One Million Moms ‘outraged’ over American Girl doll’s LGBTQ storyline
The conservative outrage group called a doll's lesbian aunts "unacceptable"
Conservative moms are outraged! At least that’s what anti-LGBTQ group One Million Moms would have you believe yet again. Their latest subject of scorn: American Girl.
The beloved Mattel products are facing the wrath of the offshoot of the American Family Association, which has been labelled an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The reason for their resentment is, unsurprisingly, a lesbian storyline involving the newest addition to American Girl’s dolls collection.
According to OMM’s latest petition, which has already gathered 28,000 signatures, “Conservative parents are outraged!”
“American Girl released its first doll with an accompanying book that has an LGBTQ storyline,” OMM states. “This is unacceptable!”
American Girl first released Kira Bailey, their “2021 Girl of the Year” in December, and the accompanying book detailing her backstory includes the aforementioned source of irritation for “conservative parents.”
Kira’s book details her trip from Michigan to to Australia, where she visits an animal sanctuary under the management of her great aunts, Mamie and Lynette, a lesbian couple.
Although the detail was celebrated by fans for its added inclusivity, it also led to homophobic Amazon book reviews and hateful online comments from some collectors.
“Why can’t the toy manufacturer let kids be kids instead of glamorizing a sinful lifestyle?” OMM’s petition states. “American Girl is confusing our innocent children by attempting to normalize same-sex marriage. The doll company did not even include a warning so parents would have a heads-up.
“American Girl could have chosen another storyline or characters to write about and remained neutral in the culture war,” OMM continues. The group cautioned parents against showing their children Kira’s book “to avoid a premature conversation” with children “far too young to understand.”
Furthermore, the petition calls for a boycott of American Girl until they reverse course and remove pro-LGBTQ references.
OMM pushed a similar boycott in 2015, after American Girl magazine published a story about a Black girl being adopted by a white gay couple.
One Million Moms director Monica Cole told ABC News the article was a “red flag” for conservative parents and encouraged a boycott of American Girl for “pushing the homosexual agenda to children.”
American Girl company spokeswoman Julie Parks told Yahoo Life that the company’s “Girls of the Year” characters “have been designed to reflect girls’ lives today and the realities of the times.”
“As a brand, we’ve always strived to share the message that there’s no ‘magic recipe’ for a family and that families can be made up of all kinds of ingredients — and each is unique and lovely,” Parks said. “We know for girls who can directly relate to Kira’s circumstances (i.e. a father who has passed away or a couple in a same-sex marriage), we’re glad to show them that the make-up of one’s family doesn’t matter — it’s still a family and that’s all the counts. It’s a sentiment we love at American Girl.”
Last year, One Million Moms demanded a boycott of Oreo cookies after the brand released its LGBTQ-affirming rainbow cookies, calling them an attempt to “brainwash children and adults alike by desensitizing audiences.”
Read More: One Million Moms demands Oreo boycott over ‘homosexual agenda’ rainbow cookies
One Million Moms frequently makes headlines for its loud and often ineffective boycott attempts. Earlier this year the group, an offshoot of the anti-LGBTQ hate group American Family Association, demanded boycotts of Disney XD’s DuckTales for featuring gay dads and Marvel’s upcoming The Eternals for containing a same-sex kiss.
The group also targeted The Walt Disney Company for last year’s Toy Story 4, accusing Pixar of trying to “desensitize” children after a same-sex couple appeared for a few seconds.
Arguably the group’s most successful effort came in 2019, after it joined right-wing Catholic website Lifesite in demanding that The Hallmark Channel pull adverts from online wedding registry company Zola showing same-sex weddings.
Hallmark Channel obliged, removing Zola’s ads with same-sex couples and calling them “controversial,” leading to outrage from LGBTQ groups. OMM’s victory was short-lived, however, as Hallmark Channel later reversed course and reinstated the ads, and apologized for any “hurt and disappointment” caused.
Read More:
Nearly 4 in 10 Metro Weekly readers never use condoms during sex
Biden administration will investigate housing discrimination against LGBTQ people
The World to Come review: Achingly predictable, insufferably affected lesbian drama
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
