A conservative group, One Million Moms, who were created by the Christian fundamentalist American Family Association, have started a petition against the creators of the American Girl doll in order to pressure them to drop a doll’s storyline because it includes two lesbian characters.

American Girl creators announced in December on social media that their 2021 doll of the year would be an animal lover named Kira Bailey. Along with her love for animals, the post goes on to say “Kira also teaches girls about being responsible and respecting the Earth.” In a book that comes along with the doll, she goes down under to visit an Australian animal sanctuary that is run by her two aunts, Mamie and Lynette, a same-sex couple.

The company’s efforts at inclusivity garnered widespread praise but also sparked homophobic comments in their product reviews section. One Million Moms went one step further. Their petition states, “Why can’t the toy manufacturer let kids be kids instead of glamorising a sinful lifestyle? American Girl is confusing our innocent children by attempting to normalise same-sex marriage.” and goes on further to state that “This irresponsible storyline is dangerous to the well-being of our children.”

The American Family Association has been listed as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Centre. One Million Moms has notedly nowhere near that number of members. Their petition goes on to state “American Girl could have chosen another storyline or characters to write about and remained neutral in the culture war. American Girl is attempting to desensitise our youth by featuring a storyline with two lesbian aunts.”

American Girl is not the only company that One Million Moms has targeted. eharmony is another that the group has a petition against stating “The eharmony ad attempts to normalize sin.” It has also called out Cadbury’s Crème Egg’s advertisement as “disgusting” for featuring two men kissing.

A spokesperson for American Girl shared, “As a brand, we’ve always strived to share the message that there’s no ‘magic recipe’ for a family and that families can be made up of all kinds of ingredients — and each is unique and lovely. We know for girls who can directly relate to Kira’s circumstances (ie. a father who has passed away or a couple in a same-sex marriage), we’re glad to show them that the make-up of one’s family doesn’t matter — it’s still a family and that’s all the counts. It’s a sentiment we love at American Girl.”

The Kira doll is available to purchase online.