American Girl magazine promotes family with two dads
MIDDLETON, Wis. (Christian Examiner) –An American Girl magazine photo featuring two dads, three boys and a girl has prompted a boycott by One Million Moms (OMM) of the American Girl magazine and American Girl products.
"American Girl is attempting to desensitize our youth by featuring a family with two dads," the organization asserts. "If your child has not seen this yet, then be careful she is not exposed and can avoid a premature conversation she is far too young to understand."
The article called "Forever Family" on pages 28-31 of the Nov./Dec. issue of the magazine shows an 11-year-old girl who was adopted with three siblings by homosexual parents. The article would have been "wonderful," OMM says, without the photo of the whole family.
"1MM supports adoption and taking care of orphans as we are biblically instructed to do in Psalm 82:3 — but American Girl could have focused the article on the child and not about the parents since it is a magazine for children," writes OMM director Monica Cole. "The magazine also could have chosen another child to write about and remained neutral in the culture war."
The American Girl magazine is said to be the most popular magazine for girls ages 8 to 12. Its website is promoting a magazine subscription as a Christmas gift.
"This is not the first time the company has supported causes that conservatives would not agree with," Cole said. "Their past partnership and financial support of Planned Parenthood has had them in hot water with Christians and conservative families before this."
The photograph shown on the OMM website depicts the girl and her brothers with "Daddy" and "Dada." The children were adopted from foster care and helped start a charity to distribute backpacks to foster kids.
OMM is a part of the American Family Association, which says it stands to defend the family on the frontlines of the culture war.
Cole calls for the magazine to return to its previous position of neutrality toward homosexuality.
"We must remain diligent and stand up for biblical values and truth. Scripture says multiple times that homosexuality is wrong, and God will not tolerate this sinful nature," Cole said. "American Girl doesn't highlight other sins in their magazine."
The OMM website provides contact information for disappointed consumers to contact American Girl, owned by Mattel, to ask the company to remain neutral and to inform them of individual families' decisions to boycott.
In a Nov. 5 story in the Washington Post, one of the fathers, Rob Scheer, who grew up as a foster child, takes exception to the criticism by OMM.
"How could somebody hate us so much in their heart by looking at our kids?" he said of their response. "That's what shocked me."
The WAPO article, ironically, carried only a photo of Amaya Scheer, supplied by Rob Scheer, and not the photo which prompted the boycott by OMM.