Favorite Kids Magazine, "Highlights for Children" Faces Pressure to Depict Gay Families within Their Pages

Fr. Mark Hodges : Oct 27, 2016
LifeSiteNews.com

"It is insane that even Highlights for Children gets bullied into this, and that the editors would capitulate so quickly." -Rod Dreher, Columnist for American Conservative.

(Columbus, Ohio)—[LifeSiteNews] Highlights for Children is popular among preschoolers and schoolkids and a fun way to learn to read, but the magazine recently became embroiled in a controversy over gay inclusion. (Image: Highlights Magazine/via LifeSiteNews.com)

A girl identified as "Kristina" wrote to the magazine's editors, asking that families with homosexual partners be depicted positively and regularly. Highlights for Children responded by writing that the magazine's editors had thought a lot about introducing homosexual families into their publications but hesitated in order to give parents the right to introduce the topic on their own terms.
 
In a written response to Kristina, Highlights for Children's editors stated, "We understand your wish to see your family's situation represented in Highlights." After explaining their concern that parents introduce such "new" topics, the editors "assure" her, "It is very important to us that every child see his or her 'face' in the pages of our magazine at some point. ... We will continue to think deeply about inclusion."
 
Gay activists proceeded to condemn Highlights for Children, whose publications include Hello for ages 0-2, High Five for ages 2-6 and Highlights for ages 6-12. The publisher then backed off and issued an apology to Kristina and other LGBTQ protesters. 
 
"In our initial response, our words weren't reflective of our values, intentions or our position, and we apologize," the editors wrote.  "We want to assure you that we have read every message and are listening carefully...
 
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