Dana Rudolph, the founder of LGBT parenting site Mombian, doesn't mind when people look twice at her family. "Adorable babies are probably the greatest bridge builder for LGBT families," she says brightly. A former vice-president at Merrill Lynch, Rudolph left her job to be a full-time parent shortly after her partner Helen had a child with one of Rudolph's eggs; she started Mombian two years later, in 2005. "I noticed there weren’t many sites with practical information forums for LGBT parents," she recalls. "I thought there was a need for something that sat at the intersection of gay sites and parenting sites, and was both practical and fun." Her son is now 9 years old and Mombian has evolved into a major resource for LGBT families and those who hope to start one.
Rudolph is right that happy LGBT families may be the strongest weapon in the fight for marriage equality, particularly in light of Justice Antonin Scalia's recent comments about whether gay parents might be "harmful" to children (research shows that they are not). She hopes her site will help other gay parents lead by example, too: It features reviews of LGBT-friendly TV shows and children's books, information about adoption services that are welcoming to the LGBT community, and highlights of LGBT-related legal battles occurring around the country. Last week, the site was cited in the Times' profile of Mary Bonauto, a lawyer who spearheaded the fight for marriage equality in Massachusetts.
Of course, Rudolph's ultimate dream is that there wouldn't be a need for her website to exist, but she's optimistic about the direction things are moving. Every June, she hosts Blogging for LGBT Families Day, a sort of "blogging carnival" for gay and straight supporters of LGBT parenting; participation has gone up steadily every year. We talked to her last week about the challenges she faces both as a lesbian mom and the face of the LGBT parenting movement.
Via: Mombian and the Rise of Lesbian Mom Blogs
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