Jeanne Manford died last week. This may not mean much to you, but you could argue that she has had a larger impact on our society in the last 40 years than many more famous and influential figures. What did she do? She stood up and said she loved and supported her child - no big deal, except this was 1972, and her son happened to be gay. Watch Rachel Maddow's tribute to her in the video clip below:
You may not think it takes courage to publicly support a gay child - and it doesn't, today. In the 70's, though, things were very different. Jeanne's support of her son, in spite of what friends, neighbors, or family may have thought, helped to change this country. While other parents were ignoring or even disowning their children, she stood up and said, "I'm proud of my son". This attitude has helped fuel the remarkable advance of gay rights during the last couple of decades. We are where we are today because of people like Jeanne Manford. Jeanne was a co-founder of PFLAG, an organization that brings together people who have gay or lesbian loved ones.
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| Jeanne Manford, marching with her son, Morty, in 1972. |
We'd all like to think we'd have stood up in support of our children, but, as I said, it was a different time. Unless you were in that situation in that time, you can't really know. I do know that, because of people like Jeanne Manford, I don't have to face what she did. Because of her, thousands of families love and support their gay and lesbian members. I can't imagine a greater legacy.
That's great, Gregg. I must admit that I'd never heard of Jeanne Manford, but she's certainly worth remembering, isn't she?
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