More Scientific Evidence Supports Our Families

Felt like today would be a good day to reinforce this kind of thing, something about the State Supreme Court holding up the 1998 ban on gay marriage just gets my panties in a bunch.

July 12, 2006: The American Academy of Pediatrics, hardly a fringe or radical group, has once again made it clear that that our famlies are OK with them. This is from Gay.com:

Children of same-sex couples benefit when their parents are able to marry or form civil unions, according to a report commissioned by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“The Effects of Marriage, Civil Union and Domestic Partnership Laws on the Health and Well-Being of Children,” published Wednesday in the July issue of Pediatrics, concluded that civil marriage can strengthen families and help foster financial and legal security, psychosocial stability, and a greater sense of societal acceptance and support for kids.

The report underscores a large body of research showing that children raised by same-gender parents fare as well as those raised by heterosexual parents, and that there is no relationship between parents’ sexual orientation and any measure of a child’s emotional, psychosocial, and behavioral adjustment.

This report is especially important in light of the recent decision of the NY Supreme Court to deny equal marriage rights, partially because the court claimed that it isn’t clear if LGBT parents are good for kids. Well, why would they listen to the nation’s pediatrician’s - the front line defenders of children’s well-being - when they can listen to religious extremists and right-wing homophobes?

Thanks Gay Parenting!
Image courtesy of the BBC

Cadets at the Virginia Military Institute in 1991. Know thine enemy?

Comic-con Wheels and Deals

By Ian Brill, Karen Holt and Heidi MacDonald. This article originally appeared in PW Comics Week on July 22nd. You can sign up for their weekly e-mails here.

Comics’ influence on other media continues to be evident throughout the San Diego Comic-con. There was much excitement at the announcement that artist John Cassaday (Planetary, Astonishing X-Men) is slated to direct a film version of his comic I Am Legend for producer Pierre Spengler’s (Superman Returns) new production slate. Shooting is planned for next year.

Perhaps the biggest news splash at the con, however, is that Frank Miller (Sin City, 300) will write and direct a film version of The Spirit, Will Eisner’s comics classic.

Agent Denis Kitchen, who represents the Eisner estate, told PWCW, “Michael Uslan had the property optioned for about 10 years.” In that time, several writers have been attached to developing the story, including writer Jeph Loeb, who was announced last year. Now, however, the property has landed at Odd Lot Entertainment, headed by Daborah Del Prete and Gigi Pritzker, who will co-finance and produce the film. Batfilm’s Benjamin Melniker is on board as executive producer.

Miller made his directorial debut as the co-director on Sin City, which was based closely on his own comics. Details of the production and his approach to The Spirit will be announced Saturday at the Spirit movie panel. Kitchen praised Miller as a huge admirer of Eisner’s original who would remain faithful to the tone of the original.

Cassaday and Miller will join Dave McKean (Mirrormask) and Enki Bilal (Immortel) as cartoonists making the jump to film directors. And cartoonists are also writing screenplays. Dan Clowes has signed a deal with Jack Black Productions for his Deathray series. "Jack Black has always been a supporter of comics," says Clowes. The deal to option "Deathray" was signed this past Tuesday, July 18.

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