How Come There Are No Same Sex Greeting Cards At My Maine Store?

Mother's day is around the corner and I needed to level up my card game because this year, my wife and I are finally and legally parents.

I went to Shaw's Supermarket in Lewiston and started to peruse the greeting card section and I found myself standing there for a good 20 minutes. Same sex greeting cards are always extremely hard to find. I was specifically looking for a "wife to wife" card but only found "husband to wife" cards.

I really hope I can delete this entire article because I didn't see the section for LGBTQ. I want to be proven wrong.

Let me be very clear, I am a daughter of a mother and father and I love them very much. I accept all couples and all relationships this is about unity for all who are in love.

I have been buying blank cards for too long for my wife and it's frustrating to know we are not represented in the local stores I have been to.

The demand for this is very high for these type of cards and since we are in 2022, I wonder why these local stores don't offer more cards for us.

Out of the hundreds of cards displayed at Shaw's supermarket, I found 2 for same sex couples. Both cards were anniversary cards that someone else would give to either two men or two women. That's it. They're weren't any that I saw that were personalized from a man to a man or a woman to a woman.

Another problem with this is the format and look of the cards. The above card of the woman certainly does not display who my wife and I are. I am not asking for the card companies to individuality personalize each same sex relationship in their cards but I am asking for them to show various forms of our love.

Janelle and I are not little girls, holding hands, frolicking through a meadow of flowers. This card is youthful and not us. Too many times, we are not respected and taken seriously because we are woman. We are often referred to as "the girls" and let me be very honest when I say, do not refer to a same sex female couple as "the girls". We are women. You wouldn't refer to a husband and wife as "the boy and girl."

The images in those same sex cards may reflect some same sex couples. but not many. We need to start the conversation on how our love is represented and portrayed and it's obvious to me that a gay person did not create those creating cards.

According to Wikipedia, after same sex marriage was legalized in the state of Maine in 2012, there were 1,530 same sex couples who got married. That is over fifteen hundred people that would benefit from same sex greeting cards. This is not counting the thousands upon thousands of same sex couples in Maine who are not married. Let's just say, the card companies are missing out on this demographic.

Let's get with the times and be more inclusive to all of those who want to show their love and appreciation to their partner or lover.

Below are the photos I took of the card section at Shaw's in Lewiston, Maine

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