One Million Moms’ Spidey Senses must be tingling, because JC Penney is about to make another bold statement: taking a cue from their Mother’s Day ad, JC Penney will release a Father’s Day ad next month that will feature a family with two dads.
The caption in the catalogue indicates that the family in the ad (right) are not just models; the two men are a real-life couple who are the parents of the photographed children as well. “What makes Dad so cool?” the ad asks. “He’s the swim coach, tent maker, best friend, bike fixer and hug giver — all rolled into one. Or two.”
The new ad has yet to make it to the One Million Moms list of issues, but given their vociferous sound and fury regarding all things gay lately at the department-store retailer, we can expect them to chime in soon. The conservative group has led two unsuccessful boycotts recently against JC Penney — first, over JC Penney’s partnership with Ellen DeGeneres; and second, over a Mother’s Day ad that featured a family with two moms. In response to the Mother’s Day ad, One Million Moms released a statement that accused the department-store retailer of taking “sides” and attacking traditional families.
The way I see it, the definition of “traditional families” has evolved over time, and will continue to evolve and change. Why can’t two dads be celebrated on Father’s Day in public the same way a family with one dad and one mom are celebrated? Call me ignorant, but I don’t think parenthood should be condemned because of sexual orientation. What makes a parent extraordinary is their commitment to family, love, and community, not whether or not they fit some antiquated one-man-one-woman that organizations such as One Million Moms seek to reinforce. (We figured that we could wait for their standard homophobic response, but why not just address their main points now and save ourselves the time later?)
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