Million Moms for Bigotry Has New Target, Archie Comics

Don’t Stop Them Now and Apple Pie and Chevrolet Are Next

The American Family Association, a group that advocates only for families that they think are morally fit has an offshoot group called One Million Moms.  The one million moms, if they indeed have that many are out there protecting the rest of us from things they don’t like.  For example, they have mightily protested the action by J. C. Penney to use Ellen Degeneres as their spokesperson.  It seems they don’t approve of Ms. Degeneres’s private life.



The Offending Cover - Oh the Horror!!
Don't Tell the Children



Now the group is after Archie comics.  While the rest of us see nothing but wholesomeness in the illustrated lives of  Archie, Veronica, Betty, Jughead and the gang,  it seems that the current issue of Archie comics has a cover that they do not believe is appropriate for children.  This is not just their children, but everyone’s children, they being the moral arbiter of what your children should see. 

After failing to convince JC Penney to fire Ellen DeGeneres as their spokesperson because she is openly gay, now the American Family Association’s group One Million Moms is putting Toys R Us in its crosshairs for selling an Archie comic book that features a same-sex marriage. The group demands that Toys R Us “remove all the same-sex ‘Just Married – Archie’ comic books immediately from your shelves” before children are “exposed to same-sex marriage.” 

Here is the exact complaint from the million moms.

Select Toys 'R' Us stores are now selling 'Archie' comic books with a same-sex wedding displayed on the front cover. The front cover reads "Just Married" with two men marrying and one is wearing a service uniform. This comic book is being sold in select stores across the country. One example is the Queensbury, NY location in the upstate New York area.

The problem of course is that a family oriented publication like Archie comics thinks everyone should be allowed to follow their own personal beliefs when those beliefs do not injure or impinge on the lives and rights of anyone else.  And thanks to Think Progress we have this eloquent response from the publisher.

Archie Comics co-CEO John Goldwater has a typically classy response to the kerfuffle. He says: “We stand by Life with Archie #16. As I’ve said before, Riverdale is a safe, welcoming place that does not judge anyone. It’s an idealized version of America that will hopefully become reality someday.

We’re sorry the American Family Association/OneMillionMoms.com feels so negatively about our product, but they have every right to their opinion, just like we have the right to stand by ours. Kevin Keller will forever be a part of Riverdale, and he will live a happy, long life free of prejudice, hate and narrow-minded people.“

Kinda hard to argue with that.