Max Mutchnick, the openly gay
co-creator of the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, on Friday
announced he is donating copies of a gay bunny book to elementary
schools in Indiana.
Mutchnick, who is raising twin girls
with his husband Erik Hyman, tweeted a letter he said he is bundling
with the books to all 1,121 elementary schools in Indiana.
“I would like to donate this copy of
A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo to your library,”
Mutchnick wrote in the letter. “After hearing about the book, I
brought it home and read it to my twin daughters. It's a poignant
story about how love and community can rise above intolerance.”
The book is a parody version of Marlon
Bundo's Day in the Life of the Vice President, which was written
by Vice President Mike Pence's daughter, Charlotte, and illustrated
by his wife, Karen. The alternative version was written by the team
at HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
In the alternative book, Last Week
Tonight with John Oliver Presents A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo,
Mike Pence's pet bunny Marlon Bundo meets and falls in love with
Wesley and the pair decide to marry. The book was written by Jill
Twiss and illustrated by EG Keller.
The book has soared to the number one
spot on Amazon. An audiobook voiced by Jim Parsons, Jesse Tyler
Ferguson, Jeff Garlin, Elie Kemper, John Lithgow, Jack McBrayer and
RuPaul has topped Audible's list of best sellers.
John Oliver is making a political
statement, targeting Pence for his opposition to LGBT rights,
including marriage equality.
Speaking to The
Hollywood Reporter, Mutchnick said that he hopes the books
will counter Pence's “message of intolerance.”
“Here’s why: Mike Pence has had an
enormous platform in Indiana, and as it relates to gay people, he’s
used it to spread a message of intolerance," Mutchnick said. "By
donating these books, I hope to counter those efforts and provide
positive role models and a story of inclusion for children in Pence’s
home state. If this book can help one boy or girl in Indiana love and
accept who they are, I know both Marlon Bundos would be proud –
even though one of them is on the down-low."