--- description: A new picture book will depict Santa as a gay man in an interracial relationship, publisher Harper Design confirmed Tuesday. title: Santa Is a Gay Man in an Interracial Relationship in This New Picture Book image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3bf60cbc076287dd/6988c04c2dce0105ff9eccca/santas-husband.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Books](/tag/books/) ## Books Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Santa Is a Gay Man in an Interracial Relationship in This New Picture Book  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 28, 2017 8:03 PM CUT  An upcoming book called "Santa's Husband" depicts Santa as a gay man in an interracial relationship. An upcoming book called "Santa's Husband" depicts Santa as a gay man in an interracial relationship.AP Quach  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 28, 2017 8:03 PM CUT A[ new picture book](https://twitter.com/kibblesmith "undefined") will depict Santa as a gay man in an interracial relationship, publisher Harper Design confirmed Tuesday. The book, _Santa’s Husband_, goes on sale Oct. 10 and tells the story of a black Santa Claus and his white husband who both live in the North Pole. Santa’s spouse frequently fills in for his husband at malls, according to a description of the book Harper Design provided to TIME. Daniel Kibblesmith, who is a staff writer for _The Late Show with Stephen Colbert_ and co-author of _How to Win at Everything_, penned the parody children’s book after [tweeting](https://twitter.com/kibblesmith/status/846731734364426240 "undefined") in December that he would only tell his future child Santa was black. “If they see a white one, we’ll say ‘That’s his husband,’” Kibblesmith wrote. A [photo](https://twitter.com/kibblesmith/status/846735996427390980 "undefined") Kibblesmith tweeted Tuesday of the book’s original concept art shows the couple, both wearing Santa suits, looking dreamingly into each other’s eyes. Harper Design said the book is meant for all ages. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4715679/santas-husband-book-harper-design/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4715679/santas-husband-book-harper-design/"},"headline":"Santa Is a Gay Man in an Interracial Relationship in This New Picture Book","datePublished":"2017-03-28T20:03:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:50:38.205Z","description":"Santa’s Husband tells the story of a black Santa Claus and his white husband","url":"https://time.com/4715679/santas-husband-book-harper-design/","keywords":["Books","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3bf60cbc076287dd/6988c04c2dce0105ff9eccca/santas-husband.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3bf60cbc076287dd/6988c04c2dce0105ff9eccca/santas-husband.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"santas-husband","caption":"An upcoming book called \"Santa's Husband\" depicts Santa as a gay man in an interracial relationship.","creditText":"AP Quach","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4715679/santas-husband-book-harper-design/","name":"Santa Is a Gay Man in an Interracial Relationship in This New Picture Book"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"An Inside Look at the Santa Industry","description":"Behind the most famous and mysterious man in the world this time of year, are actually thousands of men. 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