The Danish toymaker Lego has released a new LGBTQIA+ set, ‘Everyone is Awesome’, to celebrate Pride Month.
Lego’s new LGTQIA+ set, ‘Everyone is Awesome,’ was designed by Matthew Ashton, who initially started the project purely for himself.
‘I’d moved offices,’ Ashton explains, and 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.’
‘Representation is so important. I grew up in the 80s and was obviously a gay kid. There was a lot of negativity back then around being gay.’
‘I knew I needed to step up and make a real statement about love and inclusivity.’
The set features 11 minifigures, six of which are in the colours of the original rainbow pride flag.
Ashton also included three in the pastel blue white and pink of the trans pride flag, as well as black and brown to acknowledge the diversity of the LGBTQIA+ community.
These were meant to highlight the trans and POC individuals who have often been left out of representation.
10 of the figures have no specific gender, and have been left deliberately ambiguous to allow users to ‘express individuality’.
The only exception is the purple Lego character who has a distinct beehive hairdo, as a ‘nod to all the fabulous drag queens out there,’ who have also faced exclusion and invisibility in mainstream media.
It has already been reviewed by the groups Adult Fans of Lego (Afol) and Gayfols, such as Flynn DeMarco who commended LEGO for actually representing the LGBTQ community, saying ‘there’s a lot of lip service and not a lot of action.’
DeMarco alluded to the phenomenon of ‘pink-washing’, in which organisations and companies use LGBTQ symbols, such as the rainbow, as an advertising ploy without actually trying to aid the community itself.
The Everyone is Awesome set goes further than this, DeMarco believes.
‘For Lego to do something so inclusive, so full of joy- it made me smile, then cry, then smile a little more.’
LEGO has made previous efforts to improve their representation.
A rainbow flag is included in its Trafalgar Square set, for example, and its bride and groom ‘BrickHeadz’ figures are sold individually to allow users to pair two brides or two grooms together.
The set went on sale last week to celebrate the start of Pride month, and is intended as a display model rather than a play set.
This article was originally written by Georgie Morley. ‘I’m Georgie and I’m currently studying History at the University of Oxford. I am passionate about social change, particularly intersectional feminism and climate justice, and I enjoy engaging in these issues through volunteering, campaigning and writing.’ Visit her LinkedIn and view her Twitter.
I’m a contributing writer here at Thred. My bio and contact information can be found at the bottom of each article. If you would like to become a remote writer for Thred, please email us at [email protected] or click here to see more information on the Change Maker Network.
Several European countries have pulled out of the Eurovision Song Contest, taking issue with Israel being allowed to participate despite its continued war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank since 2023.
On Wednesday, Iceland became the fifth country to bow out of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, saying the political debate around Israel’s allowed participation has made it impossible to take part in good faith.
The European Broadcasting Union...
For the first time, a shade of white has been given the prestigious ‘Colour of the Year’ title by Pantone.
Every December, Pantone – a media company widely regarded as the mecca of colour theory – announces its annual ‘Colour of the Year’.
This title appears frivolous on the face of it, but it's become a signpost of the year ahead – what trends might crop up in fashion, art and media....
Netflix had agreed a deal with Warner Bros to land its studio and streaming assets for $83 billion. That could soon be off the table, however, with the news that Paramount has just proposed an offer of $108.4 billion for the entire company.
Can you hear that? That’s the sound of heads planting the meeting table at Netflix HQ.
The biggest news of the weekend suddenly may not be so newsworthy....
A late entry for the most disturbing art installation of 2025, Beeple’s ‘Regular Animals’ features a pen of robotic dogs bearing the likeness of tech billionaires and revered artists. They canter around, snap photos, and take NFT dumps.
‘You may live to see man-made horrors beyond your comprehension,’ declared Nikola Tesla in 1898. I’d say we’re probably at that point.
Onlookers at Art Basel Miami Beach are transfixed in a state...
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
0 comments
