One Million Moms Want Same-Sex Archie Comic Out of Toys 'R' Us

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
1
0
One Million Moms Want Same-Sex Archie Comic Out of Toys 'R' Us


One Million Moms is calling on Toys R Us to pull an Archie comic about same-sex marriage from its shelves.

Remember the One Million Moms? It's the division of the American Family Association that wanted JC Penney to drop Ellen Degeneres as its spokesperson because she's openly gay. That demand went nowhere, so now the group is trying its luck with another target: Archie Andrews, specifically issue 16 of Life With Archie, which tells the tale of Kevin Keller, an openly gay soldier who returns from the war to marry his boyfriend.

"Select Toys 'R' Us stores are now selling Archie comic books with a same-sex wedding displayed on the front cover. The front cover reads 'Just Married' with two men marrying and one is wearing a service uniform," the Moms say on their website [http://onemillionmoms.com/IssueDetail.asp?id=442]. "These comic books are sold at the front checkout counters so they are highly visible to employees, managers, customers and children. Unfortunately, children are now being exposed to same-sex marriage in a toy store. This is the last place a parent would expect to be confronted with questions from their children on topics that are too complicated for them to understand. Issues of this nature are being introduced too early and too soon, which is becoming extremely common and unnecessary."

The group says Toys 'R' Us should be "more responsible in the products they carry" and want consumers to drive that message home with an email campaign requesting that it remove all "same-sex 'Just Married'" Archie comics immediately.

It's probably worth pointing out that in spite of its name, One Million Moms actually has about 1200 followers on Twitter [https://twitter.com/#!/1milmoms]; it also apparently boasts about 44,000 followers on Facebook, although the link to its Facebook group now seems to go nowhere, perhaps a consequence of the growing number of anti-One Million Mom groups popping up all over the place.

Toys 'R' Us hasn't yet commented on the complaint but Archie Comics co-CEO Jon Goldwater has, and in a pretty snappy fashion, too. "We stand by Life with Archie #16. As I've said before, Riverdale is a safe, welcoming place that does not judge anyone. It's an idealized version of America that will hopefully become reality someday," he said in a statement. "We're sorry the American Family Association/OneMillionMoms.com feels so negatively about our product, but they have every right to their opinion, just like we have the right to stand by ours. Kevin Keller will forever be a part of Riverdale, and he will live a happy, long life free of prejudice, hate and narrow-minded people."

Nicely put, sir.

Source: The Mary Sue [http://www.themarysue.com/one-million-moms-archie/]


Permalink
 

jurnag12

New member
Nov 9, 2009
460
0
0
This is the last place a parent would expect to be confronted with questions from their children on topics that are too complicated for them to understand.
*ahem*
They love each other. So they married.
This isn't rocket science, lady. What did you tell your kids when they saw your wedding pictures? Same story.
The only reason this would be a complicated topic would be if you specifically raised your kid to see same-sex marriage as something entirely different from a straight marriage, at which point the fault lies with you for being a narrow-minded bigot.
Also props to Goldwater for standing by his product.
 

Qitz

New member
Mar 6, 2011
1,276
0
0
God forbid a parent, you know, be a parent and explain things to their kids.

Someone mail these "ladies" a box full of these comics.
 

Blind Sight

New member
May 16, 2010
1,658
0
0
"We're sorry the American Family Association/OneMillionMoms.com feels so negatively about our product, but they have every right to their opinion, just like we have the right to stand by ours. Kevin Keller will forever be a part of Riverdale, and he will live a happy, long life free of prejudice, hate and narrow-minded people."
Damn, Goldwater just burned those moms, good job.

Not much else to say here really. The Moms have voiced their opinion, but the company obviously doesn't see it as a threat to their consumer base and thus are rightly ignoring the complaints. To be honest, I feel this is more of a 'lazy parenting' thing then a bigotry thing. Specifically because these children are probably going to be raised to treat homosexual marriage as different then heterosexual marriage anyway, so the bigotry is already present. The moms are just trying to control their children's environment to avoid external influences on their personal beliefs, and then resultant explanations they'll have to use to justify their position.

On a side note I'd love to see a 1950s Archie crossover with the modern day Archie group. Based on the old comics at my grandparent's from when I was a kid the culture clash would be hilarious.
 

jimborious

New member
Apr 14, 2009
85
0
0
We in the "tried fencing for a few weeks at uni club" call that a well exceuted parry and riposte, a tip of the hat to him for not backing down.
 
Feb 13, 2008
19,430
0
0
Andy Chalk said:
Unfortunately, children are now being exposed to same-sex marriage in a toy store.
I would have said "Fortunately", but hey.

This is the last place a parent would expect to be confronted with questions from their children on topics that are too complicated for them to understand. Issues of this nature are being introduced too early and too soon, which is becoming extremely common and unnecessary."
Oh, how true...

 

Lost In The Void

When in doubt, curl up and cry
Aug 27, 2008
10,128
0
0
I think this sums it up nicely


Seriously are we still unable to understand that people of all orientations just want to be able to marry?

Volf said:
Don't see the problem, parents should be able to limit what their kids see.
Then don't take them to the goddamn Toys 'R Us. Just as the parents have the right to limit what their child sees, the store has the right to stock whatever product it feels is relevant to its sales. Comic books generally being for kids, particularly the Archie series
 

Abedeus

New member
Sep 14, 2008
7,412
0
0
Your kids can't understand something? Why should I care, they're your fucking idiot kids.

Tell them that adults sometimes fall in love, and it's not their choice who they fall in love with. Someone can love women, and someone can love men. Some love both indiscriminately. And it's wonderful that they can find happiness without being oppressed by dickheads.

Lost In The Void said:
I think this sums it up nicely

That man is right on so many levels.
 

Redd the Sock

New member
Apr 14, 2010
1,088
0
0
Wow, this is news. There's places that still sell comic books on a news stand rack.

As for the group, well, I guess I can say be grateful it's on the cover so if you want to be narrow minded bigots, you can be so ahead of time, instead of being at home suddenly have to explain the relationship between two of the Young Avengers.
 

Jharry5

New member
Nov 1, 2008
2,160
0
0
When I first read the title, my heart sank, as I thought it meant that One Million Moms meant how many people had complained about this. I'm glad this isn't the case.
The way the co-CEO of the comics company handled this was brilliant.
But this piece of news begs the question; does this group have anything more important to do?
 

Realitycrash

New member
Dec 12, 2010
2,779
0
0
Volf said:
Don't see the problem, parents should be able to limit what their kids see.
Well, then kids shouldn't be let outside, because whenever I walk down the street, I see promotions for violent movies/games/tv-shows/music or promotions for fashion/tv-shows/movies/music that appeal to sex, not to mention the commersials/shows that are on TV.
Or the news. Damn, the NEWS! Children shouldn't be allowed to watch the news.
Or read the news.
Or actually, go to school. Then you have to interact with other people, and they might you know, share information.

Edit: And more OT..What do these moms mean when they say "children shouldn't be bothered with what is hard to understand."? How hard IS it?
How about "Hey, some men love men, and some women love women, and they can get married too. It's about love."? Seems pretty simple to me.
 

Neverhoodian

New member
Apr 2, 2008
3,832
0
0
Huh, I wasn't aware Archie was still going after all these decades.

I don't think Toys 'R' Us has to worry. This is little more than a publicity stunt, a desperate and pathetic plea for attention by a group of people too stubborn and out of touch with reality to realize that they've already lost. They've realized that their intolerance no longer conforms with modern, progressive society. Instead of re-evaluating their stance, they lash out bitterly like a cornered animal.

12 Angry Men had the right approach for dealing with such people: ignore them. You deny them a captive audience and they have nobody to talk to but themselves.
 

Helmholtz Watson

New member
Nov 7, 2011
2,503
0
0
Realitycrash said:
Volf said:
Don't see the problem, parents should be able to limit what their kids see.
Well, then kids shouldn't be let outside, because whenever I walk down the street, I see promotions for violent movies/games/tv-shows/music or promotions for fashion/tv-shows/movies/music that appeal to sex, not to mention the commersials/shows that are on TV.
Or the news. Damn, the NEWS! Children shouldn't be allowed to watch the news.
Or read the news.
Or actually, go to school. Then you have to interact with other people, and they might you know, share information.

Edit: And more OT..What do these moms mean when they say "children shouldn't be bothered with what is hard to understand."? How hard IS it?
How about "Hey, some men love men, and some women love women, and they can get married too. It's about love."? Seems pretty simple to me.
I didn't say sheltered, just that parents should be able to control what subjects toy stores expose children to.
 

artanis_neravar

New member
Apr 18, 2011
2,560
0
0
Volf said:
Don't see the problem, parents should be able to limit what their kids see.
And they can, buy not taking them to Toys R Us, not taking them in the check out lines with the comic in it, or any number of other simple fixes, but they do not have the right to deprive my kids of something that they find offensive.

And before you or anyone else tries to bring in an argument relating this to porn, or other over the top subjects, they are completely different situations. Seeing two people in sexual acts is something that the kid has not been exposed to, and exposing them to it in the wrong way can alter their perception of the act, whereas two men getting married is the same exact thing as a male and a female getting married, and can be explained the same way that you explained your own marriage. And if you have never talked to your kid about marriage, or they don't know what marriage is then the cover won't bring up any questions because there would be nothing strange about it.
 

Realitycrash

New member
Dec 12, 2010
2,779
0
0
Volf said:
Realitycrash said:
Volf said:
Don't see the problem, parents should be able to limit what their kids see.
Well, then kids shouldn't be let outside, because whenever I walk down the street, I see promotions for violent movies/games/tv-shows/music or promotions for fashion/tv-shows/movies/music that appeal to sex, not to mention the commersials/shows that are on TV.
Or the news. Damn, the NEWS! Children shouldn't be allowed to watch the news.
Or read the news.
Or actually, go to school. Then you have to interact with other people, and they might you know, share information.

Edit: And more OT..What do these moms mean when they say "children shouldn't be bothered with what is hard to understand."? How hard IS it?
How about "Hey, some men love men, and some women love women, and they can get married too. It's about love."? Seems pretty simple to me.
I didn't say sheltered, just that parents should be able to control what subjects toy stores expose children to.
Then parents can vote with their wallets and go somewhere else?
If Toys R Us released a new GI-Joe action-figure, why should we allow that? Should parents have a say too? How about an easy-bake oven? Should parents have a say there?

No? Because these things aren't "offensive"? Well, neither is homosexuality.