Proud Parenting

LGBTQ Parents - Lesbian Moms & Gay Dads

One little girl’s crusade to help her gay uncles get married

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An Australian eight-year-old named Abbey is desperate to see her gay uncles, Gregory and his partner, Michael, legally married. She’s taking her cause all the way to the prime minister.

According to her uncle’s blog, every day for a week Abbey has written to Prime Minister Tony Abbott asking him to change the law and make same-sex marriage legal.

As Abbey mentions in one of the letters, Storer and Barnett are on a reality-TV show called Living With the Enemy in which they share a house with a virulently homophobic Anglican minister.

Whether the little girl’s letters are a publicity ploy for a strange reality show, a genius strategy in the quest for same-sex marriage rights in Australia, or the genuine outpouring of love for an uncle (or all of the above), it’s got to be hard to say no to this drawing of Abbey with uncles Gregory and Michael.

candadianneice9114
via TakePart

Lesbians ‘make better parents’, says U.K. Government adviser

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Leading child development expert Professor Stephen Scott, recently said evidence showed that children raised by gay women went on to do better in life. ‘Lesbians make better parents than a man and a woman,’ he declared. Professor Scott is thought to have been drawing on research from Birkbeck College and Clark University in Massachusetts, which suggests that children brought up by female couples are more likely to aspire to professions that were traditionally considered male. The UK’s state-funded national adoption agency created a guide for gay couples. In the guide, the British Association for Adoption and Fostering used a poor choice of words when it wrote to would-be adopters: ‘Children need good parents much more than retarded homophobes need an excuse to whinge, so don’t let your worries about society’s reaction hinder your desire to give a child a loving caring home.’

[via Mail Online]

U.K. on course to legalize same-sex marriage

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The Conservative-led government in the U.K. endorses same-sex marriage, and has announced legislation legalizing marriage equality before the next general election, scheduled for 2015.This is lead by the prime minister’s conviction for the issue. In 2006 Cameron declared, “There’s something special about marriage. It’s not about religion. It’s not about morality. It’s about commitment…And by the way, it means something whether you’re a man and a woman, a woman and a woman, or a man and another man.” Marriage equality seems like a reasonable Tory principle – commitment cannot be determined by sexuality, and there’s no reason to refuse to respect the value of same-sex relationships. Writer Alex Massie says, “A political party that believes in the value of marriage should not be restricting its benefits to heterosexual couples.” Churches won’t be compelled to recognize gay marriages.

[via The Daily Beast]

Preteen drag contest winner is embraced by his family and town

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Redvers Stokes is a 12-year old English boy who has a drag persona named “Naughty Nora.” He wins drag competitions and makes appearances at local events because his town loves him. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, I think it’s really funny,” he says. “And my friends think it’s really cool. I’ve always been open to new things. I might like dressing up in women’s clothes but I still like girls. It’s just a little hobby of mine.” England’s Cornwall region has a population of about 1,000 people. It began a drag queen competition two years ago because there weren’t enough females competing to be carnival queen. Stokes won the title against other men dressed in women’s clothing singing songs by Dolly Parton and Michael Jackson.

Stokes’s mother, Georgia, agrees. “I couldn’t be more proud,” she says. “His ‘Naughty Nora’ routine is very convincing. I’ve never been concerned. Redvers just loves being the center of attention. He has no plans to make it a career.”

[via The Sun]

British charity says there’s ‘no room for prejudice’ when finding homes for vulnerable children

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Barnardo’s is a British charity founded in 1866, to care for vulnerable children and young people. Now it’s chief executive Anne Marie Carrie said there is no room for prejudice as a survey showed one in three people think gay couples will make worse parents than those in heterosexual relationships. Society’s attitude must be changed to increase the chances of the 64,000 children in the care system finding the secure, loving and stable homes that they desperately need, she said. “The idea that gay parents are second best must be challenged,” Ms Carrie said.

“To suggest that a same-sex couple is not as able to raise a child as a heterosexual couple is at once absurd and unsubstantiated. To continue to discourage potential adopters simply because of their sexual orientation is severely diminishing the chances of securing loving, stable homes for the children who are waiting.

“This debate needs to be urgently raised and myths surrounding how sexuality, race, marital status and gender can affect your parenting dispelled.”

Lesbians in U.K. seeking IVF treatment

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The law which said that every child needs a father has been relaxed in the UK, so there’s been a rapid increase in the number of lesbian couples using IVF treatment. The same trend has also been noticed in single women.

Records show the number of lesbian couples seeking IVF has doubled and the rise has tripled among single women. In 2009, 350 lesbian couples underwent the treatment – in ’07, the number was 176. As for the single women, the rise has been from 347 in ’07 to 1,070 in ’09.

The data that was collected and analyzed by The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. Sperm donor activity has not increased. Changes in French law have allowed for either two mothers or two fathers to be listed on a baby’s birth certificate.

(Image via Cherry Grrl)

Adoption by gay couple creates controversy in the U.K.

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The Press Association reports that a recovering drug addict whose two children are reportedly to be adopted by a gay couple has told how she had wanted them to have a “mum and dad”.

The woman, who has not been identified, was unable to look after her five-year-old boy and his four-year-old sister. The children, from Edinburgh, had been cared for by their grandparents but were, according to the Daily Mail newspaper, placed in foster care and are to be adopted by a gay couple.

The mother told the newspaper: “I did not under any circumstances want my children to be placed with gay men. I wanted them to have a mum and a dad.”

The grandparents, aged 59 and 46, had looked after the youngsters almost from birth, according to the newspaper. But they said concerns about their age and health had led to social workers considering them unsuitable to look after the children.

Council chiefs in Edinburgh took them to court to remove their rights to care for them, the paper said. The youngsters have been in foster care while the legal action took place over the last two years.

The grandparents said they eventually gave up their legal fight because of rising costs. Now it has emerged that social workers have placed the brother and sister with a gay couple. And the grandparents claim they have been warned they risk never seeing the youngsters again if they continue with their opposition to the same-sex adoption.

Peter Kearney, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, said it was a devastating decision which would have a serious impact on the welfare of the children involved.

The grandfather told the Daily Mail: “It breaks my heart to think that our grandchildren are being forced to grow up in an environment without a mother figure. We are not prejudiced but I defy anyone to explain to us how this can be in their best interests. The ideal for any child is to have a loving father and loving mother.”

No-one was available for comment from Edinburgh City Council.

Dublin court rejects donor’s request for child access. Calls for securing rights of lesbian and gay parents

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Lucy Durnin – from U.K.’s Pink News – is reporting that an Irish gay man who donated his sperm to a lesbian couple has lost his legal bid for guardianship to his biological child.

The man filed the proposal in court although he signed an agreement that he would not seek the role of father but – instead – act as a ‘uncle’ and have access to the child at the discretion of the couple.

In its comments about the case, the Court referenced the growing number of same-sex couples who are becoming parents. Durnin reports:

“[Justice John Hedigan] said that judging by the evidence presented to the court, situations of same sex couples wishing to bear a child are occurring with greater frequency throughout the world than might have previously been thought.”

And:

“He stated that there was nothing in Irish law to suggest that a family composed of two women and a child had any lesser right to be recognized as a de facto family than an unmarried man and a woman with a child.”

Image: pinknews.co.uk

Rugby star Ben Cohen recreates classic photograph for good causes. Gay-friendly jock also a family man supporting other dads.

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We may not know much about him in the U.S., but elsewhere in the world Ben Cohen is admired and highly respected as an athlete and role model for young men. Among other good deeds, he recently organized an appreciation night for his gay fans.

Now Cohen is the face of the Problem Shared campaign, which supports first-time fathers.

With help from his twin daughters, the 29-year-old rugby star recreated a classic image first shot by photographer Spencer Rowell called, “Man and Baby” – which sold five million posters in the 1980s.

An egg donor nightmare in Southern California gets our attention. Highlights possible need for egg and sperm donor registry.

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The Los Angeles Times reports a disturbing story coming from San Diego. It involves an egg donor who carries a rare genetic mutation that can lead to an early death of her offspring. This particular neurological disease usually kills its victims before age 5.

According to the Times, a child can develop the disease only if both parents carry the genetic mutation. In this case, the donor did not know she was a carrier until she was contacted by the fertility agency that matched her with the parents. Before discovering her genetic link to the disease, she donated to at least four infertile couples.

In the U.S., nothing ensures that recipients of donated eggs or sperm are warned about defects that may be later discovered in the donor’s genetics.

Sixteen years ago, the U.K. government created a registry for egg and sperm donors. Names, contact information and detailed personal histories are kept. Donors and recipients have access to the registry, as do children once they turn 18. The system helps families stay current with genetic information that may be discovered – and relevant – at any time.

Photo: Los Angeles Times