Play School, the second long-running children’s television show in the world, will feature a child with two dads in an upcoming episode.
The Australian show, now in its 50th year, has put out a casting call for five- to seven-year-olds for its “through the windows” segment that will explore several different types of families, including “an adopted family, an extended family, a blended family, an Indigenous nuclear family and a family with two dads,” reports the Guardian.
This is not the first time the series has shown a child with same-sex parents. In 2004, it aired the story of a girl going to an amusement park. She introduced herself by saying, “I’m Brenna. That’s me in the blue. My mums are taking me and my friend Meryn to an amusement park.” Conservative family groups caused the (unfortunately) expected ruckus about this, and then-prime minister John Howard called the decision to air the segment “foolish.”
It’s gratifying to see the show hasn’t let that stop it from continuing to give all children a fuller view of their families and those around them. I wish Sesame Street were so brave.
(For those keeping track: Play School, which first aired in 1966, is second to the U.K.’s Blue Peter, which first aired in 1958.)