“Mother” means awesome, beautiful, cool, loving, protective — but another timeless definition is orbiting. “Since the mid-20th century, mother has been used to refer to a feminine queer person who is powerful, confident, and a respected leader,” Jaidan McLean, co-editor of the American Speech’s quarterly dictionary, , tells . The slang usage of “mother,” says McLean, came from “Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ people who created an underground ballroom scene and Houses for members to find community and family,” for example, trans woman, drag queen and LGBTQ+ youth mentor of the House of LaBeija, “a safe- haven for queer people of color and a home with a family for those who don’t have one,” according to its .
Kelly Elizabeth Wright, assistant professor of Language Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explains: “In a ballroom context, a mother can be a ‘drag mother’ who teaches a new queen the art and perhaps the business of drag or vogue or emceeing — a present figure who enables their self-expression,” Wright tells TODAY.com. “In this culture, houses exist where a mother or leader will train a potentially large group of daughters to compete against other houses for ballroom trophies, cash prizes, and bragging rights.
It is a structure similar to that of a fashion house where artists create apprenticeships through which others can learn the trade.” The television show “Pose” and certain famous pop stars have resuscitated the slan.
