In an extraordinary display of egotistical progressiveness, Sir Ian McKellen OBE has said he wants there to be a gay pig on the Peppa Pig children’s cartoon… called Ian.
The BAFTA winning and Emmy award nominated actor, famous for his roles as Gandalf in Lord of The Rings and Magneto in Ex-men, was responding to a question about the apparent under-representation of gay characters on children’s television.
Asked by Pink News whether or not he agreed with Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb and Labour’s Yvette Cooper in wanting Peppa Pig to feature gay characters, he said: “Of course, why not!”
“Peppa Pig – I’ve got the series but I haven’t actually got round to watching it yet.”
Adding: “When I heard that kids in primary school are being taught about homosexuality I gasped and thought aren’t they a bit young?
“Well that just shows how old fashioned I am. Kids at that age have no problem with it, at all. They just understand love.”
When Pink News asked if the gay character should be called Ian, he responded: “I’d love that!”
Yvette Cooper, who recently lost out in the race to become the next leader of the Labour party to Jeremy Corbyn, said previously: “I think it’d be great fun.
“The whole point is that actually, for kids growing up – the whole point is for people to celebrating and understanding same-sex relationships because this is the rest of the world around you. This is normal life.”
Back in April 2010, the Labour party organised a “visit to a children’s centre in South London to highlight our policies to support families.”
They said in a statement: “Yvette Cooper and Tessa Jowell will be shown around the centre and we are delighted that Peppa Pig, the star of children’s television, has accepted our invitation to join the visit.”
Tragically, however, Peppa never turned up and scenes of devastations ensued as toddlers screamed, “Where’s Peppa Pig? You promised!” and mothers lampooned the politicians.