This past week has been busier than most around here.  So you know my head is really spinning!  Ha!  No, but seriously, I’ve accomplished so many meaningful goals on my journey this week, all in the midst of the news of the demise of Prop 8 and the rise of public support for marriage equality for all!  Life couldn’t be better…that’s me being as grateful as I can be, of course! 

Here’s a recap of this week’s highlights:

• I was interviewed by Rachel Hardy, LA’s Holistic Health Examiner, and quoted in her article on my reactions to the overturn of Prop 8 in California.
• Donna Lee and I interviewed filmmaker Lisa Marie Evans on Coach Sappho’s ‘GLBT Talk’ Podcast.  Be sure to check out the recording and Lisa’s website.  And, the good news is that Lisa is still taking video entries for her documentary until 9/1/10, so be sure to get yours in to her.  She’s going to give credit to everyone she puts into the film.
• I’m actively ‘heart hunting’ for single lesbians who are ‘ready for love’ across the U.S. and specifically in the Dallas, Texas and Maryland/Washington D.C./Virginia areas right now.  Don’t know if you are ready for a deeply satisfying, lasting relationship? It’s easy to take your ‘pulse’ on that right now.  Just click here to take my free quiz.

Lastly, getting back to the Prop 8/marriage equality issue, (more…)

Thanks to lesbiandating.net for sitting up and taking notice of all our good works over here at Coach Sappho!

Lesbiandating.net just named Coach Sappho the #2 blog of the

41 Best LGBT Lifestyles and Dating Blogs

This is fun stuff.  Be sure to surf on over to lesbiandating.net and check it out!  We’re also considered a ‘must read’.

Thank you to the folks at lesbiandating.net for giving us this recognition.

I happened to catch a piece on The Today Show this morning on ‘Gray Divorce’.  Gray divorce is defined as marriages that end ‘later in life’.   Older persons face some unique stresses when their relationship ends, such as worrying about growing old alone, negative financial changes, feeling less ‘attractive’ and figuring out how to enter a ‘less viable’ singles market.  Younger divorcees tend to have more options and more time to rebuild their love lives.

The ‘Gray Divorce’ discussion got me thinking about the topic of gay divorce, and more specifically, lesbian breakups and lesbian divorce.  I remember a few years back reading an article in a professional magazine about the ‘disenfranchisement’ lesbians go through when their relationship ends.

According to dictionary.com disenfranchise is defined as:

To be deprived of a franchise, privilege or right

As a survivor of gay divorce myself, (more…)

As gay pride month draws to a close, I came across a really amazing story this morning:

The story of the rainbow flag.   Have you ever sat back and wondered:

• Where did the rainbow flag come from?
• Who created the rainbow flag?

I know I never really thought about it, but, there is a really cool, TRUE story about the rainbow flag’s birth, it’s creator, the events surrounding it’s creation, etc.

The rainbow flag’s creator is a man named Gilbert Baker and you’re going to love this seven minute video explaining it all.  Do yourself a favor and watch the gay ‘Betsy Ross’ as he tells the story…

Hello there!  I’m so glad to be back home after my amazing trip north for a niece’s wedding, visiting with family and colleagues, enjoying Maryland steamed crabs, etc.  Ahhh…look to the left, here I am at the close of my trip enjoying the hot, hot Baltimore Gay Pride Festival!

One of the many emails I returned to after my trip contained a very important article I really want you to read because it simply reminds all of us how UNEQUAL the tax laws are for gay and lesbian couples in the United States.

The article reminds us that only 65% of Americans in general have a will, and it often takes a crisis such as a death to spur us to act.  According to the article, entitled ‘Gay Couples Caught in Financial Limbo’, gay and lesbian couples must now spend thousands of dollars putting into place the protections legal marriage confers easily and straight married couples take for granted.

Even so, when a partner dies, gay partners can still be charged estate taxes on their partner’s estate and we can’t receive social security benefits (as well as many other benefits married heterosexual couples enjoy).

These FACTS should concern everyone.  Money is always a major area of concern and stress for couples, even in the best of circumstances.  Imposing these additional financial losses, penalties and burdens on gay and lesbian couples is another reason why achieving marriage equality is so important, not only for individual gay and lesbian couples, but for the health and vitality of our entire country in these trying economic times.

A fascinating book has just come out that, for once, sheds a positive light on the state of marriage in America.  Hurray for a book that looks at love with the ‘half glass full’ for once.

Now, to be honest, I haven’t read the book yet.  Can’t wait to though.  In the meantime, a great review on Salon.com gives us a peek into the book, written by Tara Parker-Pope.  The book is called

For Better: The Science of Marital Unhappiness

According to the article and other reviews, Parker-Pope has done a great job of combing the research to lay certain myths to rest, especially the one that says 50% of all marriages are doomed to end in divorce.  Instead she reports that the percentage varies based on a number of factors, for example

“The 20-year divorce rate for couples who got married
in the 1980s is actually around 19 percent.”

Well now, that’s refreshing isn’t it?  Reminds me how often we take what we hear too literally.  Now one idea mentioned in the Times article did jump out and slap me in the face:  the results of research does suggest if you or your partner snores (and it bothers the other), it could create a big drain on your relationship.  Reminded me of catching part of the TV show ‘The Marriage Ref’ last week where the wife snored and wouldn’t admit it, even though it was obviously having a very detrimental effect on the couple’s relationship.

I hope you’ll read the book and comment here on your thoughts.

I especially look forward to any references to marriage equality and/or gay marriage in the book.  I know Parker-Pope makes a comment in the review about the high breakup rate in the early years, amongst gay and lesbian couples, which she seems to attribute not to anything wrong with gay couples, but to not having enough ties that bind.  Hmmm…..

Many times when talking with my singles clients, I hear them voice a lack of faith in their ability to attract a deeply satisfying, lasting relationship.  After all it does take patience to find Mz. Right.  Finding Mz. Right takes time, effort, and a willingness to accept rejection.  Finding YOUR Mz. Right takes guts.

And, often when talking to couples going through a difficult time, I sense a loss of belief in their love. It happens, probably to most couples at some point.  I know that doesn’t make it any easier to bear.  And, you shouldn’t bear it alone, without support.

I’m here to remind you to ‘keep the faith’.  If you’re single, just know that with the right focus, you can find her.  And, if you’re in a relationship, problems can often be solved or, even if they can’t be solved, they can still be dealt with, and often, without destroying all that you share.

So, today, in the spirit of hope, I give you Shania Twain’s amazing video ‘From this Moment on’.   Just take a few minutes to soak in the message, feeling how it feels to be this connected to love…