For those on the left the working assumption seems to be that discussing values is akin to proselytizing. As a result, many progressives talk a lot about rights, but not much about values. Social conservatives speak passionately about traditional values because they are defending patriarchy. To ignore values is to cede a vital aspect of political discourse to conservatives. To build a new progressive movement, to clarify who we are and what we stand for, we need to talk about our core values.
Progressives believe in family values, but our concept of the family is more inclusive.
Thus men are priests or ministers, corporation presidents, generals, and so forth. From the progressive perspective a woman has that choice because she is a fully empowered individual. Thus we have been accused of supporting '60s values and strange family arrangements such as free love communes and polygamous groups. Of course this is foolishness as most progressives are in couple-based families. Many of us are in families with only one parent, and some are in others where the couple consists of mixed ethnicity or same- sex partners.