If you have ever teared up at the PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) contingent at a Pride march, bring out the handkerchiefs for this film. The Mama Bears are moms from a background of fundamentalist, conservative Christianity who face the dilemma of reconciling their profoundly anti-LGBT belief systems and communities with the reality that one of their own beloved children is gay or trans.

The film opens with a montage that includes fire and brimstone denunciations of homosexuality, a bible-reading lesbian who is struggling to “choose” heterosexuality, and a lovely little girl who is dancing in her yard, long dress and long hair flowing as she twirls. A discerning eye might spot that the little girl was born a boy, but if not, all is made clear as we are introduced to her family. Her mother, Kimberly Shappley, quotes from Ecclesiastes 3:

“To everything, there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.” Amazingly, she is referring to the fact that she now fully accepts that her “son” Kai is her daughter’ and that now is the season for people like her daughter. Completely adherent to the fundamentalist doctrine, she had believed it her duty to vote for the Republican ticket, to “get this Christian nation back living by the bible”. This meant that LGBT people needed to be helped to see the truth and choose not to be who they were or burn in eternal hellfire. Now she sees that one can indeed be a believer without harming LGBT people.

I lost my heart to precocious little Kai Shappley, who had been telling his mother that he is a girl since the age of 2 ½!  She had been punishing him for this until she overheard him praying to die, when she began a transformation into an award-winning activist that is wondrous to behold. She and several other participants share their stories of acceptance, love, change, and activism. They join a growing organization called Mama Bears, along with tens of thousands of others like themselves. https://www.realmamabears.org  One of their innovations is the “Free Mom Hugs” movement,

https://freemomhugs.org/what-we-do , which now has chapters in every state.

Directed by DARESHA KYI,  “Mama Bears” is currently on the festival circuit. Hopefully, it will get distribution and be widely available, as it is important, needed, and highly watchable.

 

PS Janet Prolman reviewed the film at Provincetown Film Fest, and the next screening is at Outfest in LA ,  
For all other future screenings follow https://mamabearsdoc.com/

 

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Review: Janet Prolman

Janet Prolman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, where her mother nicknamed her “my little queer.” She has also lived in North Carolina and New York. A lover of short stories, theater, music, and performance, she knows the lyrics to almost every song or advertising jingle she’s ever heard. Now on Cape Cod, she enjoys kayaking and frequenting Provincetown.