This isn’t your great grandfather’s LEGO.
Children’s toy construction titan LEGO has announced a new offering in celebration of the era’s sex/gender transformation.
The Danish toymaker will soon release its “Everyone is Awesome” playset.
The rainbow-colored stage and backdrop will feature 11 tiny figures, each a different shade of brilliance.
As described by The Guardian, the characters are “striding purposefully towards an imagined brighter future.”
In addition to traditional rainbow colors, the set boasts white, pink, and pale blue.
If you’re unaware, those are the hues of the transgender flag.
For the first time, on May 17, the Peel board will raise the Transgender Pride Flag at the HJA Brown Education Centre, in celebration of PDSB transgender students, staff & community members and in recognition of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. pic.twitter.com/UYZHMDm8tD
— Peel District School Board (@PeelSchools) May 14, 2021
Also present: the colors brown and black, in a nod to nonwhite folks.
The figures are neither male nor female, aimed to “express individuality, while remaining ambiguous.”
There’s one exception to the lack of sex distinction.
According to project designer Matthew Ashton, the black effigy — which sports a big beehive — “is a clear nod to all the fabulous drag queens out there.”
(UPDATE) An update on the recent article in the new AFOL section of PROOF: LEGO has now officially announced this set, which will come out June 1st, and cost $34.99. It is getting universal rave reviews. It celebrates the progressive pride, gay pride, and transgender pride flags. pic.twitter.com/esLxqoVSGC
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) May 20, 2021
The project was initially created by Matthew for his own desk:
“I’d moved offices, so wanted to make the space feel like home with something that reflected me and the LGBTQIA+ community I’m so proud to be a part of.”
Per The Guardian, it “attracted attention and was soon in demand.”
Matthew confirms:
“Other members of LEGO’s LGBTQ+ community came by to tell me they loved it. So I thought, ‘Maybe it’s something we should share.'”
He wants children to free their minds:
“Growing up as an LGBTQ+ kid – being told what I should play with, how I should walk, how I should talk, what I should wear – the message I always got was that somehow I was ‘wrong.'”
And he hopes for kids to be their true selves:
“Trying to be someone I wasn’t was exhausting. I wish, as a kid, I had looked at the world and thought: ‘This is going to be okay, there’s a place for me’. I wish I’d seen an inclusive statement that said, ‘Everyone is awesome.'”
The set will go on sale June 1st — the start of Pride month.
LEGO whiz Flynn DeMarco — a member of the LGBTQIA+ Adult Fans of LEGO (AFOL) community — is psyched:
“This set means a lot. Often LGBTQ+ people don’t feel seen, especially by corporations. There’s a lot of lip service and not a lot of action. So this feels like a big statement.”
Social and political change are certainly familiar topics for toys these days.
In 2018, I covered Mattel’s eyeing of a Barbie gay wedding playset.
Gay Uncles Catch Mattel’s Attention with Their DIY #Barbie Wedding Set #LGBT https://t.co/E0Zaq8Ec2f pic.twitter.com/FTBY2Gzuo7
— 𝕂𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕟 𝕂𝕝𝕖𝕙𝕣🕺 🏳️🌈 (@kevinklehr) December 26, 2018
And the year before, the doll celebrated a triumph of love:
The tweet included a photo of Barbie with another female doll, both wearing t-shirts that read “love wins”. #Barbie #LGBTQ #Ally | via @philstarlifehttps://t.co/TpfquZnOT5
— The Philippine Star (@PhilippineStar) January 13, 2021
More recently, Barbie taught kids about Americans who deal with racism “all the time”:
And of course, in February, Mr. Potato Head removed any indication of whether the tater has tots:
Hasbro Announces Its New Gender-Neutral Mr. Potato Head
https://t.co/FNLx1Jntyq— RedState (@RedState) February 26, 2021
As for LEGO, amid condemnation of law enforcement last June, it pulled promotion of its police and fire playsets:
Don't Confuse the Kids: LEGO Requests All Marketing for Its Police and Fire Sets Be Removed https://t.co/Lu3GLH4dtb
— RedState (@RedState) June 3, 2020
The company’s made previous moves where sexual politics is concerned. It already produced a tiny rainbow flag and sold-separately BrickHeadz brides and grooms — so a gay couple could be fashioned.
Back to Everyone [Being] Awesome, LEGO lover Flynn praised the more direct hit on open-society aversion:
“This is much more overt. People look to a company such as LEGO – a company they love and enjoy – and think, ‘Hey if it’s okay for LEGO, maybe it’s okay for me, too.’”
For those of you who wonder just how much of a LEGO master Flynn is, here’s an idea:
Everyone may not actually be awesome (they’re definitely not), but Flynn’s certainly awesome at LEGO.
And now more than ever, LEGO’s awesome at being up-to-date.
-ALEX
See more pieces from me:
Lutheran Diocese Announces That the Church Itself Is Trans
‘They,’ Not ‘He’: Google Grows Its Woke Cred With ‘Inclusive’ Upgrades to Predictive Text
Find all my RedState work here.
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