From a 1967 speech by Martin Luther King Jr.:
You may be thirty-eight years old, as I happen to be, and one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls upon you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid. […]

Congratulations to Laura Smidzik who was honored tonight with the Brian Coyle Leadership Award at the HRC Twin Cities Dinner.
Laura recently served as Executive Director of Rainbow Families and her commitment to working with me and other adult queerspawn as colleagues lifted some significant barriers in our collaborative efforts. She leads by example in […]

This blog, as my readers know, rarely strays from my specific topic of addressing the intersection of LGBT issues and family issues. This post is an exception. Kind of.
At the age of 16, I was part of a life-shaping experience called Peace Child. I traveled with fifteen U.S.ers (and one Canadian) to the republic of […]

…my own nameplate.

Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions, job leads, and support while I was in career transition.

Thanks to the visionary design/architectural skills of Dana Rudolph, (creator of Mombian) my original website, FamiliesLikeMine.com has a new look. “Answers from Abigail” has been integrated into the site as “Advice,” with simple interface for people to add comments.
Why the change? Well it’s not because I’m having second thoughts about my resignation — quite the […]

As a result of yesterday’s emergency, after which concerned people were sending me messages and waiting for a reply, it was brought to my attention that my contact form has not been behaving dependably.
I have since tested and re-tested the contact form and it looks like it’s back on track. I have no […]

Thanks, everybody, for thinking of me, making sure I am safe.
I was not near the tragedy this evening on the bridge in Minneapolis. Please send your thoughts and energy to the families who have been affected.

This blog, “Damn Straight” and my blog aggregator, Oversampled have both been updated.
The changes made were mostly cosmetic, with special attention paid to the layout of Oversampled to distinguish it from Damn Straight, and to make it clear who has written what.
As always, readers can preview the first few lines of any post on Oversampled, […]

Looks different, huh?
Yeah, if the site you are currently looking at has the standard WordPress blue heading and generic layout, it’s because my blog, “Answers from Abigail” and Oversampled.net are in the middle of an upgrade and overhaul.
I will be unveiling a new look soon.
In the meantime, I send my best wishes to you […]

Today marks the beginning of National Poetry Month. In light of this, I am happy to share this untitled poem my dad wrote for me in 1985. I post it here with his permission.
To see how she
At 12
Thinks

and cares
and understands
and perceives
Is to know that she
In years beyond will
Love

and lead
and influence
and create
and build
In strength.
A testament to […]