LGBTQ-inclusive kids’ media can be hard to come by. That’s why I’m tremendously excited that Xfinity On Demand has just launched a new Kids & Family collection within its LGBTQ Film & TV collection on Xfinity X1, so Xfinity customers can easily tune in to inclusive content for their kids. I’m also honored that they’re featuring Mombian Recommendations, including films, TV shows, vlogs, music, and more!
If you’re an Xfinity customer, you can find the collection by saying “LGBTQ” or “Pride” into your X1 Voice Remote. You can also text search with the term “LGBTQ” on your set top box or in the Stream App to browse the collection. Regardless of the television service you use, though, I hope you’ll go read my post at the Xfinity LGBTQ Blog, giving a detailed overview of LGBTQ children’s media.
It’s true that there aren’t a whole lot of queer-inclusive children’s movies and television shows, especially for younger kids and tweens, and many of them add the queer element at the end, or in a final episode, as I describe in my post. There may be more than you think, however, and I’ve compiled a number of them, including individual queer-inclusive episodes (such as the Doc McStuffins episode from last fall), so they’re easy to find.
The shows and films from major studios and networks are happily supplemented by a number of independent efforts, such as the educational and entertaining YouTube videos from Queer Kid Stuff, Pop ‘n’ Olly, Sez Me, and more. I’m delighted that the Xfinity platform allows me to showcase them as well, along with many other individual, queer-inclusive stories, songs, and other videos. (If you’re not an Xfinity customer, you may also view the YouTube videos, as well as ones for LGBTQ parents, via my Video page here at Mombian.)
Additionally, Xfinity says the Kids & Family collection has:
- Distinct destinations for Kids, Tweens, Teens each featuring TV, movies, character spotlights and YouTube content
- Diverse and inclusive Editor’s Picks for the perfect Family Movie Night (“Love, Simon,” “Geography Club”)
- Recommended viewing from Common Sense Media as well as community voices Mombian and Family Equality Council
- Featured content from Frameline Distribution Films (“A Self-Made Man,” “In My Shoes: Stories of Youth with LGBT Parents”)
- Movies & TV by Topic: Activism & Civil Rights, Modern Families, Gender & Identity and more
- Family-focused videos from The Advocate’s Queer 101 video series
Kudos to Xfinity for launching this initiative, bringing LGBTQ-inclusive children’s media to set top boxes in 33 million households across the country. May it inspire the creation of even more shows and films showing the wide variety of our lives and stories. May it also allow our children—and all children—to see positive representations of LGBTQ people like themselves, like those in their families, or like those in their classrooms and their world.
