‘Everyone is Awesome’, says Lego with its new rainbow-inspired LGBTQ+ set
- Just in time for Pride Month, the toy company will release a kit that ‘symbolises inclusivity and celebrates everyone’
- ‘With a little more love, acceptance and understanding in the world, we can all feel more free to be our true AWESOME selves!’ they said
Lego’s new ‘Everyone is Awesome’ set is meant to represent the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community. Photo: Lego via ReutersLego announced it is launching its first-ever LGBTQ+ set, a 346-piece rainbow-inspired creation “designed to celebrate the diversity of our fans and the world around us,” the company said in a statement.
Titled “Everyone is Awesome,” the model will feature 11 monochrome minifigures each with its own individual hairstyle and rainbow colour.
“Over the last few years there’s been a lot of struggles in the world and I think that’s really made us reflect as individuals and as society that we could all probably be doing a little bit more to show empathy, love and acceptance for other people,” Matthew Ashton, Lego’s VP of design, said in a video introducing the product.
The characters were created without a specific gender, so builders get to decide if they are male, female, neither, both, or anything else.
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“I wanted to create a model that symbolises inclusivity and celebrates everyone, no matter how they identify or who they love,” Ashton said in a statement.
“Everyone is unique, and with a little more love, acceptance and understanding in the world, we can all feel more free to be our true AWESOME selves! This model shows that we care, and that we truly believe ‘Everyone is awesome,’” he added.
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“Obviously growing up as an LGBTQ+ kid myself, I did have my own struggles,” he said, speaking about the all-too-common issues that many LGBTQ+ children have to face.
“There was a little bit of teasing and bullying from other kids but one of the things that affected me quite a lot was some of the adults around me were really kind of trying to push me to be what I wasn’t,” he said.
Fortunately he had “super supportive parents,” but there are many people around the world who still have to deal with anti-LGBTQ+ hate - which is one of the reasons he wanted to work on the set.
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“We’ve made sure to include black and brown colours to represent the broad diversity of everyone within the LGBTQ+ community. We’ve also added in the pale blue, white and pink to support and embrace the trans community as well. I purposely put the purple drag queen in as a clear nod to the fabulous side of the LGBTQ+ community,” Ashton said.
“I hope it’s a joy to build and a joy to look at, and hopefully it will bring a lot of joy to people’s lives,” he added
“Everyone is Awesome” will be available globally on June 1, the first day of LGBTQ+ Pride month.