Mama G seeks lesbian grandmothers behind new kids' book
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- Mama G (real name Robert Pearce) is searching for two lesbian grandmothers who, after a 2021 reading at Blackpool's Winter Gardens, asked her to recommend a children's book featuring lesbian grandmothers — a request she could not answer.
- The Proudest Bird in the World, due out 1 July, centres two lesbian grandparents who teach a bird named Gilbert and his granddaughter what the colours of the Pride flag mean; Mama G plans to dedicate the book to the two women if they are found.
- Despite weeks of appeals across social media, radio and newspapers, the women — described as about 5ft 6in with short hair, one with "salt and pepper loose curls" — remain unidentified, and Mama G said she does not even know whether they live in Blackpool.
- Mama G described the encounter as a "wake-up call," adding that "lesbian visibility is considerably less than gay male visibility" and that older LGBT characters are far less visible than "LGBT-coded children or young adults."
- A 2022 US study cited in the article found that while LGBTQ+ children's books have risen sharply since 2000, their characters are rarely central protagonists and groups like bisexual people are "completely absent."
- Mama G said larger publishers told her they "weren't comfortable" with her debut Oh Yes I Am! because it "could be taken as a LGBT story"; both her books were ultimately published by smaller independent houses.
Why it matters: The appeal puts a human face on a documented visibility gap: a 2022 US study found LGBTQ+ children's book characters are rarely central, and Mama G's own experience — major publishers passing on her books over LGBT content — shows the commercial caution that sustains that gap, even as smaller presses pick up the slack.
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