LGBTQ+ children’s TV and film archive launched after attacks on queer storytelling

An archive of LGBTQ+ children’s TV shows and films has been launched amid cuts and attacks on queer storytelling.

The Rainbow Project, which launched in 2024 with its inaugural flagship initiative the Velma Awards, has created the archives to chronicle and celebrate LGBTQ+ representation in children’s media.

The archive includes video and audio content alongside written first-person accounts by creatives in which they share details of how they got their projects made and “pushed queer narratives through or around the studio system”.

Current submissions include Shea Fontana, showrunner of Monster High animation for Nickelodeon and Mattel, and Scott Kreamer, showrunner of Jurassic World: Chaos Theory.

Kristi Reed, who co-founder of the nonprofit alongside Jeremy Blacklow and Chris Nee, said in a statement shared with Variety: “This year, The Rainbow Project isn’t just important — it’s essential.

“We’re watching LGBTQ+ stories quietly disappear from children’s content, and that loss has real impact on young viewers.

“Our mission is to safeguard visibility, belonging, and truth in the stories that shape kids’ lives. No child should ever have their story erased.”

LGBTQ+ content in kids shows and films has long stoked the ire of right-wingers, who claim stories that teach children that queer people exist, love and live like anyone else is “indoctrinating” them and, in other words, “making” young people gay and trans.

In September, billionaire tech mogul and former best pal of Donald Trump, Elon Musk, took to his social media platform X to share that he had cancelled his Netflix account because Hamish Steele‘s animation Dead End: Paranormal Park – which was cancelled more than two years ago – features a trans character.

Musk urged his 227 million followers to cancel their own Netflix subscriptions amid right-wing allegations that the platform is “sexualising children” and pushing so-called “transgender propaganda”. 

The voice actor for the show’s protagonist Barney, Zach Barack, spoke out against the backlash, saying if he – a trans man – had seen a show like it as a child it “would’ve saved me years of hating myself”, adding: “You can fear monger all you want, but kids and parents have told me it saved their lives!” 

Following this, in October, MAGA loudmouth and controversial firebrand congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene shared that she had cancelled her Netflix subscription because of a five-year-old clip of a trans storyline from The Baby-Sitters Club.

Greene reposted the clip on X from right-wing anti-LGBTQ+ account Libs of TikTok who claimed the show “pushes transgenderism on kids, shames characters for ‘misgendering’ and demands hospital staff refer to treat a boy as a girl”. The Georgia Republican responded: “Yep cancelled.”

Further discussing the need for the archives, Blacklow added: “It’s an exciting time for the entertainment industry, but it’s also quite a transitional and scary time.

“Since the beginning of this year with this current administration, we have witnessed a pullback on queer stories and characters on television and streaming services.

“Whereas in 2024 we had a plethora of honorees, this year we find our numbers basically cut in half. Rather than retreat, we need to push forward and remind the industry not to be scared of great LGBTQ+ characters and storytelling.”