I sat there listening to five Mama Dragons reading essays they had each written about their LGBT children.
I was one of close to two hundred attendees at the Club at 50 West in Salt Lake City that night.
The club was very clean and modern. The food simple and straightforward.
The atmosphere healthy.
There were dozens of “Mormon Mama Dragons” in attendance.
One essay described a beautiful gay son, who no longer could endure and felt it necessary to take his life. Another mom described how her daughter became her son. The other three were about how gay children announced their situation to their parents, and the different ways the parents adjusted.
One last essay was written by a mom who had not yet “come out.” A mom from the audience read the essay.
The night was as authentic as any I’ve experienced.
These Mama Dragons have children who have been shunned and persecuted by the larger community. These moms have come together in solidarity to ensure their children are powerfully represented, and, most of all, protected.
There will be many groups like this in the future. When an injustice takes place, moms like these will come together, organize, and right the wrongs that endanger children who have been marginalized.
The gathering reminded me of the famous last scene in the movie, Grapes of Wrath, when Tom Joad leaves to fight social injustice. His mother, Ma Joad, says:
“I ain’t never gonna be scared no more. I was, though. For a while it looked as though we was beat. Good and beat. Looked like we didn’t have no body in the whole wide world but enemies. Like nobody was friendly no more. Made me feel kinda bad and scared too, like we was lost and nobody cared. . . . but we keep – a coming. We’re the people that live. They can’t wipe us out, they can’t lick us. We’ll go on forever . . . . ”
(ref. Wiki., adapted from the novel by the same title, author John Steinbeck)