Peppa Pig Post Bidding Children ‘Happy Pride Month’ Sparks Parental Backlash

Peppa Pig characters during the Platinum Pageant in London, England, on June 5, 2022. Leon Neal/WPA Pool/Getty Images

Parents have voiced their disapproval toward the popular British children’s series Peppa Pig for wishing its fans a “Happy Pride Month” on social media.

The animated character was featured alongside her family and friends making the proclamation under a recumbent rainbow on its official Instagram page on June 1, also noting “Here’s to celebrating love.” That prompted a plethora of negative comments from concerned parents.

Among the over 1,400 comments was one from @debiattwoodboehlefeld, “I hope you do the same thing for our veterans and respect for unborn babies.”

That’s while @realnicolelizabeth chimed in “On Christmas you posted Happy Holidays in fear of offending but you have no problem posting pride. Do you think more of your audience celebrates Christmas or pride? Unfollow”

Another added “Why is politics in kids shows?”

Still, others responded to such comments calling those who made them homophobic and ignorant while some thanked the show for celebrating LGBTQ+ families.

“It’s so funny how republicans and Christians love to indoctrinate their children into heteronormativity and can’t stand to see a rainbow,” wrote @eddiediazeddie.

Said @sarahbellhouse1979: “All the outraged homophones do realize that the show has had a family with 2 mums on it for a while, right? So, either you were outraged then and don’t watch it anyway, making your “unfollowing” tantrums irrelevant …”

The post that caused the kerfuffle included the character of Penny Polar Bear, who has two mothers and was introduced into the English series last year. Created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker, the show, which launched in 2004,  follows the anthropomorphic female piglet, her family, and friends on their adventures. In America, it inspired the Peppa Pig Theme Park, an attraction welcoming visitors with a bright rainbow gate right by Legoland theme park in Florida, according to Undercover Tourist.

The Peppa Pig dust-up is just the latest in a trend by other major entertainment companies including Warner Bros. and Disney to promote “inclusivity” to both children and adults. Both companies have incorporated drag queens in its promotions and content.

Last week, Warner Bros.’ Looney Tunes had Bugs Bunny promoting drag queens for Pride Month, reported Breitbart. On its Twitter page, a tribute to the rascally rabbit had him dressed in female attire encouraging people to “get their drag on.” That’s after Warners Bros. Discovery conglomerate’s TBS series American Dad! Celebrated drag “herstory” in a video marking the series’ 350th episode.

For its part, The Walt Disney Co. has employed a drag queen greeter welcoming children to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. Last month, the company had drag queen Nina West at its world premiere of The Little Mermaid after West hosted Disney’s LGBT livestream Pride concert in 2021. That event featured other drag queens and performances of iconic Disney songs reworked with LGBT themes.

In general, Disney has been working to make its theme parks more gender-neutral. It eliminated its long-standing greeting welcoming “ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls” and now addresses guests as “dreamers of all ages.”