The New Yorker unveils Mothers’ Day cover art featuring lesbian parents
The New Yorker magazine in the US has unveiled its latest cover, which features an image by a graphic artist, of a lesbian couple waking up on Mothers’ Day to gifts from their children.
The cover was drawn by Chicago artist Chris Ware, who also wrote an editorial piece to accompany it, discussing the evolving nature of US politics, and the growing support for equal marriage measures, within the larger context of moves towards full equality.
He writes on the growing Republican support for same-sex marriage, despite the Republican Party’s national committee voting unanimously to reaffirm its opposition to equal marriage.
“Now that the numbers are in on same-sex marriage, many Republicans are falling like dominos all over themselves to express their support for something that only a few months ago they steadfastly claimed to stand against. They’ll probably soon claim that this is how they felt all along, and they were simply too hamstrung by politics to be able to say what they really meant. Well, okay.”
Going on to psychoanalyse some people’s opposition to measures to legalise equal marriage, he highlights what he thinks is the most important part of marriage.
“In the spirit of openheartedness and what life is really all about, I’ll go so far as to say that the fear of others may mask some deep-seated desire to understand, and maybe even to love. Because really, what is there to be afraid of? Few people today don’t know—or have in their families—at least one loving couple who are raising children, same-sex or not. And it’s really just the loving part that matters.”
He concludes by saying that the “evolution” towards equality represents a larger move forward in human nature, and quotes his wife who asks why people are so offended by the idea of same-sex couples being allowed to marry.
“That same-sex marriage could go from its preliminary draft of ‘diagnosable’ to the final edit of ‘so what?’ must indicate some positive evolution on the part of the larger human consciousness. My wife, being a biology teacher, puts it even more succinctly: ‘Why are all these people so worried about who everybody else is sleeping with, anyway?’ (Score two for Moms.)”
