Editorial 164: May 2007
In 1981 Susanne Bosche’s photo-story book, Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin , about a day in the life of a little girl who lives with two daddies (her biological father and his male partner) was published in the UK. It caused an outcry and led to the infamous Section 28 which was supposed to ban books in schools that ‘promoted’ homosexuality.
Twenty-six years on and Simon & Schuster have published a delightful picture book, And Tango Makes Three* (by Justin Richardson, Peter Parnell and Henry Cole) based on the true story of two male chinstrap penguins in Central Park Zoo who built a nest together and cared for an abandoned egg until it hatched into their own baby penguin. This story of a different kind of family will both validate the experience of those children who have been much wanted and are now cared for by male couples as well as gently widening the horizons of children with no experience of same sex partnerships in their family or community.
[image:And Tango Makes Three.JPG:left] And Tango Makes Three is one of the books reflecting images of gay relationships currently being introduced into schools by the No Outsiders project** that is being run by Sunderland and Exeter universities and the Institute of Education in London.
Susanne Bosche (who is Danish) has said that she wrote Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin because she believes ‘that a good children’s book has a built-in tiny bit of wisdom – like the old fairytales. As mother, father, teacher or author we should give our children stories that give them all the time in the world to remain in, and enjoy, their childhood. But we are also responsible for giving them stories that gently open their minds and prepare them for meeting the world as adults… I wrote Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin because I became aware of the problems which some children face when meeting family groupings different from the ones they are familiar with, ie mum and dad, possibly mum and dad divorced, maybe a step-parent… there are a lot of children in Denmark living with a homosexual father or mother, and there was a need for a book for these children to identify with.’***
This is not propaganda or promotion, as Section 28 (now repealed) tried to have it, but simply an acknowledgement of the need for books which reflect all the different kinds of family unit in our society.
* And Tango Makes Three is published by Simon & Schuster (978 1 84738 148 4, £6.99 pbk).
** www.nooutsiders.sunderland.ac.uk/
*** Quoted in the Guardian , 31 January 2000.
