Santa's Husband

''Santa's Husband'' "tells the story of a black Santa Claus and his white husband who both live at the North Pole. Santa's spouse frequently fills in for his husband at malls." The book highlights various activities Santa and his husband experience, such as playing games and dancing. == Background, development and publication history ==

In the wake of criticism hurled at Larry Jefferson's stint as Santa Claus in the Mall of America's Santa Experience during December 2016, Daniel Kibblesmith, staff writer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, had announced on his Twitter account that he and his then-fiancée now wife, Jennifer Wright, "[had] decided our future child will only know about Black Santa. If they see a white one we'll say 'That's his husband'." The tweet went viral with "8,400 likes and 3,300 retweets" and the eventual Los Angeles-based illustrator, Ashley Perryman Quach, responded with "boom. new children's book." Quach, who Kibblesmith had never met, later made a single copy of a Santa's Husband Christmas card, As such the book is also, "in part, inspired by Megyn Kelly's comments on her Fox News show in December 2013 where she vehemently said that Santa was white in response to an article claiming that Santa shouldn't be white anymore because that excludes non-white children." Kibblesmith told Paste, "Megyn, if you're reading this, I would love to come do your show. I think it would be really cathartic." == Reception ==

Even before the release of the book, ''Santa's Husband was the subject of criticism and Kibblesmith and Quach were both "trolled" on sites such as Gab and The Daily Stormer''. Kibblesmith allegedly "found his picture on a white supremacist's blog trying to 'out' him as Jewish," since his "Jewish mother and non-Jewish father...celebrated [every year] Christmas and Santa Claus brought us presents." The Chicago Tribune noted that "[w]hat it's really about is accepting that every family sees Christmas in a different way." As the book has received praise for its inclusion of a Santa Claus in a gay relationship, Kibblesmith "hopes ''Santa's Husband goes beyond just this one fictional character and helps lead the way for more diverse representation." Dana Schwartz of the New York Observer analyzes tweets to reveal a negative viewpoint on Santa's Husband'', held mainly by conservatives. ==See also==