Parents Threaten To Boycott Pizza Hut For Promoting Drag Book In Its Reading Program
Pizza Hut has come under fire for promoting a drag book for kindergarteners within its book club for children.
Children who grew up in the 80s and 90s tend to have extreme nostalgia for pizza, correlating with book incentives. Young children who read books were rewarded with a personal pan pizza for reading a certain amount of books in school from Pizza Hut. This incentive, known as the BOOK IT! program, still is available to students across America to this day, but the club is now under fire, as parents vow to boycott the popular chain, following its promotion of a highly contentious drag book.
In honor of June being National Pride month, Pizza Hut is promoting three separate books representative of the LGBTQ+ community. To supporters, it’s a way to bring inclusivity and end the long-standing stigma against the community to younger generations. But to opposers, it’s a form of grooming, leading to the increased cases reported of teens and children identifying as queer.
The BOOK IT! program has been promoted by Pizza Hut since 1985. With a mission to promote reading and literacy for children, the program is developed for children starting in PreK up to the age of 12. Other than just rewarding kids with the popular pie for reading books, the program also recommends books for families based on reading levels. For the summer, the updates list includes Big Wig, Perfectly Pegasus, and Be Amazing: A History of Pride.
The first book, Big Wig, is especially upsetting some, calling for Pizza Hut’s boycott, because it is recommended reading for Kindergarteners. It tells the story of a young boy dressed in drag and the confidence he feels when he does so, according to the program’s site. Pizza Hut details its reasoning for choosing this book as it explores the “uniqueness of every person.”
Libs of TikTok, a popular account on Twitter known to share controversial LGBTQ+ matters of news relating to schools and children brought the attention of the Pizza Hut boycott to social media when it shared this news on June 2nd. One user responded that they were ending their relationship with the pizza chain, seeking for there reading program rewards points in the form of a check. Another called Pizza Hut woke, adding in a catchy rhyme claiming the company will now go broke.
But for just as many users sharing their similar disdain for Pizza Hut, LGBTQ+ supporters and activists also chimed in, giving their two cents on the matter. One user commented on the ideology that queers are born that way, and that it isn’t a learned sentiment. Another user pointed out redundancy, alleging that the right calls for freedom of speech, yet boycotts any company seen promoting pride awareness.
Like many other companies, Pizza Hut joins the growing list of American retailers many conservative parents are pledging to no longer do business with. And if anything, the company’s open support for pride month has possibly only aided Yum! brands stock price increased over the last week. While some see these types of programs as an optional way to bring awareness to the identity, others feel it is confusing young children. Despite the backlash, pride awareness looks like it’s here to stay.
