Jun 42 min read

LGBTQ+ Star: MATTHEW ASHTON

Updated: Jun 5

"I'm really proud that I work for a company that wants to make a statement like this and really wants to include everybody," said Matthew Ashton, the LEGO Group's vice president of design, as the company launched its first LGBTQIA+ set on 1st June 2021.

"Representation is so important. I grew up in the 80s and was obviously a gay kid. There was a lot of negativity back then around being gay," he said. So Ashton set out to design a product with a clear spirit of support and inclusivity.

The set was named 40516 Everyone is Awesome and included a different monochrome character for each of the 11 colours of the Progress Pride flag. Ashton said that when the idea for the set was initially discussed at LEGO headquarters in Denmark, he'd already made a prototype for himself that sat on his desk, which has become the blueprint for 40516 Everyone is Awesome.

During his two decades at LEGO, Ashton has been an executve producer on the LEGO movies and a head judge for the TV show LEGO Masters UK. In autumn 202, he collaborated with Bobby Berk, from TV show Queer Eye, to create a LEGO set of the Fab Five presenters from the show.