Late summer sprinkler, Berkeley, CA. [image coutesy annz]
Archive | September, 2007
It’s official!
[Non-female reader alert! The word "menstruation" appears no fewer than four times below! You've been warned, brother! Skip this now, if you're a wuss, or read on, if you dare!]
Extree, extree: Baba has The Change o’ Life! It’s the first thing I have ever done earlier than expected.
Welcome you AfterEllen readers!
I was tipped off, by LD reader HeidiB, that AfterEllen’s Linda Villarosa mentioned LesbianDad in a recent piece of hers. I’ve always found Villarosa’s pieces exceedingly intelligent, and now I have even more reason to hold her in high esteem. Welcome, you readers who came here thanks to her! Make yourselves at home, mosey around, maybe check out this “Best Of” page I worked up for a concise view of the range of hoo-ha at this blogular water cooler. For those who didn’t see the Villarosa piece, a wee description follows.
In Outside the Lines: Babes in Momland, she reviews several books by lesbians describing their trips toward motherhood, including Louise Sloan’s Knock Yourself Up and Harlyn Aizley’s Buying Dad. Aizley, who edited the critically acclaimed volume Confessions of the Other Mother, began blogging this spring at Are You My Mothers?*
Lest we forget
The image at right is a chilling one. Most people, if they can identify it as an iconic symbol of the rise of the Nazis, imagine that the books being burned are those of Jewish authors, or others considered enemies of the Third Reich. Many of the authors of the books were Jews. But that’s only partly why they were being burned.
This image, part of the public domain and held in the U.S. National Archives, is of newly empowered Nazi Party members burning the contents of the library of the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft (or Insititute of Sex Research) in Berlin on May 10, 1933.
The Institute was the work of Magnus Hirschfeld, a German Jewish physician and a pioneer of the gay rights movement (Wikipedia entry on him here). In 1897, he co-founded what is considered to be the first gay rights organization in history, the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee. More Wikipedia-sourced synopses here:
In 1919, Hirschfeld had also co-founded the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft (Institute for Sex Research), a private sexology research institute. It had a research library and a large archive, and included a marriage and sex counseling office. In addition, the institute was a pioneer worldwide in the call for civil rights and social acceptance for homosexual and transgender people.
A Banned Books Week teaser
I’ve been working something up in honor of Banned Books Week, which starts at the end of next week. But this news item was worth passing along as a not-so-savory appetizer.
From Worth The Trip (a fantastic kids & teens book blog that’s been gracing my Queer Parenting Resources links list for a coupla weeks), we hear of a woman in Lewiston, ME who took it upon herself to decide what patrons at two area libraries ought not to read. Here’s the story.
Kathleen, at Worth The Trip, tells us that the woman
wrote to the directors of both libraries, telling them she was not going to return It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie H. Harris, and she enclosed a check for $20.95 to cover the cost of each book. She complained in her letter that the book had “amoral and abnormal†contents.
We know what that means.
The book treats homosexuality as a normal part of human sexuality. In fact, both of Harris’s children’s books about sex are exemplary in this regard. That’s not always the case.
- Laurie: I really love this picture. I bet that was a g...
- Lesbian Dad: And now, a bit of Mr. Sendak in his own words. ...
- Lesbian Dad: Mama, you made perfect sense. My own shoulders dow...
- rev2bebt: Ah, yes, but in New York City, if you actually loo...
- Solitary Diner: What a gorgeous building. I used to be hesitant a...
- Lesbian Dad: I can't tell you all how deeply I appreciate his ...
Searchstring Friday
I may just have to make an end-of-the-month habit of this. That is, if it proves of any entertainment and/or educational value. Behold, above, the search strings that brought various bedraggled souls, possibly even YOU, dear reader, to this place.
Continue Reading →