Peppa Pig celebrated Pride Month and anti-LGBTQ+ bigots are losing their minds
The comment section of a Peppa Pig Instagram post was left awash with bigoted, anti-LGBTQ+ hate after the children’s animation celebrated Pride Month.
On Thursday (1 June), the television show’s official account shared a post marking the start of Pride Month, which reads: “🌈 Happy Pride Month 🌈 Here’s to celebrating love.❤”
The post’s image features titular character Peppa and her family and friends in front of a rainbow, including Penny Polar Bear who was introduced in 2022 as having two mothers.
The cute, colourful post was quickly blasted by homophobes, who aired their concern that children knowing LGBTQ+ people simply exist is damaging to their wellbeing.
“Not with Peppa 👎,” one person commented, which received upwards of 100 likes.
“On Christmas you posted Happy Holidays in fear of offending but you have no problem posting for Pride. Do you think more of your audience celebrates Christmas or Pride? Unfollow,” another person wrote.
“Sexuality needs to stop being pushed on our children,” a third person said, conveniently forgetting several of the parent characters’ sexualities are well showcased on the programme, as they are married to each other.
“Well this is disappointing,” another bigot wrote.
Others said children “do not need to know” about being LGBTQ+ and called the post “propaganda”.
However, despite the onslaught of negativity, fans of the anthropomorphic pig came out in force to praise the show for its inclusivity and making all types of families feel valued.
“Thank you Peppa, fam and friends – our nephews love the show and that makes us very proud guncles! Happy Pride 🌈,” LGBT+ Sports Media founder and freelance journalist Jon Holmes wrote.
“I don’t think the official Peppa has a problem with a few of you homophobes unfollowing I’m gonna be honest 😭,” another person accurately pointed out.
“My granddaughter loves Peppa, so thank you for celebrating our family 🙏🏻❤️🏳️🌈,” a third follower said.
Another person said they were “horrified” at the comment section and feared for the “next generation of children”.
The queerphobic comments come amid an increasing wave of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric issued by bigots against brands supporting the community.
In recent weeks, several major companies including Bud Light, Target, Walmart, Kohl’s, Adidas and Starbucks have faced huge backlash for selling Pride-related products, or simply including LGBTQ+ people in their marketing campaigns.
Bud Light has faced the most significant negativity, following a sponsored Instagram post in collaboration with trans influencers Dylan Mulvaney.
In the weeks that following, both the beer company and Mulvaney endured an vicious campaign of transphobic hate, with bigots boycotting the brand, destroying shelves of the beer in stores and even shooting cans with guns and sharing the footage on social media.
The backlash has result in billions being wiped from the market value of Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light.
Hasbro, the company which owns Peppa Pig, has been contacted for comment.
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