BBC Airing Kids’ Reality TV Show on Same-Sex Marriage
The BBC will broadcast a reality-style children’s program on a gay couple preparing for their civil partnership ceremony.
The show has been renamed for the edition and will be called Marrying Dad and Dad instead of Marrying Mum and Dad.
The format of the series involves the couple’s children organizing the day as a surprise, and this episode will show the same-sex couple’s children putting together a James Bond-themed day.
Monday’s show, aired on the CBBC channel, featured Mark and Paul, who were the first same-sex couple to adopt children on the island of Jersey.
In January, a BBC report recommended children be introduced to homosexuality from an early age on TV.
The report said “incidental portrayal” of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people should be incorporated within programming aimed at children.
In interviews with homosexual and bisexual organizations, the BBC heard it should be “validating children who are going through their formative years and who may be LGB.”
The BBC said it would “target commissioners and editors in particular” with the report’s findings.
In 2010, a report commissioned by the BBC said homosexuals and bisexuals should be portrayed more frequently and authentically in its output.
