00:00TikTok sensations Matthew and Paul are speaking out about the challenges of having their LGBTQ
00:06children's book banned in certain stores, and the powerful message they're sharing
00:10in response.
00:12Matthew and Paul Castle are one of the most adored influencer couples online.
00:16They first went viral for their wholesome pranks.
00:19They're an inter-abled couple, as Paul is blind, but they absolutely make the most of
00:23it and love educating and having fun with their followers.
00:27Paul specifically has gained notoriety through educating his followers on what blindness
00:31can look like and what it's like living while blind.
00:34I'm blind and this is the Braille alphabet.
00:37Have you ever seen this before?
00:38No, not the whole thing.
00:39Me neither.
00:40But Maple wants to see it too!
00:42Matthew, did you know that Braille was invented 200 years ago by a 15-year-old boy?
00:47Who?
00:48Louis Braille!
00:49Oh, okay.
00:51But outside of being an adorable couple and an advocate for the visually impaired, Paul
00:55also published a book with the help of their fans on TikTok.
01:00Paul always had a dream of becoming a children's book author and illustrator, and with an immense
01:04amount of support from his loving partner Matthew, that dream was able to come to life.
01:10The book Pringle & Finn, which now has a sequel, The Secret Ingredient, features an LGBTQ penguin
01:16couple and tackles themes of love, diversity, and teamwork.
01:20The couple celebrated numerous huge milestones for the book with their followers on TikTok,
01:24but their journey, unfortunately, hasn't been just successes.
01:28Back in June of 2021, Paul shared this TikTok of himself reacting to a store rejecting his
01:34book.
01:35I'm writing with some unfortunate news.
01:37It seems the person who placed the order for your books wasn't entirely up to speed on
01:40our policies, and we have returned the boxes to you.
01:42Please see the tracking number below.
01:44While I think your book is very charming, it's just not something we can carry in our
01:47store at this time.
01:48It's called The Secret Ingredient, but it's about these two penguins, two male penguins
01:52who adopt a little baby, and in the book, they deliver cakes to different birthday parties
01:57to different types of families, you know, some with two moms, some with two dads, but
02:02I can only think of one reason they don't want to carry it.
02:05I honestly, when I saw the email, I thought that we're going to order more books.
02:09In a recent interview with GLAAD, in honor of Banned Books Month, the couple opened up
02:13about how they navigated their book being banned from certain stores, sharing,
02:17It's really sad.
02:18It's a reminder of how important it is for advocacy work to still be done.
02:23Sometimes it's easy to forget that there are these people out there that are actively
02:26trying to practice discrimination and silence diversity.
02:30It was a wake-up call, a reminder that there's so much work to be done.
02:34When it comes to what they want people to take away from the situation, Matthew continued,
02:38I hope that people understand that whether your child is part of a queer family or not,
02:43this is the kind of literature I think all children should be allowed to consume.
02:47It's very wholesome.
02:48Paul and Matthew's interview follows a major win for the Unbanned Books movement, as children's
02:54book colonization and the Wampanoag story was restored to the non-fiction section in
02:59Montgomery, Texas.
03:01This decision was made thanks to people speaking out, proving that using your voice and advocating
03:06for the unbanning of books does make a difference.
03:09Make sure to follow at MatthewandPaul on TikTok to keep up with the couple and Paul's
03:13newest book, Adoroscopes.
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