GREEN, G. Dorsey 1949(?)-

PERSONAL: Female; born c. 1949; partner of Margaret Sorrel (an osteopathic physician) since 1981; children: two sons. Education: Ph.D. (psychology). Religion: Society of Friends (Quaker).

ADDRESSES: Home—Seattle, WA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Seal Press, 300 Queen Anne Avenue N., No. 375, Seattle, WA 98109.

CAREER: Psychotherapist, writer, and public speaker.

WRITINGS:

(With D. Merilee Clunis) Lesbian Couples, Seal Press

(Seattle, WA), 1988, second edition published as Lesbian Couples: Creating Healthy Relationships for the '90s, 1993.

(With D. Merilee Clunis) The Lesbian Parenting Book:A Guide to Creating Families and Raising Children, Seal Press (Seattle, WA), 1995.

ADAPTATIONS: Lesbian Couples was adapted for audiocassette, Seal Press, 1989.

SIDELIGHTS: A psychotherapist, G. Dorsey Green has coauthored two handbooks for couples in lesbian relationships and for lesbians who want to raise children. Collaborating with D. Merilee Clunis, also a psychotherapist who counsels lesbian couples, Dorsey wrote the 1988 work Lesbian Couples, which emphasizes the importance of communicating about every aspect of a relationship, including money, diversity of lesbian couples, time management, and living arrangements. Library Journal reviewer James E. Van Buskirk called the book "extremely readable, informative, and nonjudgmental," as well as "a significant contribution."

In 1995 Dorsey and Clunis followed up this initial publication with The Lesbian Parenting Book: A Guide to Creating Families and Raising Children. Dorsey, a partner in a long-term lesbian relationship, also draws on her personal experience in this title, for she and her partner have two children, one born by each parent. Divided into seventeen chapters, the book begins with an overview of children's developmental stages, an introduction that Library Journal contributor Pamela A. Matthews found "quick but thorough." Many of the issues the authors deal with, Matthews noted, are of interest to non-lesbian couples as well. The specifically lesbian or gay issues the book broaches include how to deal with homophobic ex-spouses, how to answer children's questions about their lesbian parents' relationship, and how lesbian couples can deal with being inadvertently "outed" by their children. Calling the book "a wonderful guide," Matthews went on to note that the chapter on confronting racism is rather preachy, but added that the book's "few problems . . . do not detract from the overall quality." Booklist's Sarah Barbara Watstein also had positive words for the book, terming it "a comprehensive guide." Similarly, Doris M. Boutain, writing in Family and Community Health, found the volume a "welcomed addition to the literature" that "provides an insightful yet cursory glance into the journey of lesbian parenting." Boutain also described The Lesbian Parenting Book as "concise" and "readable."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 2000, Sarah Barbara Watstein, review of The Lesbian Parenting Book: A Guide to Creating Families and Raising Children, p. 1932.

Family and Community Health, October, 1997, Doris M. Boutain, review of The Lesbian Parenting Book, p. 85.

Library Journal, May 15, 1988, James E. Van Buskirk, review of Lesbian Couples, p. 86; November 1, 1995, Pamela A. Matthews, review of The Lesbian Parenting Book, p. 100.

Off Our Backs, July 31, 1988, Carol Anne Douglas, "Lesbian Couples," p. 12.

ONLINE

Partners Task Force for Gay and Lesbian CouplesWeb site,http://www.buddybuddy.com/ (July 20, 1999), Demian, "Partners' Interview 19: I Can't Think of Anybody in the World I'd Rather Parent With" (interview with Green and Margaret Sorrel).*