Everybody's Favorite Mothers at Illusion Theater

Everybody's Favorite Mothers is a theatrical celebration of unconditional love and unlikely activism that started in the summer of 1972 when one mother marched in a parade with her gay son. She carried a home-made sign boldly declaring her support — and a new kind of movement was born. On that day she was an unknown hero to dozens of shocked gays and lesbians — but the story didn’t end there.  Jeanne Manford and her husband Jules went on to co-found a support group for parents — an organization that would eventually become known around the world as PFLAG which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023. Everybody's Favorite Mothers is also about young queer men and women coming out, standing up to power, and accelerating the fight for gay rights. It was a time when homosexuality was illegal in 49 states, when the American Psychiatry Association still diagnosed homosexuality as a mental illness, and police raids on any kind of same-sex gatherings were common and life-threatening.  With violence now against the transgender community and LGBQT+ youth at an all-time high, Everybody's Favorite Mothers isn’t nostalgic — it’s a warning that there’s still work to do, and that history can inspire us to find ways forward.

>University of California Santa Barbara LAUNCH PAD production notes (2024)