10 Million Proud Mothers

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Sometime back I discussed onemillionmoms.com (grrrr) and their attack on Ellen DeGeneres and JCPenny. I proposed setting up a counter to their hate mongering and I have been, very slowly, working on that. I have set up another WordPress blog, 10millionproudmothers.com, in the hopes that we can get the LGBTQ community and their allies to share their stories and to stand up to the bullies. I have not contacted PFLAG yet though I will, probably today, because I do want to work closely with them.

I really do want to get up to ten million followers for it, and I think we can if we spread the word. I don’t want our number to be just a hyperbole, as it is with onemillionmoms.com. The open-minded and open-hearted in this country really do outnumber the hate mongers, we just have been too quiet about it. That is changing, and I am glad, because we need it.

We need it because the voices of bigotry have gotten louder of late, their forces more politically motivated. They know they are becoming increasingly irrelevant, which is why they send out their champions, like Rick Santorum, out to whip up the fearful into a feeding frenzy. Well I refuse to give in, and we don’t have to, if we show them just how much we outnumber them, and maybe even educate them by example. Maybe a few of them can learn to live in real love if we show them what that means, and as for those that refuse to learn, well, they will at least learn how hopelessly outnumbered they are.

I have asked people to spread the word and to share their stories of how they have taught their children, how they were taught by their parents, or any story that is a great example of what it means to be an LGBTQ ally with me so I can share it on the blog. I realized today that I have not been a good example in that regard, so I shared my story. I hope that you do the same, and that you encourage others to join us.

How Many Moms?

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I told you it was going to be one of those days. Maybe I’m just more fired up than normal. Maybe I am fed up in general, or maybe there really are more attacks to defend from so I have no choice but to motivate. Whatever the cause I am ready to go and have a lot to say. As I said earlier, we have been silent for too long.

Take, for instance, how we have let right wing radicals co opt words like “mother.” We suffer the thinly veiled excuse that “it’s for the children” but never stop to ask what loving mother would want their child to grow up in a world were sexism, heterosexism, cis sexism and race hate were allowed to flourish. Why do we let them claim that word for their own? I’m not talking about taking away their right to use it, I’m asking why don’t we attempt to use it for ourselves?

How does a group like OneMillionMoms.com get a pass on speaking for all the moms out there? They have taken up arms in their war against LGBTQ equality and brought the battle to JCPenny over hiring Ellen Degeneres as a spokesperson. As queer icons go Ellen is pretty darn vanilla. She’s out of the closet but rarely makes an issue of her sexuality and is one of the most family friendly celebrities of any sexuality that I can think of. Which is probably the point. After all, if kids see that a lesbian can be just folk, like them, why then, they might think gay people deserve to be treated with dignity. We wouldn’t want that now would we?

Let’s get back to my main point though. We should reclaim the words “mom”, “mother” and any variation there of from these people. Proud mothers of queer children, whether gay, bi, lesbian, transgender or anywhere else on that rainbow should let these bigots know, “hey, I’m a mom and your efforts are atacking my child!”

It is for this reason I propose a new organization. I say we form 10millionproudmothers.com to counter these spiteful bigots. I know you are out there. Some of you have queer children. Some of you do not but don’t want to see your child growing up thinking it is ok to hate someone just for being different. Some of you may be relatively neutral in regards to LGBTQ issues but tired of a small group speaking for you. So don’t let them. Let’s put these people in their place. Let’s speak for ourselves!