. In October, B.C.’s Supreme Court granted permission for the trial to begin.”

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/299388

Canadian gays and lesbians must go outside their country to become biological parents

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Fallout continues in response to Canada’s detrimental legislation known as the Assisted Human Reproduction Act – enacted in 2004. The prohibition has forced prospective gay and lesbian parents to ship sperm and fly egg donors from the U.S., and pay egg donors through U.S. agencies.

From The Lawyers Weekly:

The federal government enacted the Assisted Human Reproduction Act in 2004 in an attempt to regulate reproductive technologies. The Act prohibits paying donors for their eggs and sperm. This has led to an acute shortage of reproductive material in Canada.

The government implemented the prohibition on payment for eggs and sperm in an attempt to prevent commercialization of the fertility industry, says Dr. Marjorie Dixon, a fertility specialist at First Steps Fertility Centre in Toronto. While she believes the government had good intentions in enacting the legislation, and wasn’t trying to prevent the LGBTQ community from having families, the good intentions backfired. Read more…