Category: LGBTQ
Rainbow Kids: Don’t Quit. We’re Fighting For You
Republished on The Huffington Post
Dear Trans Kids,
I’m writing to you, but not just to you. I’m also writing to all the rainbow kids, whatever you call yourselves, however you identify. I am writing to you as an American-born, white, straight, cisgender, liberal Christian mother of three with a good education, a good job, three good kids, and a good husband. What do I have to offer you? My unconditional love and my unwavering support in a battle for your rights – a battle that with “45” in office is only just beginning.
You don’t know me, but I’ve been advocating for you for the past nine years.
My youngest child is a boy who Continue reading
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Dear America, It Gets Better. Love, North Carolina
Republished at The Huffington Post
Dear America,
We know. Catching clips of that inaugural address was painful. You tried to erase the doom-and-gloom “American carnage” idea on which Trump waxed poetically, only to see the clips of his CIA press conference the next day quickly melt down into: “How ’bout my speech, huh? Did you like my speech?! How ’bout my numbers?! ME, ME, ME! LOOK AT ME!”
But then news started pouring in regarding Continue reading
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Charlie’s First Facebook Live Video
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To David Bowie, on the One-Year Anniversary of Your Death
David Bowie in Labyrinth (photo: Getty)
Republished at The Huffington Post
One year ago yesterday the world lost David Bowie, in the beginning of what was to be the dumpster fire we called 2016.
As a child of the ‘70s, I listened to my older sister’s old school David Bowie records. I grew up in love with the movie Labyrinth, and helped instill a similar appreciation of the movie among all three of my kids when they were not yet four years old. Ok, maybe “appreciation” is a bit of a stretch. Maybe it was because
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The Comments Section
Republished at The Huffington Post
I’m a blogger and op-ed writer. I write essay-style, non-fiction pieces pulled from my every day life experiences and opinions. (Note that I used the words blogger and op-ed writer, not journalist, not novelist, not poet laureate.) I write opposite the editorial pages. And I write on polarizing topics like LGBTQ+ issues, gender, racism, and white privilege. You can find my work here on Huffington Post, here on Scary Mommy, and also here where someone wrote about me, here on The Good Men Project, here at Red Tricycle, and here with the NBC Today Parenting Team, to name a few.
Sometimes at night, I’ll be in bed, scrolling through my social media feeds when out of nowhere I see my own words in syndication, like this: 
This was a piece I originally Continue reading
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‘Gender Creative’ is Not the New ‘Hipster’
Republished at The Huffington Post
They’re everywhere. Gender non-conforming, gender diverse, gender variant people. From cisgender men wearing “man buns” to cisgender women dressing “dapper,” gender ambiguity seems to be the hipster thing now – especially among the Hollywood elite. Hipster culture via gender expression may have been living outwardly on the fringe for quite some time, but it wasn’t until about 2013 or so when gorgeous cis, hetero men my age like Jared Leto and Joaquin Phoenix became one with the love-it-or-hate-it “man bun” hairdo. Continue reading
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Proceeding With Caution in a Trump Presidency
As we approach the end of 2016, counting down the hours, minutes, and seconds til the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, this year I will proceed with caution. I’m sure Times Square will be, as usual, bursting at the seams, and New Year’s Eve will still be full of the usual excitement for the year to come. Couples will have their celebratory kiss and we’ll sing another chorus of Auld Lang Syne.
But this year, at least for many of us, the arrival of 2017 will also come with relief in letting go of the massive dumpster fire that was 2016. Continue reading
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Misunderstood
There’s a reason why this Apple ad took home the 2014 Creative Arts Emmy for “Most Outstanding Commercial” for their holiday themed ad titled “Misunderstood.” Since Apple yanked the ad off YouTube a while back, it’s hard to find. But I found a less-than-good quality reproduction of it which I’m posting here. If you missed it in 2014, check it out. Though it was two years ago, the message is still just as relevant. Continue reading
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Gender Creative Charlie Short Video
This was a video produced by The News & Observer right after Charlie’s “Justice” story went viral. Don’t let it get you sad; ever since he became well-known and started receiving “fan mail,” his confidence skyrocketed and now he’s happier than ever.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article104986656.html
Gender Creative Life 