Homosexual rights movement moves to cartoons
Lisa Pietrzak
Issue date: 3/24/05 Section: News
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Over the past year, the controversy in America surrounding gay and lesbian marriage, known as civil union, has been escalating, and has even been found among children's television. While gay characters can be found on any number of prime-time TV shows, gay characters have not shown up in any obvious way on elementary and preschool kids' fare. This, however, has not kept observers from making assumptions and accusations.
In 1990, Reverend Joseph Chambers proclaimed that Bert and Ernie from "Sesame Street", were in fact a gay couple. Then, in 1999, former Moral Majority founder, Reverend Jerry Falwell, warned parents in the February edition of the National Liberty Journal that the purple "Teletubbies" character, Tinky Winky, was a homosexual role model. The article notes that Tinky Winky has the voice of a boy, yet carries a purse. "He is purple - the gay-pride color; and his antenna is shaped like a triangle - the gay-pride symbol," the story read. In a statement issued by Falwell, he said, "As a Christian I feel that role modeling the gay lifestyle is damaging to the moral lives of children."
The makers of these shows, however, assert that an expression of homosexuality is not intentional. Carol Miller, of the Children's Television Workshop, has responded that she believes these homosexual allegations to be entirely false. "Bert and Ernie have no sexual orientation. They're clothed puppets for Pete's sake! Next I'll hear the Cookie Monster needs to enroll in a 12-step program to overcome his cookie addiction," she said.
Human Rights Campaign Communications Director, David M. Smith said, "The HRC assures the parents of the world that your children will not become gay due to the subversive effects of the color purple, triangles, and magic bags."
More recently, the cartoon "SpongeBob SquarePants" has repeatedly been accused of displaying homosexuality, namely because SpongeBob holds hands with his best friend, Patrick, a starfish. The "SpongeBob SquarePants" controversy kicked into high-gear this past January, when Christian leader James Dobson alerted fellow conservatives and members of his Focus On The Family group to a "pro-homosexual [SpongeBob] video...that could prompt [teachers] to teach kids that homosexuality is equivalent to heterosexuality."
In 1990, Reverend Joseph Chambers proclaimed that Bert and Ernie from "Sesame Street", were in fact a gay couple. Then, in 1999, former Moral Majority founder, Reverend Jerry Falwell, warned parents in the February edition of the National Liberty Journal that the purple "Teletubbies" character, Tinky Winky, was a homosexual role model. The article notes that Tinky Winky has the voice of a boy, yet carries a purse. "He is purple - the gay-pride color; and his antenna is shaped like a triangle - the gay-pride symbol," the story read. In a statement issued by Falwell, he said, "As a Christian I feel that role modeling the gay lifestyle is damaging to the moral lives of children."
The makers of these shows, however, assert that an expression of homosexuality is not intentional. Carol Miller, of the Children's Television Workshop, has responded that she believes these homosexual allegations to be entirely false. "Bert and Ernie have no sexual orientation. They're clothed puppets for Pete's sake! Next I'll hear the Cookie Monster needs to enroll in a 12-step program to overcome his cookie addiction," she said.
Human Rights Campaign Communications Director, David M. Smith said, "The HRC assures the parents of the world that your children will not become gay due to the subversive effects of the color purple, triangles, and magic bags."
More recently, the cartoon "SpongeBob SquarePants" has repeatedly been accused of displaying homosexuality, namely because SpongeBob holds hands with his best friend, Patrick, a starfish. The "SpongeBob SquarePants" controversy kicked into high-gear this past January, when Christian leader James Dobson alerted fellow conservatives and members of his Focus On The Family group to a "pro-homosexual [SpongeBob] video...that could prompt [teachers] to teach kids that homosexuality is equivalent to heterosexuality."