![]() ![]() We understand your wish to see your family’s situation represented in Highlights Hello. In Highlights’s first response on Facebook to Wertz’s inquiry, we see a company influenced by the notion that LGBTQ families are an “issue” to be explained: Would Highlights for Children do the same? Penney, and Target, have stepped up and taken the risk. What’s the big deal? But some people do not consider us families they consider us a moral or a political “issue.” Therefore, a company choosing to represent our families in literature, film, television, music, or advertisements risks a backlash from parents who would rather their children didn’t know our families exist. To us, our families are simply that: families. We long for our children to see their family experiences mirrored in the stories they read, songs they hear, and shows they watch. Many people raising children in nontraditional family structures-such as Solo Moms and LGBTQ parents-have experienced this lack of positive representation in the media. There is a deep need for books that positively reflect back the diversity of the world around us, and I hope that Highlights embraces that diversity, because we would love to keep it in our little one’s life as she grows. Since becoming a parent, I feel keenly aware of the messages kids’ books send to tiny minds. ![]() I think a lot about the things that create culture-the subtle and not so subtle messages that our kids get about how the world works. We are consistently disappointed, however, in the complete lack of same-sex parents in Hello magazine. One of the reasons we appreciate Hello is the diversity represented-families of all races, interracial families, and grandparents. Our one-year-old daughter loves Highlights ! She carries her magazines all over the house and we read them countless times a day. ![]() Here’s the backstory: For 70 years, Highlights editors have worked to promote inclusivity, “in a way that resonates with today’s kids.” But recently, Kristina Wertz, a subscriber and lesbian mom, posted the following message on the company’s Facebook page, sending editors of the iconic magazine on a soul-searching mission: While I thumbed through the pages, looking for my favorite feature, Hidden Pictures, I was oblivious to the magazine’s progressive editorial policies, recently targeted in a smear campaign by the anti- LGBTQ watchdog group. An iconic children’s publisher stands up for family diversityĪs a kid, I looked forward to visiting my pediatrician, not because of his warm demeanor or the helium balloon I would earn for cooperating during my exam, but because his waiting-room magazine rack overflowed with issues of Highlights magazine. ![]()
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