The gay bunny book has come back again.
Earlier this week, news spread that Karen Pence, wife to US Vice President Mike Pence, teaches art at a school that bans LGBTQ students.
Now in response to that news, the Trevor Project has announced that it’s donating 100 copies of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo to the Immaculate Christian School.
Along with the large donation came a note saying:
“Please accept our gift of ‘A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo’ books, which you may include in your school’s library or classrooms, and share with your family and friends. Combined with school policy changes, we believe these books can help encourage acceptance of LGBTQ young people among your community, and they can be a great first step to providing a safe and inclusive environment for all students.”
The copies should arrive later this week, according to a Trevor Project spokesperson who spoke to the Washington Post.
Marlon Bruno is the pet rabbit belonging to the Pence family.
Charlotte Pence, daughter to Mike and Karen, originally penned a children’s book about Marlon Bundo. The book explores the life of a rabbit living in Washington D.C. and at Number One Observatory Circle (the official home of the Vice President).
Proceeds from the book were also given to charities such as Tracy’s Kids and A21, an art program for children and an organization that fights human trafficking.
Then to egg-on Mike Pence, late night show host John Oliver created a parody book along with writer Jill Twiss and illustrator Eg Keller. The book titled “A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo” featured the same bunny but this time with him getting married to a male bunny named Wesley. Proceeds from that book were then donated to the Trevor Project and AIDS United.
While the spoof was ultimately made to antagonize her father and make a joke of her original story, Charlotte Pence later complimented Oliver’s efforts. She especially noted how the two books about bunnies were helping several charities.
But that good faith and mature outlook was not shared by enemies of Pence as the book continues to be used as a tool to mock the family. Not only was the book donated in this most recent development, but Will And Grace creator Max Mutchnik did the same last March.
Mutchnik donated a gay Marlon Bundo book to every elementary school in Pence’s home state of Indiana.
With each donated book there included a letter saying, “I would like to donate this copy of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo to your library. After hearing about the book, I brought it home and read it to my twin daughters. It's a poignant story about how love and community can rise above intolerance.”
While both of these donations acted as a poke at the Pence family and their open anti-gay hate, they also doubled as an opportunity to spread LGBTQ representation in places where such content is often banned or censored.
But will these schools receive these donations as such or just as the condescending joke found at the surface? We’ll see what happens with the latest delivery in short time.
