An 88-year-old grandmother was not having any of her son’s casual homophobia. The story, which was shared on Twitter by the woman’s grandchild, has quickly gone viral.
Twitter user @MinovskyArticle’s father was recently ranting and raving about how all the “LGBTQIA+ identities were getting too confusing to keep up with.”
That’s when grandma piped up to tell her son to please shut the hell up and join the rest of the family in the 21st century.
“The way things are now is better than when people had to hide away or killed themselves because nobody understood who they were,” she scolded. “Respect costs you nothing.”
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Word.
Dad ranted about how LGBTQIA+ identities were getting too confusing to keep up with, my 88 year old grandma shut him down. “The way things are now is better than when people had to hide away or killed themselves because nobody understood who they were. Respect costs you nothing.”
— Minovsky (@MinovskyArticle) May 6, 2018
The tweet has received nearly 200,000 likes and 55,000 retweets.
When people questioned how an 88-year-old woman could be so, well, enlightened, @MinovskyArticle explained that Grandma has a few “bi and trans grandkids, and has been open minded and willing to learn if it means her family is happy. That’s all any of us can really ask for.”
To the “I guess woke grandmas are a thing we’re making up now” quote tweeters. I wouldn’t describe my grandma as “woke”, but she’s got bi and trans grandkids, and has been open minded and willing to learn if it means her family is happy. That’s all any of us can really ask for.
— Minovsky (@MinovskyArticle) May 7, 2018
That’s when others chipped in to share stories of their “woke” grandparents, too:
My grandmother hosted my dad’s wedding to his husband at her apartment and cried happy tears at the wedding! Woke grandmas indeed.
— LaurieU (@floobish) May 7, 2018
My 98 year old Roman Catholic Italian grandmother is exactly the same. It’s not made up. When I came out to her all she cared about was whether I’m happy.
— Richard Liantonio (@R_Liantonio) May 7, 2018
When I came out, my nana was the first person to open her arms to me. She went out of her way to research and learn more about my sexuality because it was unfamiliar to her. I’m so, so grateful for her.
— Dial Up ? (@JadeAlys93) May 7, 2018
My grandma was a staunch supporter of the civil rights movement and the movement for LGBTQIA+ rights. She celebrated gay marriage becoming law in 2015. She didn’t much like it when I dyed my hair crazy colors though.
— Katie Rife (@FutureSchlock) May 7, 2018
My grandma is 91 and her reaction to my cousin marrying another man was “Is he cute?”
— Thomas Clinch (@thommytsunami) May 7, 2018
Related: 95-year-old grandpa shocks family, says ‘I’m gay!’ Grandma: ‘I’ve known for years!’
h/t: NewNowNext
djmcgamester
My parents took it in stride when I came out in 1992 at the age of 21. My father is now 84 and my mother 78. Tbh, not of my friends or co-workers had a negative thing to say about it. I wouldn’t necessarily count age as a factor in acceptance.
Josh in OR
My grandmother was born in Kentucky in 1928. She was a devout Baptist, born and raised, who loved God, loved her neighbors, and loved her family, and she was very clear family came first. I was her first grandchild, and that was, to her, something special.
When I was younger – 13-14, in the early 90s – she took me aside and told me, “You just sit there and listen. I am not asking, I am not telling. I just want you to know that…even if I pray that it isn’t so because I know how hard life is for them…if you are gay, I won’t love you any less, and I won’t let anyone in this church get away with hurting yu or making you feel like you aren’t exactly how God made you, OK?”
When I came out to her several years later, at 20, I broke down into tears before I could get it out and she just hugged me tightly and asked, “Did you think I wasn’t going to love you? You know that I believe God does everything, and for good reason. God decided you were gay, and that’s all there is to it. God makes no mistakes, and even if He did, I would never stop loving you.”
When I met my lobster (Thank you, Phoebe Buffey) and brought him home, she was there to welcome him into her home, hugged him and thanked him for making me happy. She told him, ” As long as you make my grandson happy, you can go ahead and call me Gramma, too. If you break his heart, I used to work for the city, so I know where to hide a body, you got me?” It was, obviously, a joke, and she never stopped loving us til she died in 2008. Though I am an atheist, sometimes I imagine she is out there, somewhere…maybe heaven, maybe reincarnated, but out there, and still loving me just as fiercely as ever.
rodzilla
every one gay or str8, male or female or other, benefits by someone telling them repeatedly during their childhood that they will love them no matter what they are, say or do. i grew up gay in the 50’s/60’s in the midwest and thanks to me GRAM i never thought i deserved to be a target of hate.
if you are in a position to be like my gram, do it. save a loved one’s life (or at least a bundle o $ in therapy.)
nitejonboy
She sounds like a lovely woman. My granny never lived long enough for me to come out to her, but I think my mother told her and I know she loved me just the way I am. This is the first mothers day I am going through without my mom and the memories are flooding like the tears.
galileo
Woke? Does that mean she was wake? What is this linguistic madness?!
dwes09
Like most of the things in this world, language is in a constant state of change and evolution. I know this is painful and difficult for regressives, but it is simply a fact of life. Regressive desires for a static un-nuanced world will never be congruent with reality.
hithere2
“Woke” is a valid term – welcome to society
galileo
Woke as in the past tense of wake makes no sense, for if I was to suggest that she was asleep but is no longer currently so then I would go with awake or awoken. Checked with a dictionary and I understand now that it is (US) American slang that has yet to infiltrate the rest of the English speaking world.
Still, ta for ‘t replies, especially ‘t dictionary swallower who sounds reet bunch of laffs to ‘ave at a peerie soiree.
Heywood Jablowme
@galileo: Only a year ago I’d never even heard or seen this use of “woke.” Suddenly it was everywhere in print. It sounded ridiculous at first, but now I’m used to it.
I assume (perhaps incorrectly?) that it started as African-American slang. I’ve still never heard anyone SAY it in real life – with or without “air quotes” – but in print it took over very quickly in the U.S.
Part of the point of a thing like this, of course, is so the cognescenti can SHAME anyone who doesn’t know about it yet. (As dwes09 so rudely demonstrates! Incorrectly too, since he automatically assumed you’re an American “regressive” instead of an Irishman or Scotsman or whatever the heck your lingo is!)
mecorrea1970
I kinda agree with the dad it’s getting a little ridiculous and see nothing homophobic about what he said
dinard38
I do too. Although I found grandma’s response hilarious, her son didn’t make a homophobic comment. He just stated that the labels are getting out of hand- and they are. And I say that as a gay man. You have all of these ever-increasing number of identities, and everyone gets offended when you don’t use their preferred identity. It’s too confusing!!!!!! And uneccesary.
dinard38
hand-held? Haha. Darn auto correct. Wish Queerty would allow us to edit our comments.
And what ever happened to the notifications when someone responded to your comments? They used to have it, but it went away. Now you have to constantly check in to see if someone has responded to your brilliant comments. :-p
Cylest Brooks
I corrected your original comment for you. As far as the notifications… I’m not sure.
Heywood Jablowme
Yeah — to use the grandma’s own terminology, does it really help matters if you THREATEN people that BTQIA+ will have to “hide away” or KILL themselves if nobody understands who they are? Jeez, that puts an awful lot of responsibility on well-meaning people (including gays) who are just trying to keep up.
Presenting it that way is to present BTQIA+ (etc.) as very fragile entities, like jellyfish on a hot beach. Really, if someone unintentionally uses the wrong pronoun one too many times, a BTQIA+ might kill his/her/themself? They’re tougher than that.
SiamSam
You all have internalized homophobia and support heteronormative hegemony. You are Russian trolls and probably voted Trump. YOU WILL LOVE BIG GAY BROTHER.
chris33133
I always liked granny, even back when she was in the Beverly Hillbillies.
hocuspokeme
Aww, this is precious.