Straight Parent, Gay Kid
April 10 is National Youth HIV/STD Awareness Day
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, during STD Month, April, sum up STD prevention with their campaign: Talk, Test, Treat. You can download or order brochures, pamphlets, information sheets about STD’s online from the CDC (wwwn.cdc.gov/pubs/CDCINFOONDEMAND ) to share with your child. However, their educational materials don’t exonerate a parent from the responsibility of…
It’s #LGBT Health Week
How Does Your LGBT Child Measure Up To His Heterosexual Peers? Did you know that?: • LGBT youth are more likely to smoke, drink, use drugs.• They are twice as likely to have attempted suicide.• Due to harassment and discrimination, LGBT youth are more anxious, prone to depression, and substance abuse disorders.• They…
It Shouldn’t Be The Luck Of The Irish
It wasn’t the luck of the LGBT Irish this year that led to their inclusion in New York’s St. Patrick’s Parade. Their invitation to march was due to marriage equality and greater acceptance of LGBT people, as well as changed attitudes of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Irish Catholic fraternal group that helped organize…
Who Cares If Harper Lee Is A Lesbian?
In my last post, I took offense at conservative individuals trying to pigeonhole my cartoon characters of childhood as gay or drug users. Today, I’m even more upset that the Pulitzer Prize- winning author of To Kill A Mockingbird, (Nellie) Harper Lee, who died on February 19th, can’t rest in peace. The website vipgaq (“Facts,…
Do Cartoon Characters Have To Be Relevant?
The Little Mouse that could – that’s how I thought of Mighty Mouse during the 1950’s. His song “Here I come to save the Day means Mighty Mouse is on his Way” started my Saturday morning cartoon watching as I sat cross-legged on the floor in my pajamas. In later years, cartoonist/creator of the popular…
Self-Identified Clothing Comes Out Of The Closet
Now, gender-queer persons have better chances to express how they feel inside with what they can now wear on the outside. Fashion is starting to realize that humans come in all sizes and shapes and don’t need to be shoehorned into binary clothes (dresses for women, menswear for men), the traditional categories for shopping in…
It’s Not “Sitting on the Fence” and Other Myths Busted
In our gender binary society, bisexuals or simply “bis” are given a bum rap. They are criticized for “sitting on the fence” and not choosing to either be a lesbian or a heterosexual. Lesbians don’t like them because they sleep with the enemy. Some see them as sexually greedy because they have sex with…
LGBT Terms Defined: The Gender Spectrum
It seems that society, or at least Hollywood, is becoming more sexually fluid and doesn’t like their orientation pigeonholed. At the same time, there are more labels for the LGBT population than Starbuck’s has flavors of coffee. To demystify some of the words and acronyms, here’s a glossary of LGBT terms. Asexual: A person who…