A piece published on the website of Justice for Men & Boys (and the women who love them), the political party of which I’m the chairman, in July 2015:

Tomorrow afternoon I expect to publish a second post about Peppa Pig, a preschool animated television series. The Daily Mail article about the matter is here. Extracts from the piece:

More gay characters are needed on children’s television to send out the message same sex relationships are of ‘equal value’ to any other, Lib Dem leadership contender Norman Lamb has said.

Mr Lamb, who is standing against Tim Farron for the party leadership, said having a gay Peppa Pig should ‘absolutely not be out of the question’.

The former care minister said the lack of same-sex relationships on children’s TV suggests there is a ‘limit’ to gay rights…

Mr Lamb said: ‘We have to be true to the legislation we’ve passed. The legislation very clearly says that a loving relationship between two people of the same sex is of equal value, so in everything that we then do, as a society, we need to reinforce that, not deny it.’

Asked if that meant there should be gay characters on the show Peppa Pig, Mr Lamb said: ‘It should absolutely not be out of bounds, which it appears to be at the moment.’

He added if gay characters were banned from children’s TV ‘it tells that teenager, who is struggling to come to terms with her sexuality, that there is something not quite normal about how they feel’.

Note the cynical conflation of Peppa Pig with children’s TV and teenagers. If I had a teenage daughter (or son, for that matter) watching Peppa Pig, I’d be very concerned.

We wish Normal Lamb every success in his leadership bid. If successful, the Lib Dems will surely remain in the wilderness for another five years following the 2020 general election.

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