The co-authors of children's books featuring LGBTQ+ characters are calling for Hollywood to be more inclusive.
Adam Reynolds and Chaz Harris, who founded New Zealand based publishing company Promised Land, have released two LGBTQ+ themed fairy tales, Promised Land and Maiden Voyage, and are working on a third.
This week, they launched an online campaign, #HearUsShowUs, urging better inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters across children's media. They believe Hollywood fails to provide the kind of representation that LGBTQ+ kids and their peers need.
"We need more positive stories with LGBTQ+ characters centred in the narratives — especially in family entertainment," Reynolds says. "We believe the continuing loss of queer kids to suicide is a result of this lack of LGBTQ+ education and visibility, and it's causing kids to develop unaccepting attitudes towards our community. It's literally killing us — we have to change that message."
![Promised Land has released two books, Promised Land and Maiden Voyage (written with Jaimee Poipoi).](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/WH6AUW3Y4PB7UTFLJM7G2KYJKE.jpg?auth=a1e57879bb03eec97fcda45eb7ba45d8249dcca32fb1656a66557351f131263e&width=16&height=7&quality=70&smart=true)