Lesbians and parenting

I was delighted to read about the results of a 25-year study, published in USA journal Pediatrics, in which the researchers followed over 70 lesbian couples who'd conceived using sperm from donors. Among the results were that the children were often more intelligent, emotionally mature and confident than kids raised in a heterosexual environment.

For more information on the study, check out this article on The Guardian's website. It also features the stories of four lesbian couples who've had children.

It's wonderful to see such affirming data coming out about lesbian moms. It's such a difficult process for us to become a mom, and so I'd wager that these little ones are very loved and cherished and very intentional.

Changing my airline

If you like the whiskey advert below, this one should tickle your fancy too. Pity this airline does not operate in SA skies.

Desperado

OMG. LOL. I have been browsing through a girl-meets-girl website, looking for the perfect match. What an exercise in futility. Although if you have a sense of humour, it is a case of laughing before you cry into your pinotage. A straight friend of mine who's American had convinced me to give online dating another try. She has, you see, had rather a successful run of her own on a U.S. site. The difference though is depth. The U.S. site was obviously designed by the CIA. It is, in a word, thorough. The SA equivalent, I am afraid, is not. FUNGIRL proclaims, "Seduce my mind and you can have my body", Rose says: "Loves Sunsets and White wine...", while sexyliciouse asks: "are u tired of waiting 4 da ryt girl well hear i am".

All I can say is, OMG - these are supposed to be specially-selected matches that rank, in terms of compatibility, at over 80%. What the hell were these girls thinking when they signed up? Perhaps they were under the influence of White Wine at the time.

Is it too much to ask that prospective matches can spell and use words in their correct context? In this era of social networking and cellphone lingo, is it too much to ask for someone to use 'for' and not '4'? Is there anyone out there who still values the English language, and has the ability to put on the spell check? If there is, darling, 'hear I am'!

:-)

Sunday night ramblings

If you're living life the right way, you'll continually be challenged by it. That is part of the process; it's what comes with the territory when you're pushing the boundaries and breathing in great big mounds of air, as opposed to breathing in, and out through your nose: imperceptible at the best of times.

In my life, it is a joy to be friends with a myriad of people who, while being supporting and sincere, never agree with me just for the sake of being agreeable. They challenge me at every twist and turn, especially when I make outrageous statements or am in victim, or judgmental mode. You see, I sometimes make those statements just to push the envelope, as many of us do, and to see how far away the boundary line is. I do it to test my own perceptions. I like to be challenged. I like to debate things, and I like to be 'made' to see several other viewpoints. Once pointed out, you remember they'd taken hold deep within years ago, but had been buried under the layers of sanctity you'd since absorbed.

Am I talking in riddles? Perhaps, but my point is that without people in your life who're not afraid to challenge you; not afraid to disagree, or to agree to disagree with you, you can become more Stepford in your ways. Black and white are not the only colours.

Oh, oh, oh, Oprah

Oprah must be watching the press quite carefully right now. With the release of Kitty Kelley's new biography, which claims the big O is a closet lesbian, desperately in love with her longtime friend Gayle King, but too scared to come out, she will no doubt be anxious about her well-built up reputation.

I have never advocated the outing of celebs, or of anyone for that matter, but the one web article I read on this topic did make a good point. If Oprah is a lesbian, and if she has indeed hidden it for year, cloaking herself in elaborate acts of heterosexual 'rightness', but at the same time building a talk show legacy where she 'outs' people, and their secrets, is a tad hypocritical.

According to newsblaze.com: "Oprah doesn't want to damage her brand name by admitting that she's a lesbian. She cares more about preserving her billion dollar empire, than she does about advancing the cause of gay and lesbian rights.

"A celeb's private life should be nobody's business, but Oprah is a special case. Oprah has built her reputation on demanding honesty from her guests. Oprah makes her guests cry, and reveal their deepest secrets. What's good for the goose is good for the gander."

They have a point.