My wife and I, both women, have one child, who is now 5. We used a sperm donor from a federally licensed bank, to ensure our legal parental rights. I conceived and carried the baby, and both our names are on the birth certificate. Here’s the thing: A couple of months ago, I brought up with my wife the prospect of finding our kid’s donor siblings. She told me she wasn’t crazy about the idea but that I should go ahead and do what I want (obviously, this was said without enthusiasm). I brought it up to her several times after that, and her response was the same fatalistic, “Do what you want, obviously my wishes don’t matter here.” I took my spouse at her word, and started looking. In a secure, vetted fashion (through the sperm bank itself), I was able to find a group of other families who used the same donor. And there are a bunch of kids—over a dozen!

I am overjoyed. I’m excited about the prospect of meeting these families, of our children having close relationships with their half-siblings as they grow up. Seeing pictures, hearing family stories, and learning about medical histories are all great outcomes of this. And as a lesbian, I am excited to connect with a lot of other families, many of them LGBTQ, and have a sense of community with them. My wife is threatened by all of this. She says it feels like I am saying, “Here’s our kid’s real family.” I feel that her stance is emotionally immature and centers herself, not our child’s needs. My wife was really upset over my findings. She has asked me to not tell our child (yet?), and told me she felt hurt because deciding to contact donor siblings was something she wanted us to do together. Which is clearly not true!

“She proceeded to ask if I was gay in front of the entire class,” former student Maya Phan told WMBD. Phan is one of three former students who filed complaints against Morton High School teacher Kim Johnson who taught an “American Problems” class at the school. The students say she used the class as an excuse to “freely express hostility” towards women, LGBTQ people, and racial minorities.

Many people fantasized of many men and women playing together (swinging, orgies), while others focused on one person having sex with many others (gangbangs).

Gay Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) has introduced legislation that would create a four-day workweek nationwide.

Takano told Reuters that American workers are “are worn out and tired.” He said the pandemic has also made workers rethink the value of their time, especially since many have seen people die or risk dying from COVID-19.

The release said that multiple studies have shown that shorter workweeks improve worker morale, quality of life and childcare expenses. Shorter workweeks also reduce healthcare premiums for employers, reduce employee sick days and lower operational costs for businesses, it added.

The World Health Organization announced last month that people living with HIV should be among those prioritized for Covid vaccines. The announcement came at the 11th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2021) in Berlin in mid-July.

It followed the results of a large-scale study on the risk of Covid to those living with HIV. Previous studies had presented slightly conflicting findings on this issue. However, many of those studies were comparatively small in scale.

This particular research was an analysis of over a quarter of a million people hospitalized with Covid in 37 different countries. Ninety-five percent were from South Africa, where HIV is a particular problem.

I need some help gaining perspective on my 15-year-old child’s whiplash approach to gender and sexuality. For the last three years, they have been on a journey with regard to their sexuality, declaring and changing identities one every few weeks or months, even when those identities have been both contradictory (how can one be both asexual and polyamorous?) and hypothetical (my kid isn’t dating and hasn’t dated). They are committed to being anything but cisgender and hetero, and that identity—whatever it turns out to be—appears from their actions and words to be the central part of their sense of self. They spent a lot of time on queer wikis, looking up new possible identities. They avidly “ship” fictional characters into same-sex couples, express anger/disappointment when shows/books have hetero couples, and talk constantly about LGBTQIA issues, representation, etc.

I have been, and want to be, supportive. My kid deserves to be loved and celebrated for who they are, and however their identity settles out is fine with me. But I am also struggling with these rapid changes. In the last two weeks, my kid has changed their name once and pronouns twice, colored their hair, worn exaggeratedly feminine eye makeup, pinned their hair up to look masculine, purchased a bikini and a dress and then asked me to buy them a binder (because they think it would be “fun” to look like a boy sometimes). At this point, it feels like they’re trying on identities like costumes, and that makes me very uncomfortable. None of it feels authentic—it seems more like a bid to stand out in a crowd or perhaps to find the limits of my acceptance.

I have worked so hard to make sure my kids know they are loved unconditionally, but if this kid is looking for a boundary, maybe I should set one? I literally squirmed when I wrote that sentence; setting a random limit on acceptance goes against everything I believe. But at the same time, I am so, so tired of hearing about their identity day after day after day and of trying to keep up with the changes. They’re a great, smart, interesting kid for a dozen different reasons; their gender/sexuality is just one aspect of their personality. Would it be wrong of me to say, in essence, “I love you, and will never not love you. When you figure out your identity let me know, and in the meantime can we maybe stop talking about it all the time?” Also, as the world opens up and my kid spends more time outside of our home, can I/should I ask them to be more thoughtful in how they present themselves? It seems to me that trans and nonbinary people cannot simply change their identities and expression for “fun,” so my kid’s behavior feels a little bit like cosplaying in a way that could be hurtful. Or do I just keep keeping my mouth shut, do my best to remember this week’s identity, and pray that this phase ends soon?

LGBTQ patients' negative experiences included providers not believing them, suggesting they were to blame for their health problems, making assumptions without asking, and outright dismissing their concerns.

A bill in the California Legislature would require public universities, community colleges, and secondary schools in the state to provide free menstrual products on campus. The bill notes that the complimentary period products are not only for girls and women, but also intended to be used by biological males...

My husband and I are at crossroads about how to confront our sons about a discovery we made while visiting their shared flat. They are stepbrothers technically—note the word “technically.” My husband and I are both widowers who met and bonded at a support group for single parents surviving after cancer.

My son was 10 when I met my husband and 12 when we married. My stepson is 9 months younger, so they are very close in age. After a somewhat rocky start (both boys were grieving and trying to adjust to a new family norm), they became the best of friends, inseparable from about age 13. They even took the same classes together in high school so they could spend more time together, and made sure to go to the same university.

They are both adults now (25 and 26), live a state over, and rent a flat together. We went to visit them once COVID restrictions had eased, and my husband accidentally walked into the second bedroom (in a two-bedroom flat) thinking it was the bathroom, and discovered it was set up as an office. My husband’s curiosity got the better of him and he snuck around, discovering one king-sized bed in the only other bedroom that contained both of their stuff.

Using data from 2015-2019, the study found that among smokers 18 and older, 54 percent of bisexual women and 50 percent of lesbian/gay women preferred menthol cigarettes, compared to 39% of smokers in the general population.

Bri, who asked The Post to publish only her nickname for fear of being branded a bigot and doxxed by transgender-rights activists, was horrified — not only by the insinuation her teen would commit suicide if she didn’t transition, but also the fact that the general practitioner issued the warning in front of them both.

But some experts now question the threat that they say is commonly used by medical professionals. They believe many doctors are so scared of the label “transphobe” that they automatically present skeptical parents with a doomsday scenario: “Would you rather have a dead son or a living daughter?” or vice versa.

By contrast, a 2011 study spanning three decades by the respected Karolinska Institute in Sweden found that people who underwent sex reassignment were 19 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population. In the US, a yearlong survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality concluded that those who had transitioned were more likely to have attempted suicide than trans people who had not had medical or surgical treatments.

IKEA Canada has launched a Pride campaign, LOVE SEAT, featuring “10 loveseats inspired by different Pride flags.” It doesn’t appear the loveseats are actually available for sale (yet), and they were actually designed by LGBTQ designers from Canada.

Author and sociologist Kyl Myers — who made headlines over the last few years for announcing the birth of her gender-neutral "theyby" — has announced that her child, Zoomer, is a boy.

Myers and her husband Brent Courtney did not announce the child's gender when it was born, stating in 2018, "We don't disclose Zoomer's genitals to people who don't need to know."

New sex robots from leading AI robotics company RealDoll will be programmable as gay or straight, depending on your preference.

The online debate blew up after a popular female rights blogger shared a complaint from another woman earlier this week that several mothers often brought their sons, aged 10 and above, to use the women’s bathroom at her community swimming pool. The boys even showered with their mothers according to the complaint.

Experts said the behaviour exposes the lack of sex and gender education in China where many parents do not see an issue in mixing the use of gendered bathrooms and the children are too young to understand.

The woman said she was once gawked at by one of the boys which made her feel angry and humiliated. When she complained to the swimming pool staff she was told that the boy was “too young” and they could do nothing to “discipline” him.

A male user said he met with a father taking his daughter to a public toilet. “I started to pee when they came in. How embarrassed I was!” he said.