Highlights magazine is following up on a promise and featuring a two-dad family in its February issue—and holding strong against an expected backlash.
In October, mom Kristina Wertz posted on Highlights’ Facebook page (following up her spouse Kara Desiderio’s e-mail to the company), asking why it hasn’t shown same-sex parents in its magazines. The company’s initial response seemed to many to be less than enthusiastic, but grew stronger after additional encouraging comments on Facebook and a #HighlightLGBTfamilies social media campaign.
Now, the company says that it will depict a two-dad family in the February issue of its flagship Highlights magazine, for ages six to twelve, the Washington Post reports. The dads and their two kids will be shown in a sidebar, packing their station wagon, along with the text, “Has your family ever taken a memorable family trip? Tell us where you went and what you liked about it.”
That’s great news, and I heartily applaud Highlights for following through on its promise to better represent all types of families—more so because of the right-wing backlash against them. Editor in Chief Christine French Cully told the Post that the conservative response came as no surprise, but said, “We expect this will make some people unhappy. Our focus remains on creating the best possible content for children.”
Of course, Wertz’s initial inquiry was about same-sex parent representation in Hello magazine, the company’s title for children from birth to age two. No word yet on when or if we’ll see same-sex parents there, or in High Five, for two- to six-year-olds. Still, Highlights is the major title, beloved by those waiting at dentists’ offices and home subscribers alike.
I hope many of you will consider subscribing or renewing in support of Highlights’ inclusive step. Please also consider subscribing to any of the several titles from competitor Cricket Media, which has already many times written of or shown not only same-sex parents, but other queer folks (including drag performers and a bisexual teen), and has explicitly LGBTQAI-inclusive submission guidelines. Daniel Resner, associate editor of its Spider magazine for six- to nine-year-olds, did admit to me that “our younger magazines have room to improve,” but added, “Speaking for my magazine, Spider, for 6- to 9-year-olds, we’d love to see age-appropriate stories featuring families and gender identities of all kinds” and “I would be thrilled to see manuscripts directly or indirectly featuring non-heteronormative families in thoughtful, graceful ways.”
Let’s hope we’re seeing the start of more LGBTQ-inclusion in all of children’s media!