Family Pride’s Blog

I read a recent post on Pam’s House Blend about the Manford-Roach Family’s appearance on CNN. She did a great job and raised a few interesting points. The CNN article quotes Dr. James Dobson in a statement he released about Mary Cheney’s pregnancy.

The two most loving women in the world cannot provide a daddy for a little boy—any more than the two most loving men can be complete role models for a little girl.

Pam notes that this statement slams not only gay parents, but single parents as well. According to the 2000 census, of the 34.6 million households with children under the age of 18, 28% are being headed by a single parent. That’s more than 1 in 4 parents.

Of course, this isn’t a numbers game. It doesn’t matter if Dobson discriminates against 100 million people or against 1 person. We all have heard the now cliché quote that “an injustice to one is an injustice to all.” But when you lash out against some 10 million people (and their families), it tends to get a lot more attention.

And Dobson’s statement that boys need dads and girls need moms is in stark contrast to the more than 30 years of social science research on the subject. Despite what Dobson would like the world to believe, that social science research supports parenting by LGBTQ individuals. Being gay or straight doesn’t impact your ability to parent. In fact, Dobson’s continued distortion of this research is angering many of researchers he quotes.

Dobson and his organization, Focus on the Family, are charged with strengthening and defending families. Ironic, isn’t it?

My name is Rachel Farr and I am working for Family Pride as a research fellow this summer. The idea is that I will help to organize the results of past and present research of LGBTQ families and summarize articles published on this research. The goal is to have these results and summaries accessible to the public on Family Pride’s website through a database and search engine. I am very excited to be working on this important project!

In addition to working with Family Pride, I am a graduate student at the University of Virginia in the Developmental Psychology Ph.D. program where I work with Dr. Charlotte Patterson. We are currently involved in an adoptive families project based in the D.C. area that includes same-sex and opposite-sex parenting couples.

Before moving to Charlottesville, I spent lots of time in New York State. I grew up in upstate New York, and then attended Cornell University in Ithaca for undergraduate and graduate school. Following my masters degree in teaching, I taught high school biology for a year in Rochester.

During my years at Cornell, I became very involved in LGBTQ student activities. I was a student leader in Haven (Cornell’s umbrella LGBTQ organization), and I helped plan and organize numerous events. I also facilitated a weekly support and discussion group for women. I continue to be involved at UVA, where I serve on the operating board of the LGBTQ Resource Center and help to lead the Queer Grads group and a women’s social group.

I will be posting blogs periodically throughout the next few months to give updates on the research database project, so stay tuned! I am looking forward to a great summer with Family Pride!