JC Penney Includes Gay Dads for Father's Day

JC Penney, which stood up to right-wing pressure to retain Ellen DeGeneres as spokeswoman, is being even more LGBT-inclusive by featuring two real-life gay dads in its June ad booklet in honor of Father’s Day.

The booklet, being mailed to customers and also available at the JC Penney website, has a picture of gay couple Todd Koch and Cooper Smith with their children, Claire and Mason, and copy reading, “What makes Dad so cool? He’s the swim coach, tent maker, best friend, bike fixer and hug giver — all rolled into one. Or two.”

In its May flier, the retailer featured lesbian moms for Mother’s Day, with women identified as Wendi and Maggie, both wearing wedding bands, pictured with their two daughters.

The gay dads, predictably, raised the ire of the antigay group One Million Moms. A post on the Million Moms website says JC Penney “is continuing down the same path of promoting sin in their advertisements.” It urges consumers to return the mailers, unsubscribe from JC Penney solicitations, and close their charge accounts with the retailer.