First Came the Dream Date, Then Came the Anti-Gay Propaganda

In 2018, two men in Arizona wanted a wedding set for their niece, who was going to be a flower girl at their wedding. They could not buy one, so they bought a standard set and an extra Ken and made their own. Mattel met with them to discuss a same-sex wedding set. Eight years ago, during the first Trump administration, Mattel chose not to make it. Mattel has sold Barbie and Ken to children as a couple since the early 1960s, first on a date and then at a wedding. Barbie's Friday Night Date outfit was sold alongside Ken's Dreamboat, and in 1982 the Dream Date line told children that Barbie was "everybody's Dream Date," with Ken as her escort.

For more than 60 years, Mattel has sold Barbie and Ken wedding sets to American children as a bride and a groom. It has never sold a set with two brides or two grooms. Not in 1964. Not even after same-sex marriage became legal nationwide in 2015. Not after that meeting. Not today.

This is intentional. Mattel has pursued a policy of heteronormative conditioning aimed at American children, starting at age three. It has taught generations of children that a wedding is a man and a woman. Mattel has never made a wedding set that shows gay and lesbian children their own future.

In 2015, the year marriage equality became law, Target sold an exclusive Barbie and Ken Fairytale Wedding Set: a bride, a groom and two bridesmaids. In November 2024, Mattel released the Barbie Ultimate Wedding Set, again a bride and a groom. It is still on store shelves in 2026, six years after Mattel's meeting with the Arizona couple.

My Ken Doll Gay Neighborhood Series Reminds American Culture That Gay Love Has a Place in Our Society

My Ken Doll Gay Neighborhood series answers this record with Mattel's own products. Using Ken, Barbie and Allan dolls, along with other 12-inch dolls, I build miniature installations, set in a gayborhood called Kensington Hills, that show gay love as a normal part of everyday life.

The sculptural installation pictured here recreates a moment from my own life. In 1986, my boyfriend and I were shopping together at the supermarket when we ran into a female colleague from work. We were terrified. In 1986, being seen together could have cost us our jobs, and possibly our safety. We never shopped together again.

My next work answers Mattel directly. It is a 3D collage, titled “No More Secrets: a Ken and Ken Gay Wedding” built with tape and marker: the first gay wedding set, two grooms in the box Mattel never made. You’re welcome!

Mattel used these dolls for more than 60 years to promote heteronormative conditioning with the idea that only a man and a woman belong together. My work uses the same dolls to remind American culture that gay love has a place in our culture too.

— Behan

#Mattel #Barbie #Ken #LGBTQ #GayRepresentation #MarriageEquality #Heteronormativity

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