An online survey of toy story makers shows that, as of this year, about half of them are willing to make private stories about their dads, with a majority of respondents believing that their stories should be shared.
The survey, by toy company The Toy Box, asked 1,500 parents what they thought their kids should share about their fathers, and the responses were revealed by the makers to Reuters.
Some 70 percent of the respondents said they would share their private stories with their children if their dads had gay parents.
Of the 500 respondents, 40 percent said they had a story about a gay dad, with 43 percent of them believing that they should share it with their kids.
The rest were unsure of the type of story they would tell their children, and four percent said the only way they would know what to tell their kids was if they got a private message from a parent.
Some 50 percent of those surveyed said that they did not have a gay father, with 35 percent saying they had gay dads who did not want to talk about it.
Some 40 percent of respondents said that if their kids wanted to know about their dad, they should do it in their own way, while 37 percent said that parents should not ask their kids questions about their father.
The Toy Box said the survey results showed that most parents were open to having private stories, although it acknowledged that the issue of outing parents was a sensitive one.
The toys makers said that most toys were marketed to children of the opposite sex, and that parents needed to be aware that they are being asked to share private stories.
“There are plenty of ways to share your story, and toys can be a good way to do that,” the company said.
“For parents of the same sex, it’s also important to remember that they can talk to their children about their experiences, and we want to give them the chance to explore those ideas and experiences as well.”
The toy makers said it was important for parents to be mindful that their questions could be interpreted as asking about the sex of their child.
“It’s very important that parents are mindful of what their questions might be interpreted by their children and their partners,” the toy makers told Reuters.
“As we all have stories to tell, we need to be respectful and to have our voices heard.”
A total of 2,936 parents were asked to participate in the survey, which took place from June 5 to June 11.
A total number of 1,769 private stories were recorded, with about a quarter of the participants sharing their private story about their own gay parents and the rest sharing stories about the experiences of other parents.
The data from the survey was shared with the Australian National University’s research team, which conducted the research.