Here’s some great news to end the year: The Disney Channel’s social outreach campaign, “Make Your Mark,” currently includes a video about a 14-year-old boy who happens to have two moms. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) calls the video “the first of its kind for the Disney Channel, which has not included an openly gay character on its programming.”
The “Make Your Mark” series inspires kids to make a difference in the world. Ben, the teen profiled in the abovementioned video, is an aspiring filmmaker who created an anti-bullying film after being bullied himself. He mentions his two moms in passing, and they are shown for only a moment, with their arms around each other—but as Ed Kennedy (who broke the news at After Elton) notes, “it stopped me cold.” To see any LGBT family on a mainstream children’s network is astonishing but very, very welcome.
As I’ve said repeatedly, we need more depictions of LGBT families in children’s media, so our children may see positive reflections of themselves and so children from other families may come to see LGBT families as part of the world in which they live.
Let’s whoop it up big time for this video. It may show only a brief glimpse of an LGBT family, but it could open the door to much more. (At least, I’m hoping that’s the case, if Disney gets enough positive feedback.) Here’s how to contact Disney Channel by phone to commend them—or try sending e-mail to:
- karen.hobson@disney.com — VP of Corporate Communications
- veronica.davidson@disney.com — VP of On-Air Promotion & Production
You can also tweet to @DisneyChannelPR. Note that @DisneyChannel (without the “PR”) is a false account.
Bravo, Disney!
Watch the video via YouTube below:
