According to a statement from the company emailed to GayWired.com, Hallmark plans to release four same-sex marriage greeting card designs this summer. Affiliated stores will have the option of whether or not they want to offer the cards to their customers. The company already offers specific marriage-themed cards for specific demographics such as interracial couples and blended families.

Hallmark public relations representative Sarah Gronberg Kolell responded to an inquiry from GayWired.com about the cards with a statement that new products will use "specific language and images appropriate for same-sex wedding ceremonies or civil unions."  

The new designs feature such themes as two overlapping tuxedos, a cascade of hearts in rainbow colors around the tagline "Two hearts. One promise." and colorful intertwining flowers. The greetings in the cards do not specifically address weddings or marriage, so they can be used for commitment ceremonies or other celebrations in addition to marriage ceremonies.  

"These new wedding cards were created in direct response to consumers' desires to have cards that include specifically tailored language and images for same-sex marriages or civil unions," the statement from Hallmark said. "It is our goal to be inclusive rather than exclusive so that our products appeal to the widest range of people who wish to communicate and connect with one another."  

In recent years, Hallmark has increasingly marketed direct to LGBT consumers, introducing a series of greeting cards celebrating ‘coming out’ last year. The ‘coming out’ cards were included in a larger series of greeting products called Journeys, geared toward more unusual subjects like dealing with eating disorders and divorce.  

While their direct marketing to gay consumers has made the company fans among LGBT consumers, Hallmark has also been the subject of criticism from the same community over a Father’s Day card distributed last year that included the word “queer” as part of the greeting’s punch line.  

The card featured a beautiful picnic spread with wine and a fruit plate and the question, “Dad, what about a Father’s Day picnic?” Inside, the punch line read: “Too queer? Yeah, I thought so.”  

Leading gay and lesbian news magazine The Advocate contacted Hallmark about the card, which one of their readers had found offensive and brought to their attention. Hallmark immediately moved to remove the cards from shelves.  

“[Hallmark’s business unit] reviewed it today and did all agree that it was in poor judgment to include the card in the line,” the company’s media liaison, Deidre Parkes, told The Advocate last June. “We are stopping the shipping of the card, and we will not produce it again. Hallmark's intent is never to offend, and we're truly sorry if that is the case here.”  

Hallmark also received criticism over its popular ‘Blushing Valentine’s Bears’ several years ago from some gay and lesbian consumers. The ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ bears were sold in sets and had magnets in their mouths that would cause the opposite sex bears to ‘kiss’.  

The bears would not work the same way if separated into same-sex pairings and several stores refused to sell the bears to customers in same-sex sets. Lesbian writer Jennifer Schumaker was told she would have to buy two sets of bears if she wanted to accomplish her goal of having a pair of ‘gay’ Blushing Valentine’s Bears.  

While select customers in retail stores that choose to pick up the same-sex marriage cards will have the means on hand to give greetings to their gay friends getting married, online customers may not be so lucky. A search of Hallmark.com on Thursday morning yielded no immediate finding of the cards available for online ordering.   

In addition, no press information was available regarding the new gay wedding cards through Hallmark's corporate newsroom and no consumer information about the cards appears available through their website.