Here’s a chance for a bit of fun activism:
2008 is the 100th anniversary of Mother’s Day. In honor of the occasion, Teleflora is presenting “America’s Favorite Mom,” a weeklong contest airing on NBC in May. Finalists in five categories will appear on NBC’s Today Show the week before Mother’s Day, and in a prime-time special on the day itself, May 11th. There are also various cash and gift prizes for the winners.
Part of me cringes at the thought of moms competing against each other for some claim to superior “momness.” Given that the contest exists, however, I think it is only fair that we nominate all the worthy lesbian (and bi and trans) moms we know. The rules state that they will also accept nominations “for people who have taken on the role of Mom in a non-traditional way, including single dads, grandparents, step-Moms and foster parents.” (I’ll ignore, for the moment, the question of whether single dads (especially those with strong male gender identities) are really taking on the role of mom; I’d prefer to think they are expanding a dad’s role, and for the better.)
The five contest categories are: The Single Mom, The Military Mom, The Working Mom, The “Non-Mom” Mom, and The Chairman [sic] of Everything Mom. As far as I can tell, the contest judges determine the category in which to place nominees. There are also online-only contests in March and April for the Most Inspiring Mom and Most Popular Mom, respectively.
The rules do note, however: “if you are nominating someone other than yourself, you must have that person’s permission to do so. In addition, you are responsible for obtaining any and all releases and consents from any person who appears in or is identifiable in the entry.” Further details are at the America’s Favorite Mom site.
Does an LGBT mom really stand a chance? Who knows? Maybe they’d pick one of us just to seem trendy. Even if not, maybe we can open some eyes behind the scenes.