Polly Pagenhart : Followers & Following

I joined BlogHer as a member in late 2006, having started my blog Lesbian Dad earlier that year. A few years after that there was no turning back: I joined the ad network, and since February 2011 I've worked at BlogHer on conference programming. If it's possible, as a StaffHer I have become an even bigger fan of the organization and the women (and men!) in it than I was before.

I am an enthusiastic believer in the power and value of the dialogs people are having through blogs and blogging community -- whether online, or in person at the conferences, meet-ups, or other events our virtual connections send us to. Our blogs are our voices, shared, and I'm honored to be able to help bring them together "In Real Life."

I began my blog because I wanted to reflect out loud on parenthood in general and my own lesbian parenthood in particular. Like with most personal narrative blogs, it has expanded and contracted over the years, and its ambit has ranged from living with grief and loss (parent, friends, young nephew) to waging LGBT social justice battles on behalf of my community, my family, and myself.

Throughout, my hopes for the blog have remained the same: first, that the stories and conversations in it provide some company and an example (neither good nor bad; just real) for other LGBT people who are making families during these challenging "gayby boom" years. And second, that those stories and conversations help strengthen bridges between LGBT families and those of straight women and men who share the value that love makes a family. I love the opportunity to walk that path with the dynamic community here at BlogHer, as a blogger and as a StaffHer.