GLAAD’s latest “Where We Are on TV” report has found a “wealth of positive LGBTQ representation for younger ages” on television, even as anti-LGBTQ rhetoric has spread. But where are there still gaps, and where can we look for new ideas?
The “plethora of excellent kids and family programming” includes Disney shows The Ghost and Molly McGee, which includes a queer ghost and a woman teacher with a wife; Eureka! which features a nonbinary classmate of the protagonist; Dino Ranch, with an episode centered on a male dinosaur couple adopting an egg, and Firebuds, which has two characters with same-sex parents (two moms and two dads, respectively). For slightly older kids, The Owl House, which is ending, includes a groundbreaking bisexual lead and several other queer characters; and Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur includes a two-dad couple and two trans classmates of the protagonist. Also from Disney, with queer representation, are High School Musical: The Musical: The Series; The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (about which more here); and Big Shot. Nickelodeon’s The Loud House includes a two-man married couple.
Also for the slightly older kids was Netflix’s Dead End: Paranormal Park, which has also just ended, and starred a gay trans boy, along with his love interest and his pansexual coworker. The Dragon Prince includes a two-woman couple and a trans character, and the new Transformers series includes a nonbinary transformer. For the younger tots, there’s Princess Power, which includes a princess with two dads (about which more here), and Ridley Jones, which includes a nonbinary character and a girl with two dads, but has unfortunately just been cancelled.
Because of the rise in quality, LGBTQ-inclusive programming, GLAAD has split its GLAAD Media Awards Kids & Family Programming category to include both Live Action and Animated categories, and you can see from the list of nominees that even more shows have recently included LGBTQ representation. The GLAAD Media Awards also have a Children’s Programming category for shows aimed at the youngest kids.
This is a definite advance from the situation just five or six years ago, when LGBTQ content was rarer, often taking the form of a “blink and you’ll miss it” moment or a single episode right before the series was cancelled. Representation has been increasing, though, and despite the surge of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, shows no sign of slowing down.
As a parent, here’s what I would still like to see more of: Ongoing representation of characters across the LGBTQ spectrum; shows that don’t limit LGBTQ characters into storylines “about” being LGBTQ or “about” different kinds of families, but that also aren’t afraid to explore how being LGBTQ may affect them when/if it is relevant; shows that include nonbinary and transgender parents as well as kids; and shows with bisexual parents (perhaps in a blended family, where a parent had a previous relationship with someone of another gender). I’d also love shows that depict a kid with queer parents getting a new sibling, since the books about this are few and unsatisfying.
Speaking of books, I’d also love to see spin-off books that include LGBTQ characters from the shows on GLAAD’s list, and conversely, I’d love to see some of the great LGBTQ kids’ books that already exist be made into shows and/or movies. For slightly older kids, there is a wealth of material crying out for adaptation. For younger ones, I’ve long thought that Kyle Lukoff’s Max and Friends book series would make a great TV series. Perhaps Jeanette Bradley’s STEM-themed Something Great could also be developed into a series for young makers (with a soundtrack from Ants on a Log). There are also any number of others, like Jarrett Dapier’s Mr. Watson’s Chickens, that might make delightful, one-off shows. And why not take some of the great kids’ biographies of LGBTQ people, or the collective biographies by Sarah Prager, and create a series for Pride and/or LGBTQ History Month?
Not that every book needs a show, or vice versa—but some of the most beloved children’s media franchises cross these boundaries and allow kids to engage with their beloved characters in multiple ways. Going further in that direction, I’ll note that you can buy a plush doll of Fred, the nonbinary bison from Ridley Jones, but with that show being cancelled, I’m not sure how long you’ll be able to do so. One needs to be careful with merchandising, of course, which can come across as purely a money grab—but I can imagine a nonbinary kid sleeping more soundly with Fred tucked under their arm, or a kid with two dads hanging a poster of Princess Bea and her two dads from Princess Power in their room and thinking, “Her family is just like mine (give or take a castle).”
Representation matters. Thanks to GLAAD for continuing to track it.