One Million Moms Freaking Out Over 'Roseanne' Reboot's Gender-Fluid Kid

While fans of the original “Roseanne” are excited about the return of the ’90s-era sitcom, one right-wing “family” advocacy group is freaking out.

One Million Moms (1MM), a division of the American Family Association, launched a boycott against Roseanne Barr’s reboot after reports suggested that one of Roseanne’s grandchildren in the show may be gender fluid.

According to a 1MM official, the inclusion of such a character promotes the “transgender agenda” and is “child exploitation at its worst.” The group also incorrectly referred to transgender individuals as people with “mental disorders.”

Unfortunately, the age of Roseanne’s grandchildren may attract young viewers, so the victims of this outrageous program are the young cast members, not to mention any child who views the show. The sexualization and moral corruption of these children is child exploitation at its worst. No child should be introduced to the experience of mental disorders.

“Roseanne” will return to ABC in 2018 with all the main members of the original cast, plus a few new characters, including David and Darlene’s kids: Harris, a teenage girl, and 9-year-old Mark.

In late June, a source familiar with the reboot told industry news site Showbiz411 that a casting call for Mark said that the character would be “gender creative” and looked for actors who could be “sensitive and effeminate” and display “qualities of both young female and male traits.”

As if it were a bad thing, 1MM said that Mark’s character would be “celebrated by the LGBT community” as the “first ‘gender non-binary’ character to appear on network TV.”

“DNA proves a female is female and a male is male. There is no gray area here and no such thing as ‘gender fluid,’” the organization said in a statement. “ABC is glorifying gender dysphoria, also known as gender identity disorder, and using a child to promote this mental disorder.”

But gender fluidity is not a “mental disorder,” as the conservative group claims.

“Gender extends beyond the clothing we wear and the way that we present ourselves aesthetically to the world,” James Michael Nichols, deputy editor of HuffPost Queer Voices, explained in July.

“It’s a concept inherently tied to the most intimate parts of our human selves,” Nichols added. “For individuals who identify as gender fluid, gender-nonconforming, non-binary, gender creative or other similar identities, gender does not consist of either ‘male’ or ‘female.’”

Including a gender-fluid character on a mainstream show that will likely attract a large variety of viewers gives those who identify as gender-nonconforming a chance to see a character ― a role model or point of inspiration ― to which they can relate. It can also help that segment of the LGBTQ community a to be more visible and, as such, more accepted in a society where they experience verbal and physical abuse at disproportionate rates.

As 1MM pointed out, the original “Roseanne” had already broken barriers for the LGBTQ community when the show aired a controversial lesbian kiss in 1994.

Barr told HuffPost in 2015 that ABC had initially threatened to cancel the entire show if she went through with the kiss storyline, but the network eventually broadcast the episode with a parental advisory warning. And a majority of viewers apparently took no issue with the groundbreaking TV moment.

A 1994 Los Angeles Times report revealed that 75 percent of the show’s viewers who called ABC headquarters after the episode “expressed a favorable reaction.”

1MM is trying to stop another groundbreaking TV moment from happening. The organization asked its followers to boycott the “Roseanne” show by signing its petition and not watching the show.

In seven days, they’ve gathered only 7,873 signatures.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified “Roseanne” as the first show to air a lesbian kiss on network TV. It was a controversial kiss, but the first kiss between two women on TV is believed to be between actresses Michelle Greene and Amanda Donohoe on a 1991 episode of “L.A. Law.”

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John Gielgud, 1982

Gielgud, pictured with co-stars Dudley Moore (left) and Liza Minnelli (right), won the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n54rsPdFZdM" target="_blank">Best Supporting Actor</a> award in 1982 for "Arthur." He is generally considered the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2008/feb/10/theatre.gayrights" target="_blank">first openly gay actor</a> to win an Oscar, though he rarely discussed it openly.&nbsp;

Howard Ashman, 1990, 1992

The&nbsp;lyricist (not pictured) received the Best Original Song honor twice: in 1990 for "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aZ7WTQK6dU" target="_blank">Under the Sea</a>" from Disney's "The Little Mermaid," and posthumously in 1992 for "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bntiz357OjM" target="_blank">Beauty and the Beast</a>" from the smash film of the same title, with&nbsp;composer Alan Menken. He&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/15/obituaries/howard-ashman-is-dead-at-40-writer-of-little-shop-of-horrors.html" target="_blank">died in 1991</a> of AIDS-related causes.

Stephen Sondheim, 1991

The legendary composer, who was known as <a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/36447/sondheim-opens-up-on-being-gay" target="_blank">openly gay </a>in theater circles, nabbed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr4186AANEg" target="_blank">a Best Original Song award</a> for "Sooner or Later," performed by Madonna in "Dick Tracy."

Elton John, 1995

In 1995, John (left) won an Oscar for Best Original Song for "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-EsrOB1yNg" target="_blank">Can You Feel The Love Tonight</a>" from Disney's "The Lion King," with lyricist Tim Rice.
In 1995, John (left) won an Oscar for Best Original Song for "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" from Disney's "The Lion King," with lyricist Tim Rice.

Bill Condon, 1999

Condon won a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbYmUl16d7E" target="_blank">Best Original Screenplay</a> award for "Gods &amp; Monsters."&nbsp;
Condon won a Best Original Screenplay award for "Gods & Monsters." 

Alan Ball, 2000

Ball, who has been called a "<a href="http://voices.outtakeonline.com/2008/08/alan-balls-lgbt-vision-audio-interview.html" target="_blank">strong voice for the LGBT community</a>," won for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UqPgBKmF1U" target="_blank">Best Original Screenplay</a> for "American Beauty."

John Corigliano, 2000

Corigliano won&nbsp;the Academy Award for Best Original Score for &ldquo;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAQZbt4GZ18" target="_blank">The Red Violin</a>." He dedicated his "<a href="http://www.johncorigliano.com/index.php?p=item2&amp;item=13" target="_blank">Symphony No. 1</a>," which he wrote in 1988, to friends he'd lost in the AIDS crisis.

Pedro Almodóvar, 2000, 2003

The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/apr/28/almodovar-my-gayest-film-ever" target="_blank">out</a>&nbsp;Spanish filmmaker won <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gqk-vogchFk" target="_blank">Best Foreign Language Film</a> in 2000 for "All About My Mother," and&nbsp;for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdIWEAFyxd8" target="_blank">Best Original Screenplay</a> for "Talk to Her" in 2003.

Dustin Lance Black, 2009

Black won the Oscar for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfPXcCroPJc" target="_blank">Best Original Screenplay</a> for "Milk" in 2009. He wore a "<a href="http://menstuff.org/issues/byissue/thewhiteknot.html" target="_blank">White Knot</a>" on the lapel of his tuxedo in an effort to show solidarity with the marriage equality movement.

Melissa Etheridge, 2007

In 2007, Etheridge <a href="http://oscar.go.com/video/oscar-music-moments/musical-moments-melissa-etheridge" target="_blank">won the Academy Award</a> for Best Original Song for "I Need To Wake Up," from "An Inconvenient Truth." The title of her&nbsp;award-winning 1993 album, "Yes I Am," is <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/03/melissa-etheridge-coming-out_n_5930212.html">considered a nod</a> to her coming out.
Marvin Hameyson poses with canorous girls from his new musical smile about beauty contests. The other Gentlemen with Heimlich with pain director Lyricist Howard Ashman. September 09, 1986. (Photo by Michael Norcia/New York Post Archives / (c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images)
Marvin Hameyson poses with canorous girls from his new musical smile about beauty contests. The other Gentlemen with Heimlich with pain director Lyricist Howard Ashman. September 09, 1986. (Photo by Michael Norcia/New York Post Archives / (c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images)

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.