Idaho resolution honoring ‘traditional’ two-parent families approved by Senate

Idaho resolution honoring ‘traditional’ two-parent families approved by Senate

News Story by Tracy Simmons | FāVS News

Idaho lawmakers are considering legislation that would make it the first state to dedicate five weeks annually to celebrating traditional opposite-sex, two-parent families.

The “Traditional Family Values Month” would run from Mother’s Day through Father’s Day, according to the resolution that passed the Idaho Senate last week 27-7 with one abstention.

Sen. Ben Toews, R-Coeur d’Alene, who introduced the measure, wrote in a personal blog last year that it celebrates “the transformative power and beauty of God’s design for the family” and asked for prayers for its success.

The traditional family and societal impact

Brad Dacus, president and founder of the Pacific Justice Institute, which co-wrote and supported the resolution, said in 2024, “The Traditional Family is the foundation of a healthy, thriving society.”

Representatives from the institute did not respond to requests for additional comment.

A 2024 draft of the resolution quoted the Rev. D. Paul Sullins, senior research associate at the Ruth Institute, who said “Traditional, religious marriage norms — a lifelong sexual union, between man and woman, observing chastity outside marriage and fidelity inside it — benefit children by establishing strong conditions for such care, and may add other benefits.”

The resolution claims children raised by opposite-sex parents are less likely to become delinquent, attempt suicide or face imprisonment, citing the International Federation for Family Development.

Rep. Elaine Price, R-Coeur d’Alene, argued for the designation during last week’s floor debate.

“We constantly hear that people want to be their authentic selves, and I feel like the box that I fit in, I don’t get to be my authentic self,” Price said in the Idaho Capitol Sun. “This traditional family month would allow me to be my authentic self, identify in this box. So I feel that we should be able to have this month as well as everybody else who gets their month.”

Each week would celebrate different elements of family: motherhood, followed by sons, brothers and uncles, then daughters, sisters and aunts, then grandparents. The final week, including Father’s Day, would celebrate fatherhood and marriage between a man and a woman. Businesses, churches, schools and communities would be encouraged to participate.

Critics, however, question the resolution’s interpretation of traditional families.

“Very often people from the right wing religious world speak of traditional families and claim to root their views in the Bible, which is pretty ridiculous,” said Rabbi Dan Fink, recently retired from Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel in Boise. “When you look at biblical families there are people having children with handmaidens, men have multiple wives. It’s far from what these people think of as traditional 1950s, or 1850s American families.”

Fink said what matters most is creating a loving home where children are treated with respect and compassion.

“It’s not dependent on who is in the family. It depends on how they choose to raise their children and what they value,” Fink said. “I know so many non-traditional families who are raising excellent kids, and I know plenty of traditional families doing a pretty poor job raising kids.”

Though the resolution would have no legal standing if passed, Fink believes it sends a troubling message.

“It’s imposing a model of family that’s really rooted in bigotry and does not apply to a large majority of families in the state. It’s a kind of callus cruelty, really,” he said.

The resolution currently sits in the House State Affairs Committee for further consideration. The Idaho Legislature has also recently taken steps to challenge the legality of same-sex marriage.

In January, the House passed a resolution calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider its 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which established the right to same-sex marriage nationwide. That resolution has also been deferred to the Senate State Affairs Committee.