'peppa pig' introduces same-sex couple amid criticism of lightyear lesbian kiss

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the move comes after years of calls for more lgbtq characters on the show, including a petition that started in 2019 that now has 25,000 signatures.

by karen hawthorne

published sep 08, 2022

last updated feb 19, 2025

3 minute read

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3 minute read

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the character 'peppa pig' penny tells her friends she has two mummies

“peppa pig” has aired for almost 20 years, has won three bafta awards, and its official youtube channel boasts more than 28 million subscribers. (cnw group/ entertainment one ltd.)

who hasn’t watched the adorable peppa pig in her daily adventures as a curious four-year-old piglet with a doting family?

now the popular british kids’ cartoon has introduced a new storyline with the show’s first same-sex couple, two lesbian polar bears. in an episode that aired this week in the u.k, penny the polar bear tells peppa pig at playgroup about her “two mummies” and draws a picture of herself holding hands with them, nbc news reports.

“i live with my mummy and my other mummy,” penny the polar bear says in the episode called “families.” she also says that one of them is a doctor.

the move to be more inclusive follows years of calls for more lgbtq characters on the show, including a petition that started in 2019 and now has 25,000 signatures. “peppa pig” has aired for almost 20 years, has won three bafta awards, and its official youtube channel boasts more than 28 million subscribers.

“perfectly americanized kids have adopted british accents”

the show has been translated into 40 languages and broadcast in more than 180 countries and territories, including canada and the u.s., according to its production company, entertainment one. and it’s also inspired a british accent epidemic in kids, inside edition reports, where “perfectly americanized children have adopted british accents from binge-watching” the animated series during the pandemic lockdowns.

has your child told you “i’m getting a bit bored, mummy,” or asking to go the loo instead of the bathroom? welcome to the “peppa pig effect.” they might even start asking to go to the original peppa pig world in new forest national park in hampshire, u.k. there are also theme parks in the u.s. and china.

while the show has been referred to as a “global phenomenon,” it’s also faced criticism for gender stereotyping by spotlighting a nuclear family with a working dad and a stay-at-home mom, the guardian reports.

the creators say the reason for its enormous following lies in the emphasis on family, which is one of the few concepts that makes sense to very young children.

sarah ann kennedy, who runs the animation course at the university of central lancashire and wrote two episodes of “peppa pig,” told the guardian that she credits the show’s global success to its focus on “very universal issues,” from learning to ride a bike to going shopping or falling out with a friend.

“what’s clever about it is it’s like a soap, they deal with very gentle issues that you have at that age which seem quite big to you,” she said.

numerous studies support this train of thought, according to a review of the literature published in the international journal of research of education and science in 2021. researchers say kids watching cartoons experience positive and negative effects, such as high-level language acquisition and cognitive development, but also aggressive and violent behaviours toward their siblings and friends.

content does make an impression, especially when kids are spending more time watching and have more access to cartoons on tablets and smartphones.

muslim-majority nations ban lightyear for lesbian kiss

nbc news also reports, the new “peppa pig” storyline comes amid recent criticism over lgbtq representation in other kids programming with muslim-majority nations banning pixar’s lightyear from theatres because of a kiss between lesbian characters. an oklahoma theatre showing the film even posted a warning sign that noted employees would do “all we can” to fast-forward through the scene.

karen hawthorne is a toronto-based writer.

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karen hawthorne

karen hawthorne worked for six years as a digital editor for the national post, contributing articles on health, business, culture and travel for affiliated newspapers across canada. she now writes from her home office in toronto and takes breaks to bounce with her son on the backyard trampoline and walk bingo, her bull terrier.