Even as mainstream children’s shows like PBS Kids’ Arthur are starting to show LGBTQ characters, independent efforts are still striving to provide quality LGBTQ-inclusive content for kids. One new effort is All Together Now!, a queer animated kid’s show about “a community of people with different gender identities, body types, abilities, family structures, and cultural backgrounds.”
Alabama Public Television is refusing to show an episode of the beloved show Arthur on PBS Kids because it depicts two male characters getting married. Contact them to let them know how you feel!
Arthur, the beloved 22-year-old series on PBS Kids, has just introduced its first queer character, Arthur’s teacher Mr. Ratburn, who got married on yesterday’s season premiere. Watch it in full online—and learn why, even though he’s not the first queer character on children’s television, he still breaks new ground.
Award-winning producer and screenwriter Chris Nee (who also happens to be a lesbian mom) has signed a multi-year deal with Netflix to write and produce new series for preschoolers and all ages. Her Disney Junior show Doc McStuffins made headlines last year when it became the first show on the network to feature a two-mom family. Might Nee be bringing more queer families to our screens?
After other children’s shows took the lead in representing families with same-sex parents, the venerable Sesame Street is finally showing viewers a bigger picture of what families look like today.
As a GLAAD Media Award winner (Outstanding Blog, 2012), I’m always excited to see the new crop of nominees. This year includes not only a number of terrific bloggers, but also a brand-new Outstanding Kids & Family Programming category—which speaks volumes just by its existence.
The award-winning Disney Junior show Doc McStuffins has just featured its first two-mom family, with the moms voiced by Actual LesbiansTM Wanda Sykes and Portia de Rossi (the former a mom herself). And the moms are named after one of the most famous lesbian couples ever!
Venerable children’s television show Sesame Street took a step towards LGBTQ inclusion last Friday in its social media feeds—but does this mean the show will actually include clearly LGBTQ characters?
Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast is a prime example of how not to please anyone when it comes to LGBTQ representation in children’s media. After enormous hoopla over the first gay character in a Disney film—who would have, director Bill Condon said, an “exclusively gay moment”—the moment was too brief and inconclusive for me as a queer person to celebrate. At the same time, the mere announcement of a gay character inflamed many conservatives.
A new Kickstarter project aims to create an animated cartoon, possibly a series, about a girl with two dads and her friend with two moms.
