Peppa Pig show features lesbian couple

The popular animated children’s TV show Peppa Pig has introduced its first lesbian couple. In a new episode which aired on Channel 5 on Tuesday, Penny the Polar Bear, drawing her parents, reveals to Peppa that she has “two mummies.”

Both female parents are seen wearing dresses, while enjoying a family dinner at home with their daughter.

“I live with my mummy and my other mummy. One mummy is a doctor and one mummy cooks spaghetti. I love spaghetti,” Penny says.

LGBTQ charity Stonewall welcomed the “fantastic” news.

“Many of those who watch the show will have two mums or two dads themselves and it will mean a lot that their experiences are being represented on such an iconic children’s programme,” the organization’s spokesman, Robbie de Santos, said, as quoted by British media.

The airing of the landmark episode came after a petition demanding the introduction of a same-sex parent family on Peppa Pig gained almost 24,000 signatures.

The petition’s authors warned that unless their request is fulfilled, “children of same-sex parents may feel alienated by Peppa Pig,” while other kids “may be more likely to bully them, simply through ignorance.”

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On social media, Penny’s ‘mummies’ provoked a mixed reaction, with some users hailing the show’s creators for not limiting children’s “outlook on life,” and others say they will not allow their children watch the show anymore.

One person went further by expressing concern that the show’s new characters “are totally white,” adding: “Where is the intersectionality?”

The popular preschool cartoon series was created by British animation studio Astley Baker Davies, and follows the life of Peppa, along with her friends and family. The series was first aired in 2004 and since then has been broadcast in over 180 countries.