Archive for November, 2007

Let’s call this the “before” picture: bucolic bibliophillia at the local library.
And this would make a suitable “after” picure, if only I were capable of overcoming the strong disinclination to photograph my kids when they are in the midst of feeling big feelings. And by big I mean BIG. I mean, I [...]

Sick boy

Sick boy sleeps now, heals
Meanwhile, my sister’s firstborn
Keeps distant vigil
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Yep: missing it twice.
I received as meager consolation the sense of genuine arrival as a parent, as I watched myself nobly sacrifice my own joy in the best interests of the chlidren. Because their happiness and well-being is my own. The girlie, no longer feverish, went off to see the last Sing-Along Sound [...]

Stephanie Coontz’ op-ed piece today in The New York Times, “Taking Marriage Private,” is very much worth a read (it’s short and to the point), and absolutely worth passing on to anyone who is a bit befuddled about the history and current limitations of that strange institution, marriage.
Some choice clips (all stuff that should be [...]

Reading, writing, Berkeley, CA.
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Baba’s lament

To be sung to the tune of “Sound of Music” (picked up at the “hills are alive” part).

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Thanks giving

[Note: this is the unedited version of what was read at the 2008 BlogHer conference, where it had to clock in at a lean, mean, under-five minutes' read.]
 
It was a winter morning when we discovered we were pregnant with our first child — our first pregnancy following a very difficult, end-of-first-trimester miscarriage nine months before. [...]

Transgender Day of Remembrance

I was reminded by the Task Force Weekly Update that arrived in my inbox today that this day is the 9th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance (never mind the seven up there in the banner thingy, which is two years old). Here’s the Task Force’s statement in remembrance of the day. This day, most [...]




    LD's No on California Prop 8 fundraising

    Goal Thermometer no-on-8-cutie



    The time to step up is now.



    See that cute kid there on the right? My son. The day, this July, that my partner and I got hitched. It was our fourteenth anniversary. Help.



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    Featured election news/analysis:

    From "Gay marriages in California surpass those in Massachusetts,", Jessica Garrison, on 7 Oct., 2008, at the Los Angeles Times.



    Data released Monday (6 Oct 08) by UCLA's Williams Institute found that an estimated 11, 000 same-sex couples were married in CA since June 17, when the court began to allow them. (Since May 2004, over 10,000 have married in Massachusetts.)



    Pastor Jim Garlow of Skyline Church in La Mesa, who has been rallying voters to pass the constitutional amendment, said: "The fact that there are big numbers doesn't change the reality that it is still bad for the country."



    Garlow, who along with hundreds of other Christians, is observing a fast until election day as a way to show his support for the proposed amendment, added: "There are enormous numbers of people doing cocaine right now. . . . Simply because large numbers of people are doing something does not make it right."
    "Foes of gay-marriage ban say poll shows Prop. 8 leading," by Jessica Garrison, 8 Oct., 2008, in the Los Angeles Times:
    The opposition has enjoyed a healthy lead in several surveys taken by polling organizations that do not have a stake in the campaign. But officials with the No on 8 campaign held a conference call with reporters Tuesday to announce that their own poll showed the measure would pass by four points. Opponents attributed the result to fewer television ads, which is, in turn, a result of the No on 8 campaign falling behind in fundraising.
    From Geoff Kors, Equality California, in an email to EQCA and No on 8 supporters, 7 Oct., 2008:
    Our worst nightmares are coming true.



    Today we learned of the massive $25.4 million our opponents have raised so far. They are using this war chest to broadcast lies: 24/7 and up and down the state of California.



    And the polls show the lies are working. We need your donation now.



    Yesterday’s CBS 51 poll shows that:



    “…likely California voters overall now favor passage of Proposition 8 by a five-point margin, 47 percent to 42 percent. Ironically, a CBS 5 poll eleven days prior found a five-point margin in favor of the measure's opponents.”



    People change their minds about Proposition 8 when they hear the lie that churches will lose their tax-free status if they won’t marry same-sex couples – EVEN THOUGH THIS IS NOT TRUE!



    So this is crunch time. With less than a month before the election, we must get on the air now to answer these lies and swing votes back to our side.



    And the ONLY way to do that it to raise more money. The generous $15.8 million that our supporters have given isn’t enough. Not when the other side has nearly $10 million more than we do and the fundraising gap is growing.


    Earlier:



    Ellen DeGeneres: "My Political Point... And I Do Have One," on 24 Sept., 2008 at her site.



    Previous election news/analysis links can be found at this here Election news links page.

    Lesbian Dad 101

    Lesbian Dad Lesbian Dad is written by a parent who answers to the name "Baba" and works toward a world in which amor does indeed vincit omnia.

    Still curious? You'll find a ton more on the About page. Baffled by the lingo? Peruse the Glossary. For the proper immersion experience, I highly recommend a visit to the Best of LD.

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