In most countries where ‘Arthur’, an animated educational television series for children ages 4 to 8 airs, children came home from school, turned on PBS, and saw a gay themed wedding on Monday. (Courtesy photo.)
Parents have been warned that more and more gay and transgender characters are being shown in television shows directed at children.
The latest, during the premiere of the 22nd season of the PBS animated series “Arthur” this week, Mr. Ratburn—the kids’ third-grade teacher—came out as gay when he married another male character, an aardvark named Patrick.
“It’s a brand-new world,” one of the kids declared during the wedding, according to Charisma News.
Arthur is a joint Canadian/American series which debuted in 1996 about an eight-year-old anthropomorphic aardvark named Arthur Read and his friends, who live in the fictional Elwood City.
Parents have called for a boycott of such cartoon programs over gay characters with Alabama Public Television (APT) refusing to broadcast the episode which shows the same-sex wedding.
APT Programming director Mike McKenzie told the BBC broadcasting it would break parents’ trust in the network.
Mr McKenzie said “parents trust that their children can watch APT without their supervision”, and that children “younger than the ‘target’ audience” might watch without parental knowledge.
Earlier speaking to Journalists, Christian media watcher Jeff Johnston said parents will be surprised to find out that a lot of children’s programs now have “sexually-confusing messages” that could “introduce children to falsehoods and immorality.”
He said these messages only create confusion and insecurity. “Children are not equipped to handle these adult themes,” he said.
