The Family Foundation: A Continuing Blight on Virginia

During my over three decades of involvement in Virginia, one of the leading forces pushing anti-women, anti-LGBT, and racist policies has been and remains the so-called "family values" Christofascist organization, The Family Foundation ("TFF").  The goal of TFF - which has some of its antecedents in the "Massive Resistance" which closed Virginia public schools rather than desegregate - effort has been and remains to inflict its toxic, discriminatory, 12th century religious beliefs on all of Virginia (TFF President, Victoria Cobb is pictured at right). TFF was a major supporter of Glenn Youngkin who used "parents rights" to disingenuously cloak his far right social agenda during his gubernatorial campaign.  Thankfully, last year's Virginia  elections saw Republicans lose control of both houses of the General Assembly which has blocked TFF's and Youngkin's efforts to take Virginia back to the 1950's.  The reality is that both Youngkin and TFF support parental rights of only certain parents - namely right wing evangelicals/Christofascist parents - and care nothing about the views and desires of a majority of Virginians.   Besides being virulently anti-LGBT, supporting total bans on abortion, and opposing equal rights for women, TFF is an opponent of decriminalizing marijuana even though studies have shown that anti-marijuana laws have been used to disproportionately criminalize blacks.  A piece in RVA Magazine looks at TFF's ugly agenda.  Here are highlights:

The Family Foundation of Virginia is an evangelical Christian lobby group that finds itself perpetually taking a stand on unpopular issues. They continue their opposition to gay marriage despite a 2021 poll that shows that 71% of Virginians support gay marriage. The Family Foundation will never blink on their opposition to reproductive rights. 72% of Virginians say that they support either keeping Virginia abortion law as is or less restrictive according to a poll from 2023.

The Family Foundation has been around since 1985 and has 20 years of leadership from current president Victoria Cobb. Some Richmonders might remember they were denied service at Metzger’s in 2022. They are the most aggressive conservative lobbyists in Virginia’s General Assembly, even hosting the Virginia March For Life that has Glenn Youngkin and Winsome Sears as annual fixtures despite their main platforms polling in the 20s.

However, they found a way to combine two more unpopular platforms during their lobbying day for parental rights.

During their press conference, parental rights activist Ronda Williams of Newport News compared drug overdoses to exposure to “gender identity experimentation.” Victoria Cobb would clarify the position against the commercialization of marijuana, saying, “parents do not want to see pot shops on every corner.” While that may be true with the parents in the Family Foundation, polls offer a different perspective. A 2021 poll found that 68% of Virginians support legalizing marijuana in Virginia.

The Family Foundation thought that they could lean onto transphobia, but even that’s waning away. A 2023 poll found that only 30% approve of Youngkin’s handling of transgender issues, while 43% disapprove. It’s difficult to believe in the Family Foundation’s opposition to transgender athletes competing in women’s sports due to fairness for women when the organization still opposes the Equal Rights Amendment on their website.

While on the subject of parental rights, the Family Foundation may not believe that all parents have equal rights. Doug Bottoms spoke during the press conference about a transgender parent that read to the class during a Veteran’s Day event in a Fairfax school. Bottoms referred to the parent as “the transgender,” while disgusted that his child found out that transgender people exist in society. The hypocritical Family Foundation would not be opposed if a student learns about a man and his wife but is furious about proud parents that exist outside of conventional heterosexual marriages. This is much in line with Michael Knowles’ statement that “Transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely,” even if it destroys the parental rights of parents who are transgender.

The important thing to remember about the Family Foundation is that their organization is centered around the rejection of reality. Clamping down on their beliefs while most people are ready to leave behind the failed social restrictions that had been previously enforced by the government. The criminalization of marijuana has been responsible for the separation of many families, not due to the effects of the drug but because of law enforcement.

A study from 2021 shows that states that have decriminalized or legalized marijuana have seen a sharp decline in arrests that have disproportionately targeted Black Americans. The Family Foundation’s attempt to block marijuana legalization puts more families at risk of separation due to arrests.

Marijuana use has been decriminalized in Virginia, and studies show that it’s more commonly used among members of the LGBTQ community, especially bisexuals. Since being gay can’t be a crime, then perhaps they can lobby against activities of the LGBTQ community.

Meanwhile, the Democrat controlled General Assembly has passed bills that protect abortion rights and same sex marriage.  Hopefully, Youngkin does not veto them following orders from TFF.