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Jonathan Rauch regularly has good ideas.  Now he has another one.  Here’s an excerpt from his article:

In 2008, California’s voters approved Proposition 8, which rescinded court-ordered same-sex marriage. Some angry gay activists then boycotted or protested businesses that employed Prop 8 supporters, even if all the supporters did was donate $100.  We don’t know how many people actually lost jobs because of these heavy-handed tactics. Probably very few. But never mind; the stratagem became the story. “Prop 8 Foes Turn to ‘Blacklist’ Tactics,” shouted a USA Today headline. Justified or not, fear spread in conservative circles that getting on the wrong side of gay marriage could cost you your job. “People tell us that their livelihoods have been threatened solely because of their public advocacy opposing same-sex marriage,” said Maggie Gallagher, founder of the National Organization for Marriage. “Fine,” say some gay rights activists. “If they’re going to be bigots, they should be afraid to speak out.” Wrong. What the gay-rights movement has always really stood for is a country where we can all express our identities and convictions without fear: a country without closets, gay or straight.  On precisely that principle, gay civil rights groups have for years pressed for laws protecting gays from workplace discrimination, with only spotty success. At the federal level, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act has been stalled for years. Cultural conservatives insist it enshrines “special rights.” Enter Ben McAdams and Derek Brown. And a new idea.

At the NYTs, an interesting post by Thomas Edsell on Gingrich and cultural conservatives.  I see the same thing that Edsell sees, and it is shocking.  Only a few years ago, Christian conservatives seemed genuinely outraged at Clinton’s sexual misconduct and, in general, seemed sincerely to place a high priority on supporting politicians who, at least publicly, were seen as sober, clean-living, family-oriented people.   But in South Carolina, anyway, Christian conservatives didn’t seem very enamored of either Santorum or Romney — each a poster boy from central casting for what used to be called “family values” — and instead largely voted for Gingrich, beside whom Clinton on his worst day seemed like an uptight Sunday School superintendent.  In fact, I think it’s fair to say that if Christian conservatives can accept Gingrich’s personal behavior, there is absolutely nothing, nada, in the area of personal sexual and family conduct that is unacceptable to them.  When exactly did this change occur, and what on earth does it mean?  I’m not sure, but one guess is that society as a whole, conservative Christians included, are changing their minds on nearly all things sexual and familial at what amounts in socio-political terms to warp speed.   I know there are other (and maybe more damning) possible explanations, but this strikes me as one of them, anyway. (Sigh.)   It seems quite likely that, after Florida, in the coming weeks, Gingrich, a truly awful man, will win or nearly win a number of primaries in the Deep South, largely on the basis of the male evangelical voter who used to be, but appears to be no longer, concerned with the issues of marriage and family.

On this most auspicious of federal holidays, the day every year when I tear up watching old footage of the great man, the Fredricksburg (Virginia) Free-Lance Star editors have written a powerful piece, citing in part my colleague and director of our Center for Thrift and Generosity Barbara Dafoe Whitehead:

THE Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. told the truth, and when he did it ruffled feathers and stirred up trouble. In the 44 years since his death by assassination, nothing much has changed.

The truth is like a mirror, and the reflection–injustice, racism, oppression, pain, dysfunction–produces discomfort long before it becomes a catalyst for change. King paid the ultimate price for speaking truth, losing his life at the peak of his influence. Others also have reaped disdain or scorn for their attempts to reflect reality. Witness the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who, as assistant secretary of labor in the Kennedy administration, saw that welfare policies that contributed to the breakdown of the black family were counterproductive. He was called a reactionary by Great Society loyalists, but he was right.

So was Vice President Dan Quayle, who, in 1992, condemned television’s “Murphy Brown” for exalting unwed motherhood. Social historian Barbara Defoe Whitehead, in an award-winning article in The Atlantic Monthly the next year, statistically proved that “Dan Quayle was right,” that “children in families disrupted by divorce and out-of-wedlock birth do worse than children in intact families on several measures of well-being.”

In 1964, when the War on Poverty began, 6.8 percent of births were out of wedlock. Today, that number is 40 percent. Among blacks it is a tragic 72.3 percent. And what’s ahead for children born to single moms? They are five times as likely to be poor, and much more apt to have emotional and behavioral problems, drop out of school, smoke, drink, use drugs, and experience unwed and/or teen pregnancy themselves. The cycle of pain and poverty continues unless some group or government or family or group of families initiates a change–a change that begins with a reality check. more

At Wyzax Surrogacy Consultants, we ensure that all of our animals, I mean surrogates, are well provided for and attended to- in the most comfortable of home environments.

The stay of surrogates at surrogate homes offers distinct advantages as follows:
a)-Our Co-ordinators & Social workers can have a direct control over the surrogates
b)-Surrogate tests, medicines, food, nutrition & hygiene can be strictly monitored
c)-Any unforeseen complications can be immediately attended to
d)-A positive environment can be created for the surrogates through devotional music, extra curricular activities, entertainment tools, & by engaging them in developing vocational skills
e)-Strict monitoring can be done to ensure that the surrogates avoid physical contact through crucial periods of pregnancy
f)-It can be ensured that the surrogates stay away from prohibited activities like smoking, consuming alcohol, eating tobacco, etc
g)-Complete physical & mental rest can be ensured , especially after ET
h)-The surrogates can be provided a family environment by allowing them to be with their husbands & kids regularly
i)-Proper security for the surrogates can be ensured
j)-Human rights of the surrogates can be ensured
k)-Basic needs for a comfortable living can be provided- hot & cold water, coolers & heaters, television & radio, refrigerator & cooking gas, etc.

“As soon as men have figured out how to have babies without women, it will be the end of women kind, it will be the coming gynocide.” -Andrea Dworkin.

Surrogacy is a great place to start in the devaluing of women.

On this episode, we hear first from a woman who never knew her biological father. Her lesbian mother had an affair with a man and never told him about the pregnancy. Later in life, the woman experienced infertility for herself and was encouraged by her doctor to use an egg donor.

Our second story is by a transgender donor-conceived person- it is a beautiful letter written to hir father, asking him in a number of ways one simple question, who are you?

Listening to NPR while driving home tonight I heard senior Washington editor Ron Elving reporting from New Hampshire. Romney winning, he said, would be unsurprising: “It will be like a well child check and we can all smile and go home.”

After a lifetime of hearing male political reporters use war and sports metaphors to make their point, I was pleased to hear, this time, a pediatric metaphor.

Terrific and thoughtful commentary happening in the comments section of this post by Mitch Pearlstein. Be sure to take a look.

Curious? Check it out and consider liking it – and thanks!

…That increase has also brought stories of corruption, child trafficking, and fraud. Parents began to publicize the stories their adopted children told them when they learned English: that they had parents and families at home, who sometimes thought they were going to the U.S. to receive an education and then return. Media investigations have found evidence that adoption agencies had recruited children from intact families. Ethiopia’s government found that some children’s paperwork had been doctored to list children who had been relinquished by living parents as orphans instead, which allowed the agencies to avoid lengthy court vetting procedures…

A FamilyScholars reader writes to me about the NYT front page article this week about young adults with Asperger’s syndrom dating:

As the parent of a teenager who has been diagnosed with Asperger’s, I found this to be a sensitive, well-written article. Be sure to click on the videos that are embedded in the article.

In thinking about why I like those embedded videos, my mind wandered to what you’ve written about the need to listen to kids — to make sure that their voices are heard on issues such as ART, divorce, and adoption. I like that the NYT is giving Jack and Kirsten a chance to speak directly.

Dynamic story from a woman who never knew her father, grew up with her gay mother, and later on confronted the fertility industry and all of its webs of possibilities when she discovered her own infertility.

 

I grew up with an identity problem which affected my relationships and self esteem, not to mention the undescribable “longing” and constant ache to know the piece of me that was missing…

…I was unable to get pregnant, because my eggs were too old. We consulted with a fertility doctor who advised us to use an egg donor.

One story, and one poem – from two donor-conceived people with very different views.

Over at The Atlantic,  Elizabeth Marquardt and Brad Wilcox take on the “Does parenthood make your marriage miserable?” question, based on the findings from the  new State of Our Unions report out today. 

Also, if you are in the New York City area, Marquardt and Wilcox will be discussing the new report tonight at the Center for Public Conversation. Yours truly and my wife and fellow FamilyScholars blogger Amber Lapp will also be in on the conversation, which will be moderated by David Blankenhorn (Amber and I are new parents — so we’re supposed to have something to say about the report!). See here for full details.

Here’s to a wonderful American holiday that celebrates the coming together of family and friends in an attitude of gratitude, open to all regardless of religious or cultural background, with little emphasis on consumerism except for over-consumption of turkey and pumpkin pie.

Happy Thanksgiving!