Jeanne Manford, whose love for her gay son in the 1970s led to the founding of PFLAG, is the subject of a moving new picture-book biography by Rob Sanders, one of the leading authors of children’s books about LGBTQ history and historical figures.
“What does a mom do?” Sanders asks at the very beginning of The Mother of a Movement: Jeanne Manford–Ally, Activist, and Co-Founder of PFLAG (Magination), immediately tying Manford’s actions and impact to her role as a mother. Manford, he tells us, was a mother and elementary school teacher, “Caring. Nurturing. Teaching.”
“What does the mom of a gay son do?” Sanders then asks, after explaining that her son Morty grew up and came out as gay. While some moms turned their children away, Manford instead chose to “listen, love, and learn.” After Morty was attacked and beaten for being gay, she comforted him and determined to take action by telling her truth as the mother of a gay son.
Sanders explains how rare that was in 1972, for “Never had a mother written to a newspaper about her gay child” as Manford did. She kept speaking out, however, and marched with Morty in the Christopher Street Parade, the forerunner of Pride. Other LGBTQ people then reached out to her, having been abandoned by their own families; parents of LGBTQ children reached out to learn how to better support them. Manford continued to listen and to organize, an effort that became PFLAG. (Back matter further explains that Manford’s husband Jules, as well as “other LGBTQ+ people and their parents” helped found the organization with her.) The movement spread, transforming lives across the world—but it began with one mother, “Caring. Nurturing. Teaching.”
Sanders, whose last book was a middle-grade novel in verse, brings his poetic instincts to the lyrical prose of this volume, wielding repetition and rhythm to powerfully show how a mother’s love can stand up against forces of hate and change the world for the better. And like the best picture-book biographers, he knows his goal is less about cramming in details of his subject’s life (although key moments are there) and more about conveying her meaning. (Sanders omits mention of Manford’s oldest son, Charles, for example, who had died by suicide shortly before Morty came out. He also makes it seem as if Morty came out after college, when it appears he did so at age 15 after being outed by a therapist. These tweaks are understandable, however, in the context of a simplified, streamlined narrative for younger children.)
While the book deals with some challenging subjects, like bias and hate, it does so in a way that children (particularly the older end of the picture-book range) should understand—and they do need to understand that such things exist in the world, so that they know how to prevent and oppose them. I’ll even say that every parent whose child has come out at any age should read it, as its story clearly but without preachiness offers Manford as a model of acceptance and active allyship.
Sam Kalda’s illustrations are heavy on the muted yellows, oranges, and greens of the 1970s, with lovely details like the page about Manford’s teaching made to look like a collage in progress, or a telephone cord winding across the pages about her outreach (though children today may need to be told what a phone cord is). The Manford family is White (and Jewish, although that is not mentioned); other people with whom they interact are depicted with a variety of racial/ethnic identities.
Extensive back matter includes a thoughtful Discussion Guide; a glossary; further details of Morty Manford’s life, PFLAG, the Christopher Street March, and Manford’s Presidential Citizen’s Medal; a Selected List of Sources; and a bibliography for learning more about the LGBTQ community.
All told, the book is a rousing success and should be of great use in classrooms and libraries teaching about LGBTQ history, even as its theme of motherly love makes it a splendid title for home reading as well.
