By Alex Temblador
In The Next Family’s latest video, Brandy Black and Susan Howard talk about Father’s Day.
As a two-mom family, the holiday of Father’s Day doesn’t play a big role within their family, as may be the case for many modern families whether they be two-mom families or single-mom families. However, Brandy and Susan explain that they do celebrate it on a smaller scale — their children take their “Goddaddies,” or godfathers, out for brunch or a meal.
Father’s Day can be a bit awkward for this two-mom family, such as when people tell them, “Happy Father’s Day.”
“We are not fathers,” says Brandy. “She is not a father, I am not a father.” They go on to explain that though people may do it as a joke or ignorantly, saying such things in front of their children can cause confusion.
Still, the moms understand that with LGBTQ parents, people may not fully understand yet that LGBTQ parents take on both roles rather than stereotypical roles associated with opposite-sex parents.
“To be honest, we’re both sort of mothers and fathers, playing both roles,” says Brandy. The moms encourage people to ask LGBTQ families how they celebrate Father’s Day so as to best asses how or if to offer a “Happy Father’s Day” to one or both of the parents.
The moms also discuss what the word “father” or “dad” means to them and how the roles of dads have changed or are changing.
Check out the video below and to all those who identify as fathers, Happy Father’s Day.
Alex Temblador is a writer for The Next Family and founder of a women’s blogazine, Fempotential.