Netflix has a new children's show coming, with a piece of inclusivity we haven't yet seen on a show geared toward preschoolers.
The show, Ridley Jones, premieres next week on Netflix. It will include a cast of characters centered around a 6-year-old girl who lives with her family in a treehouse inside the Museum of Natural History.
Also featured is Fred the Bison, who is nonbinary. When asked if Fred Is a "he or a she" by the main character, Peaches the monkey simply responds "they're just a Fred."
You can see the show trailer here:
Ezra Menas, the voice actor for Fred, is also nonbinary.
The show will also feature a mummy queen who has two daddies.
The mummy's daddies are voiced by actor and children's author Chris Colfer and Broadway star Andrew Rannells.
Chris Nee, the creator of the show, is also renowned for creating the popular children's show Doc McStuffins. But with Ridley, she said she saw an opportunity to "push the boundaries of representation."
"In many ways, Fred is playing out a lot of things that I felt as a gay kid growing up in the `70s and the ´80s," she said.
"You might be at a moment of finding your true self, which is a very joyful thing, at a time when you're looking at the news and are very aware there are factions of the country who really hate you."
Nee has no doubt children watching the show will understand the concept of nonbinary gender, because it’s "just actually what's happening in the world, and we're reflecting it."
"Sticking your head in the sand isn't going to change that, and it is going to mean that we're not being as supportive as we can be to the kids who are going through these things."
Children's television is paying more attention to promoting inclusivity. During June, Sesame Street introduced its first two gay dads in the history of the series.
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