• Thu, Nov 1 - 1:30 pm ET

Look At This Profoundly Homophobic Baby Onesie I Found

From the department of absurd baby onesies that parents insist on inflicting on their newborns, I bring you this homophobic onesie from Cafe Press. For $16.50, you too can engage in a dialogue that not only frames queer children as a parental “fault,” but also connects homosexuality to pink and fluffy bunnies. If pink isn’t your color preference, you have a whopping 12 other styles to choose from, from long-shirted onesies to simple tees. No reason older kids should miss out on the degradation of LGBTQ individuals just because they like baseball tees instead. (To Cafe Press’s credit, they also have an array of “Gay Pride Baby Clothing” which includes a very perplexing “Vaginatarian” onesie)

While it’s hardly shocking that parents slap all kinds of problematic crap on their freshly born, this particular garment is alarming given that the safety and well-being of queer children is of pressing concern in this country. Parents contributing to this type of stigma with winks and elbow nudges about pink and woodland creatures is particularly irksome. As long as liking rabbits and pastel colors is fodder for poking fun at “seemingly gay” kiddies, all children who stray from the rigid blue and pink code are targets for prejudice.

(photo: cafepress.com)

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  • Mary C

    This makes me think of a quote from The Simpsons: “Kids are great, Apu. You can teach them to hate the things you hate!” So many parents really do seem to stick to that philosophy.

  • http://www.whitneydrake.com/ Whitney Drake

    Part of the issue is that Cafe Press (despite its current site design) is that it hosts a bazillion smaller shops that utilize Cafe Press’ printing options- they just let you sort through tagged designs to make shopping easier.

    Though they do claim to weed out the truly offensive stuff, they also don’t give you a way to report a design.

  • Sara

    I can’t tell if you can’t grasp sarcasm/satire or I can’t. Do you really believe that the onsie is homophobic or are you trying to further the point?

    Fwiw, I appreciate the message on the onsie (that it’s ridiculous to say homosexuality stems from parents not teaching their children to stay within rigid gender roles) but I think that it’s a bit misguided. For one, it is obviously going to go way over people’s heads (I don’t know how but the proof is in the pudding) and the second, I hate parents who plaster their kids with political messages like they’re crawling billboards. I honestly couldn’t care less if it’s a shirt which promotes equality for all, or one that says Heil Hitler… wear you’re own political shirt and don’t try and force them down your children’s throats before they can even speak.

  • michelle

    seems tongue-in-cheek to me… i don’t think a truly homophobic parent would dare put a child in a onesie that even joked about ‘turning out gay’.

    tacky, yes… but i don’t see this as being intentionally homophobic.

  • Not That Rebecca

    It’s funny as hell. If this is the worst problem in your life, offer up a brief prayer of thanks and go on with your day with a smile on your face.