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"Archie Comics has been targeted by a conservative Christian group over its depiction of gay marriage. The American Family Association is campaigning against Toys &amp;#039;R&amp;#039; Us in a bid to coerce the retailer into pulling any Archie titles featuring the subject matter from its shelves. &amp;quot;Select Toys &amp;#039;R&amp;#039; Us stores are now selling Archie comic books with a same-sex wedding displayed on the front cover. The front cover reads &amp;#039;Just Married&amp;#039; with two men marrying and one is wearing a service uniform,&amp;quot; read a statement on the organisation&amp;#039;s website. &amp;quot;This comic book is being sold in select stores across the country. One example is the Queensbury, NY location in the upstate New York area.&amp;quot; The group added: &amp;quot;Toys &amp;#039;R&amp;#039; Us employees do not actually set up the displays; they leave this up to the vendor, but they should be aware of the merchandise being sold in their stores nonetheless. These comic books are sold at the front checkout counters so they are highly visible to employees, managers, customers and children.  &amp;quot;Unfortunately, children are now being exposed to same-sex marriage in a toy store. This is the last place a parent would expect to be confronted with questions from their children on topics that are too complicated for them to understand.  &amp;quot;Issues of this nature are being introduced too early and too soon, which is becoming extremely common and unnecessary.&amp;quot; Archie first tackled the topic of same-sex marriage in Life with Archie #16, in which the series&amp;#039; first openly gay character Kevin Keller tied the knot. He has since been given his own ongoing series. Company CEO Jon Goldwater has since issued a statement to CBR in response to the American Family Association&amp;#039;s campaign. &amp;quot;We stand by Life with Archie #16. As I&amp;#039;ve said before, Riverdale is a safe, welcoming place that does not judge anyone. It&amp;#039;s an idealised version of America that will hopefully become reality someday,&amp;quot; he wrote. &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;re sorry the American Family Association/OneMillionMoms.com feels so negatively about our product, but they have every right to their opinion, just like we have the right to stand by ours.  &amp;quot;Kevin Keller will forever be a part of Riverdale, and he will live a happy, long life free of prejudice, hate and narrow-minded people.&amp;quot; Kevin Keller #1 arrived in stores earlier this month. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/comics/news/a368579/archie-comics-targeted-by-conservative-christian-group/>