An engaged couple based in Scottsdale, Arizona, say they plan to meet with toy company Mattel in the hopes of convincing the company to include same-sex couples among their selection of Barbie dolls, according to the Huffington Post.
Matt Jacobi and Nick Caprio wanted to surprise their niece, Natalie, for her eighth birthday. They were looking for a gift that would get her excited about being a flower girl in their upcoming May 2019 wedding. Matt and Nick decided to buy her a Barbie Wedding Set, they said on Good Morning America, and swap out Barbie for a second Ken doll.
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“We have a wonderful, loving and caring Italian family,” Jacobi tells ABC News. “Everyone is so excited for our big day, especially my two nieces. They have been talking about our wedding all year long and have been raised to understand and only know that love is love!”
Matt and Nick gave Natalie her gift and Matt posted a photo to Instagram calling Mattel to make a change to reflect that same-sex couples exist. Barbie turns 60 in March 2019 and has yet to include same-sex couples, although the toy did take a positive stance on marriage equality in 2017 when two photos posted to the doll’s official Instagram page showed her wearing a “Love Wins” T-shirt.
“I’d like them to create a same-sex wedding set to have available for families of all kinds, and create something that’s missing in the marketplace,” Matt tells OUT Magazine. “It’s about time that Mattel connects with what’s happening in our culture and what’s happening in the world.”
Matt says that Mattel reached out to set up a meeting, which will take place in late 2018 or early 2019.
“It’s going to come up in your family no matter what,” Nick tells ABC. “As more same-sex couples are having kids, your kids are going to have kids in the class that have gay parents and things like that, too, so it’s not this huge shock anymore.”
