PBS Kids' Arthur faces controversy over gay wedding, episode banned by Alabama Public Television

Side note, I embarrassingly put this in SW by mistake, and deleted that thread, anyway...

TV Line

Alabama’s at it again. According to a report from AL.com, Alabama Public Television chose not to broadcast the Season 22 premiere of Arthur, which included the same-sex wedding of beloved elementary school teacher Mr. Ratburn.

Rather than airing the episode as scheduled, APT Director of Programming Mike McKenzie opted to show a rerun from a previous season.

“Parents have trusted Alabama Public Television for more than 50 years to provide children’s programs that entertain, educate and inspire,” Mckenzie tells the site. “More importantly — although we strongly encourage parents to watch television with their children and talk about what they have learned afterwards — parents trust that their children can watch APT without their supervision. We also know that children who are younger than the ‘target’ audience for Arthur also watch the program.”

The episode, titled “Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone,” is still available to stream on PBS’ official site. Click here to check it out.

But as AL.com points out, this isn’t the first instance of APT taking a stand against the Arthur-verse. In 2005, it chose not to air an episode of Arthur spinoff Postcards From Buster, which included several children with lesbian moms.

Your thoughts on APT’s (not entirely shocking) decision to ban this episode? Drop ’em in a comment below.

I wonder if Alabama had some... colorful things to say when prior to Arthur, we had Legend of Korra and Steven Universe covering LGBT themes, then again, those were on cable. Still, what a bunch of snowflakes.

@nintendoboy16: Alabama is last in education

Wow they have TV there? It's the devil's window I tell ya!

I don't really know why this is an issue. Ratburn has always been the gay character. It didn't need to be said. It's really no surprise that he got married. I haven't watched the episode yet but I don't think this is the lbgt being pushed since he's always been gay that's very well presented.

@galacticpeddler: What nefarious agenda is being pushed by the episode?

Well, show me the way

To the next whisky bar

Oh, don't ask why

Oh, don't ask why

Burt and Ernie were implied to be gay and as kids no one cared. Now it's an issue with other characters?

@nintendoboy16:

Holy shít!!! Mr. Ratburn is gay?!!!! ?

Also, fųck Alabama. They already burned themselves with the abortion ban. What a POS state!

@Solaryellow: Bert and Ernie are not gay, they are written to be polar opposite friends

Why do liberals want to give cartoons and puppets for toddlers sexual orientation, puppets and cartoon characters dont have sex. People need to leave the cartoons alone, whats next big bird gets a sex change?

@jeezers: yeah have to agree with you there. I'm pretty sure the guy who already created them confirmed that they were just opposite and not gay.

@jeezers Implying there is ANYTHING wrong with teaching this stuff to kids?

Why are politics involved in childrens shows?

I wonder if an episode where one of Arthurs relatives is pregnant, after her dads been a little too "excited" several weeks ago, and is then told she has to give birth to it would've gone over better considering the abortion bill that's being discussed.

Saltzman said these toons were gay as they were modeled after his life. The workshop disagrees.

Politics have been involved in children's programming for YEARS! Nickelodeon has had that "Kids pick the president" thing (or at least they did with the Dubya and Obama elections).

@n64dd: sexual orientation is only political when conservatives make it that way.

or an episode where arthur starts early puberty after being molested by the librarian, could make for some spicy childrens programming

https://www.thewrap.com/sesame-street-bert-ernie-not-gay-straight-puppets/

nah man no ones banging on sesame street

#priorities

Homosexual relationships are not an agenda, they are a reality and part of the world.

I wonder when Alabama will stop being the home of the American Taliban and join the rest of this beautiful planet.

Probably never, I mean, this is the state where it's OK to marry your 14 year old second cousin but god forbid you marry your same-sex partner you love.

Pretty much. For the rest of us it's just part of how the world works, to conservatives it's a trigger. Buncha snowflakes, I tell you what.

I'll never forget when my conservative friend and I were walking around SF and he saw two guys kissing in public. He isn't bigoted, mind you, just traditional but he was so shocked. "LOOK!" say he, and I was like "what?" and then "DUDE! T wo guys kissing!" and I'm like "Oh that's nice" then he was like "They're doing it in public! That's crazy!" and I just didn't respond to that hahahahaha.

I'm chalking that whole reaction to social naivete and ignorance. He is a good guy, but it's pretty telling when the best of conservatives (my friend) have that reaction, and the worst of conservatives....well, Alabama.

Marriage is political?

toddlers dont need to learn about the difference between straight and gay sex. They need to learn the alphabet and how too count. Nothing wrong with being gay, but keep it out of public broadcasting for little kids. they will grow up and have plenty of time too learn about this.

It seems like this sexualization of talking animals and puppets is more for the adults to feel good, they aren't doing any good for the kids.

@jeezers: So By that logic, It's terrible for kids to have gay family members. Don't give the toddlers won't care excuse, when there are little kids with LGBT parents.

This was a marriage, not sex. Would you advocate keeping all depictions and/or mentions of marriage out of the kid's shows?

EDIT For the record, I agree with you. Kids shows do not need to cover sex, gay or otherwise. It's just that a marriage is not sex. Hell, most people will tell you that you should not be getting married just to have sex.

your really reaching....never did i say that lol of coarse its not terrible to have gay family members or being gay in general.

I just feel that early childhood cartoons are not the place. Parents can decide when they want to explain that kind of stuff to kids. If you want to educate your 4 year old on gay vs straight, go for it, but not every parent does, it's kind of forcing a conversation.

like i said they can barely count, let them get the basics like numbers and the alphabet down before pushing this kind of stuff on to their little mush brains. This agenda is for the adults to virtue signal not for the kids.

I hear you and get what your saying.

alot of this is controversial because not everyone agrees on the notion of being born gay or that there is a gay gene.

some people believe your sexual orientation can be influenced by your experience and what your exposed too, especially from an early age.

example: there was a lawsuit from a father against the mother of his child, because when he would drop off his toddler son, his wife was dressing him in dresses, putting make up on him, and treating him like a girl.

He said his son didn't like it, but his mom was pushing it and the father was worried she was trying to confuse him (most likely because she truly wanted a daughter instead) I think there is an argument to be had on how pushing these ideas on young children can influence them in the long run and have a life long effect.

Im a millenial and proabably 1/4 of the girls in my class in high school identified as or thought they were bi. ( my generation was exposed to more gay content than lets say the boomer generation) Most of these girls grew up and realized they weren't gay but i think they thought that guys thought girls being bi was hot and when your being exposed to how cool it is being gay, your more willing to experiment.

Crazy to think how far its gone, 10 years ago Obama was against gay marriage and now were having debates on if its ethical for a 6 year old to get a sex change, I wonder where we will be in 30 years.

@jeezers: I'm not sure that any of what you said was really about depicting marriage in a children's show.

what im saying is there has been a big push by adults to expose children to homosexuality.

Do you think being exposed to gay content at a very young age (like 3-5) could have an affect on someones sexual orientation in the future?

Or do you believe that your either just born straight or gay as an infant, that being gay is genetic? I think that's an underlining issue with putting gay content in children's shows that people don't want to talk about.

Eh I'm not sure why we have to have any sexuality in toddler's shows. And I include of all of them in that.

"exposed"? like it is some disease that you have to hide children from for as long as possible lest they contract it.

lol the word exposed not to your liking? okay, how about "showed"

not covered or hidden; visible."the venue featured beautiful hardwood floors and exposed brick walls"

I wouldn't exactly call Arthur a toddler centric show though. It's main character is a third grader and if there's any toddler centric episode of that show, it usually involved his younger sisters. Something like Barney is a toddler show. Something like Teletubbies is a toddler show. Arthur? Not so much

i know i was watching every thing on PBS at a young age, especially before 1st grade

You seem to be implying that being gay is like a disease, which is pretty messed up. As if accidentally seeing two dudes hugging might suddenly affect your orientation. I have bad news on that front man, if you see two manly dudes furiously making out and you think it's turning you, you were already there.

Okay? Just because it's on kids TV, doesn't mean actual toddlers should watch it. PBS Kids had shows like Liberty's Kids (which is... a questionable show on history, but that's another story) and Redwall (for kids way to young for Tolkien), which were hardly recommended for younger kids. Hell, even on cable, we had censored episodes of Dragon Ball Z, would you recommend those to toddlers too because they were on kids centric parts of Cartoon Network?

Hell, it's actually recommended that kids as old as five or seven (which are well past toddler) watch Arthur.

@Vaasman: dude these are children, they dont know about sex, no where am I calling it a disease, your dismissing what I'm saying completely.

Is sexual orientation declared at birth? Can sexual orientation be influenced at a young age.

There also is a corellation between victims of sexual abuse as a child and being confused about thier sexual orientation by the time they hit puberty.

Its not about being a disease, thats not the discussion at all if its not clear. I know the argument "well if you can decide to be gay, when do people decide to be straight" I know that argument.

Are all gay people born gay??? nobody wants to answer that.

@jeezers: "Do you think being exposed to gay content at a very young age (like 3-5) could have an affect on someones sexual orientation in the future?"

No, but I do think that it could help them see gay relationships as something that's not out of the ordinary and thus not weird or inappropriate. It's that sort of mindset, where people think of being gay as bad or not normal, that causes people who discover that they are gay or bi or feel that they might be to go through a lot of pain internally because they feel it's wrong or sinful or feel ostracized. Sometimes it means being bullied or shunned by those friends and family who feel it's wrong. Sometimes it means they commit suicide over these feelings. And for what? So that parents never have to be put in the position of having to tell their kids that two men or two women can fall in love the way a man and a woman can? So that parents never have to feel threatened that a cartoon can turn their child into something that they might end up being regardless? **** that.

Don't care, more amazed this show is still running.

@Serraph105: I hear you, thanks for atleast answering with a yes or no. So i understand your position.

Do you think all gay people are born gay? I see the stance for nomalizing it. But I dont think being gay is necessarily "normal". Atleast in a scientific or natural way when looking at the percentages of gay vs straight, or the natural process of making children. The science on why men and females attract is pretty clear, where the science on being gay doesnt seem to be there.

Im not saying we need to be mean to gay people. But telling children being gay is natural seems off to me. I would tell them being gay is fine, but its not the norm?

@galacticpeddler: there's not really an agenda when likely 95% of TV is heterosexual. I dunno why people are acting like LGBT content is so widespread in mainstream media.

Talibama doing its thing, again.

@Serraph105: Yeah, the mindset strikes me as unhealthy. Last summer my parents felt like they needed to call me and ask me if it was ok for my son to stay at a BBQ they were attending. "One of the couple's is gay," they whispered.

The alternative is, what, to force my son to miss out on common experiences because he might find out that (gasp!) gay people exist? No thanks.

@Celsius765: I dont know, seems to be like everything has gay people in it nowadays for diversity points. When over 95% of the population is straight that shouldnt even be surprising.

@n64dd: there isn't. Homosexuality is a human sexuality that describes same sex attraction. This particular episode was mearly about a wedding. And there likely isn't any discussions involving politicians or legislation in it.( I know what you're trying to say but it's silly to treat anything not hetero as some sort of political discussion and not entertainment)

As long as people don't view it as normal, society will continue to be "mean" to gay people in the ways I mentioned above (and more) for the sole fact that they are gay. Keeping it out of the eyes of general society is a large part of what perpetuates the idea that it not normal and thus not fine.

Based on your posting I might assume you were seeking it out.

@Vaasman: lol just stating facts man