Tag Archives: lesbian parents

Proud Son Of Two Lesbian Mothers Argues For Marriage Equality In Texas

We are denied the basic dignity of being respected as the family that we are… We share the same values and beliefs as everyone else, the same normal struggles and triumphs.

Mason Marriott-Voss

Sixteen-year-old Mason Marriott-Voss, is the proud son of lesbian mothers.

In this powerful two-minute video, he pleads with an audience to bring marriage equality to Texas, so that his family can be rightfully recognised.

There are still people who stubbornly refuse to recognize family even when it’s right in front of them.”

Mason Marriott-Voss

In February 2014, Federal District Court Judge Orlando Garcia struck down Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage but Attorney General Greg Abbott (soon to be Texas governor) has appealed the decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court, which has scheduled arguments for January 9, 2015. Texas same-sex marriages are on hold until then.

Lesbian Teacher Finds Support After Being Fired For Being Pregnant

Finding acceptance in our hearts, many of us understand that discrimination is wrong. Regardless of your gender identity, sexuality or race we should all be treated with respect because as human beings looking out for one another it’s what we all deserve. Plenty of us also understand that these things should not stop us from getting jobs, finding homes or gaining access to healthcare but unfortunately, the law doesn’t always agree. This is the case in several states in the United States of America where employers are legally permitted to fire someone for being LGBT and it’s because of this, one teacher says, that she was fired.

Barb Webb is the teacher in question and despite working at the all-girls Marian High School for nine years, she says that after she became pregnant she was fired with no explanation. Not only did the school’s board fail to give her a reason for her termination, they also suggested that she resign (with health benefits) and held several meetings with her reminding her of Marian High’s morality clause which states that employees “will not publicly engage in actions, or endorse actions or beliefs contrary to the teachings and standards of the Roman Catholic faith and morality.”

However, even with this morality clause in place, Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act prevents employers from firing on the grounds of “familial status” which would in theory protect Barb Webb for being fired over her “non-traditional” pregnancy. The problem is that as the law has no specific language pertaining to LGBT employees (Webb has been with her partner Kristin Lasecki for five years) Marian may be able to evade the law.

They can’t evade the watchful eyes of their alumni though as 3,000 former students of Marian High School have joined a Facebook page demanding justice for Webb’s dismissal and 700 alumni have signed a petition in support of the fired teacher. Several have also been part of a protest, involving signs that explain that not only are alumni in support of LGBTQ rights but that the school’s firing of Webb contradicts the teachings of tolerance and respect that they learnt  whilst they were students.

Marian High School’s board have not yet explained why they fired Webb or responded to the protests but we’ll keep you posted once they do.

Making a Difference – ‘Love Leaf Books’ by Sarah and Amanda Berry-Williams

Sarah and Amanda Berry-Williams are two women making a difference for themselves, their family and other gay parents.

We are a family of five : two moms, and three kids, who believe that all families are important and special. We want every parent to feel included in every aspect of their child’s life, and this includes the baby book.

Amanda Berry-Williams

They have come up with a series of baby books – entitled Love Leaf Books

My wife Sarah and I started Love Leaf Books because when we had our children, we couldn’t find any affordable baby books that fit our two-mom family (two moms, three kids). We ended up with one really ugly book for our first son, which only referenced ‘Parent’ throughout, and was as generic as it could be. For our second son, we simply crossed out ‘Daddy’ throughout, and wrote in Mama. It looked bad. It felt bad. And it made us want to give other families like ours the option of an affordable baby book that really FIT them. Really recognized them as a family.

Amanda Berry-Williams

Their books are personalised throughout and hand made to order.

After months and months of preparation, my wife and I opened our little store on Etsy, and have since sold over 350 books (to four countries!) in less than a year. We’ve made books for straight couples, single parents, two moms, two dads, transgendered parents, etc. We’ve made books for families created through surrogacy or adoption. Any family is a family, whether that be Mom, Dad, and Baby, or Two moms, a co-parenting dad, and two foster siblings. We just want every family to feel recognized and honored as the family they are.

Amanda Berry-Williams

The inspiring due are based in the US, but are selling their books in Australia, the UK, Ireland, Canada, etc.

You can purchase the books on etsy – www.etsy.com/uk/shop/loveleafbooks

Children Of Gay Parents Speak Out in Powerful Video

“Do you think your family is unusual?” the interviewer asks the kids. “No” is the reply…

The message in this powerful video is simple: A loving family is a loving family no matter its colour or shape, and children with gay parents simply don’t care if they have two mums or two dads (or something in between).

In this video, filmed last year during the Imagine Children’s Festival at London’s South Bank Centre, interviewers ask a group of children about their hopes, dreams and family life. The results are heartwarming.

Parents are Parents. Family is Family. Love is Love.

In interview after interview, the children make it clear how blissfully typical their home life is. With gay and lesbian parents increasingly becoming the new normal, it’s a little incredible that some people continue to argue that sexual orientation has any bearing on one’s ability to be a good parent.

Without ever coming out and saying so, this video is the perfect rebuttal for anyone who argues that gay parents are somehow worse for children than straight ones.

First Ever Lesbian Married ‘Throuple’ Expecting Baby

Three women from Massachusetts, USA, who were the world’s first lesbian threesome (a.k.a. as ‘throuple’) to get married, are expecting their first baby. Kitten, Doll and Bryn, who tied the knot last summer, have been receiving IVF treatment using an anonymous sperm donor. Kitten, 27, is now expecting and the plan is that all three wives will eventually have babies.

If the IVF treatment is not successful for all of them, they are happy to consider alternatives such as adoption. 34-year-old Brynn says: ‘The hope is to have three kids altogether. We always joke that the children should never outnumber the parents.’

At their wedding ceremony in August 2013, the three women, dressed in traditional white gowns, were given away by each of their fathers. A specialist family attorney worked hard to draw up the necessary paperwork to ensure that the throuple would be as legally bound to each other as possible.

Kitten and Brynn are legally married according to Massachusetts legislation, while Doll is handfasted. There is no marriage quite like it anywhere in the world. Software designer Brynn and met fashion designer Doll back in 2009, and they had both decided that monogamous relationships didn’t suit them.

Doll says: ‘I had always dated girls – who although they had boyfriends or girlfriends – were also allowed to date me. I never thought that much about it and I had never really ‘come out’ as poly to my friends and family. To me, it was just how I was.’

Deciding that they wanted to turn their relationship into a threesome, Doll and Brynn set up an OKCupid page and found fashion manager Kitten, who had had two long-term relationships with men in the past. She says, ‘I realised that I hadn’t been happy in my previous monogamous relationships and I discovered that I was poly.

Lesbian Kids are Happy and Clever – It’s Official!

Children with lesbian parents tend to be academically able and socially well-adjusted, so says groundbreaking new scientific research from the United States. Adolescents with Lesbian Mothers Describe Their Own Lives took 26 years to complete and is the longest study of its kind ever to be conducted. It successfully analysed hundreds of American high school students who were being brought up by lesbians and found the vast majority of them to have high Grade Point Averages (GPAs) and lots of friends.

Almost all of the students were planning to go to university after their SATs to pursue four-year degrees. The teens reported powerful and loving family ties and regarded their lesbian mothers as positive role models. Few had any qualms about telling their straight friends about their home circumstances or indeed introducing their straight friends to their parents.

The Principal Investigator on the study, Dr Nanette Gartrell of UCLA School of Law, said, ‘These kids were planned and their lesbian mothers were very engaged in parenting. At the end of high school, the teens tell us that they have excellent grades, feel connected to their families and friends, and admire their parents. As a psychiatrist, I can say that these are the types of childrearing outcomes that every parent hopes for.’

Commentators such as Laura Beck believe that the conclusive findings within Adolescents with Lesbian Mothers Describe Their Own Lives will, once and for all, put to bed the prejudices that many conservative Americans have against lesbian parenting. She hopes that it will challenge people who are ‘scared that gay people are going to sneak in their windows in the middle of the night and force marriage onto them. Also, let them know that nobody wants to marry their bigoted asses, anyway.’

You are NOT the Mother – from Oliviahas2moms

Touching video blog from Oliviahas2moms. Ebony and Denise, are TWO mum family raising a beautiful little girl named Olivia. They’ve been together for 8 years and have been married for 3 years. Their mission is to build an encouraging community, with other two mother families, so that their children can grow up knowing their way of life is actually NORMAL.

See more about the beautiful life here – https://www.youtube.com/user/OliviaHas2Moms and http://instagram.com/Oliviahas2moms