Everyone is Awesome! LEGO to celebrate Pride Month and LGBTQ+ inclusivity with commemorative monofigure set

May 20, 2021 | 30

Here’s a look at really important upcoming LEGO set – 40516 Everyone is Awesome!

Update: Read my review to see more of 40516 Everyone is Awesome set

This set, which excitingly features an array of monochrome minifigures (or monofigures as they’re fondly called by fans)

June is Pride Month, a month that has heavy significance for the LGBTQIA+ community, and the set will go on sale on 1 June 2021, and will be available from LEGO.com and from LEGO Brand Retail stores.

See below for regional pricing and links:

• LEGO 40516 Everyone is Awesome [US] – US$34.99
• LEGO 40516 Everyone is Awesome [AUS] – AU$59.99
• LEGO 40516 Everyone is Awesome [UK] – £30.00
• LEGO 40516 Everyone is Awesome [EU] – €34.99
• LEGO 40516 Everyone is Awesome [CAN] – CA$44.49

The colours of the set were chosen to reflect the original rainbow flag, along with pale blue, white and pink representing the trans community, and black and brown to acknowledge the diversity of skin tones and backgrounds within the LGBTQIA+ community.

In all but one case no specific gender has been assigned to the figures, who are intended to “express individuality, while remaining ambiguous”.

The exception, a purple minifigure with a highly stylised beehive wig, “is a clear nod to all the fabulous drag queens out there”, said the designer, Matthew Ashton, who initially created the set for his own desk.

“I’d moved offices, so wanted to make the space feel like home with something that reflected me and the LGBTQIA+ community I’m so proud to be a part of,” Ashton said.

But the set attracted attention and was soon in demand. “Other members of Lego’s LGBTQ+community came by to tell me they loved it,” Ashton said. “So I thought, ‘maybe it’s something we should share’.” He also wanted to be more vocal in support of inclusivity.

“Growing up as an LGBTQ+ kid – being told what I should play with, how I should walk, how I should talk, what I should wear – the message I always got was that somehow I was ‘wrong’,” he said. “Trying to be someone I wasn’t was exhausting. I wish, as a kid, I had looked at the world and thought: ‘This is going to be OK, there’s a place for me’. I wish I’d seen an inclusive statement that said ‘everyone is awesome’.”

Ashton said he was really happy to work for a company that wants to be outspoken over such matters. Jane Burkitt, a fellow LGBTQIA+ employee at Lego who works in supply chain operations, agreed.

My thoughts when I first saw this was wow, and I like Matthew Ashton, welled up with a sense of pride in my support of LEGO.

I think that this is a huge step for LEGO to come out so strongly for inclusion and diversity, and this is a spectacularly affirming move from the world’s biggest, and most admired toy brand.

I’m also expecting some nasty comments on this set on social media, and can already anticipate the cries of “omg, LEGO is getting political” or “if everyone is awesome than no one is awesome”, or still think that its the 1960s and LGBT-folk are gross.

To set the record straight, there is nothing political about affirming those in the LGBTQIA+ community, who are often marginalised and cop a whole lot of hate online.

To see LEGO use their toy, medium and influence to affirm vulnerably people that identify as LGBTQIA+ is a fantastic move.

This is one of the few moments that makes me feel exceedingly proud to be a LEGO fan, and blogger and I can immediately tell that this will be one of the most impactful, and important LEGO sets to be released in 2021.

Stay tuned for more details and my full review of 40516 Everyone is Awesome which will contain more photos, and my full thoughts on the set.

In the meantime, I’d love to know what you think of LEGO’s Everyone is Awesome set in the comments.