Worldwide children’s TV sensation Peppa Pig has added a same-sex couple to its cast of characters. It is the first time in the show’s 18-year history that the programme has introduced a family in which the parents are LGBTQ+.
In an episode entitled Families, a character called Penny announces that her guardians are a pair of lesbian polar bears. “‘I live with my mummy and my other mummy. One mummy is a doctor and one mummy cooks spaghetti,” she explains, before viewers are shown the trio sitting down to a family meal.
It follows years of campaigning for the programme to showcase a more diverse selection of families. A petition to persuade the series’ creators to include a same-sex family launched two years ago and gathered nearly 24,000 signatures.
Peppa Pigg has previously made headlines after Boris Johnson praised it for exemplifying “the power of UK creativity”, claiming it has brought £6bn to the UK economy through its export to 118 countries, with theme parks in the UK, the US and China.
The series has previously attracted criticism for reinforcing gender stereotypes. As well as drawing disapproval for being overly focused on a highly traditional middle-class nuclear family – featuring “mummy pig” looking after the kids while “daddy pig” goes out to work – the London Fire Brigade spoke out in 2019 to criticise its usage of the word “fireman”.
Its portrayal of Penny the Polar Bear’s family appears to have been better received, however. Robbie de Santos, director of communications and external affairs at LGBT rights charity Stonewall, told the BBC that he saw the introduction of a same-sex couple as “fantastic”.
“Many of those who watch the show will have two mums or two dads themselves,” he commented. “It will mean a lot to parents and children that their experiences are being represented on such an iconic children’s programme.”
