One Million Moms wants Arthur cancelled for ‘promoting homosexual lifestyle’
PBS show Arthur is under fire from One Million Moms
Anti-LGBT evangelical group One Million Moms has slammed US broadcaster PBS after an episode of Arthur featured a gay wedding.
The long-running cartoon series aired a same-sex wedding as part of May 13 episode “Mr Ratburn and the Special Someone,” which revealed teacher Mr Ratburn getting married to another man.
The episode received praise from viewers, but apparently did not go down well with One Million Moms, an offshoot of the ultra-conservative American Family Association, which is known for campaigns against inclusive media content.
The group claims that more than 18,000 members have signed its petition calling on PBS to “cancel this controversial content immediately.”
One Million Moms ‘offended’ by gay wedding
The pre-written letter states: “I am outraged that PBS Kids would use their children’s network to promote same sex marriage. It is offensive to me and my family that the network would glorify the homosexual lifestyle.
“Until PBS Kids agrees to no longer air this episode or others with same sex couples, then conservative families including my own will have no choice but to discontinue watching PBS Kids Network, even avoiding previews, commercials, and reruns.
“You will not have my support as long as you continue to veer away from family-friendly entertainment.”
PBS show Arthur is under fire from One Million Moms
One Million Moms added: “Discussion of such controversial topics and lifestyle choices should be left up to parents. PBS Kids should not introduce this to young children.
“Just because an issue may be legal or because some are choosing a lifestyle doesn’t make it morally correct. PBS Kids should stick to entertaining and providing family-friendly programming, instead of pushing an agenda.”
“This episode is a flagrant indoctrination and promotion of the homosexual lifestyle upon our impressionable young children”
— American Family Association
The American Family Association added: “The program is broadcast on PBS Kids, and its educational purpose is purportedly to interest children in reading.
“However, this episode is a flagrant indoctrination and promotion of the homosexual lifestyle upon our impressionable young children and a gross misuse of our tax dollars.”
Arthur creator: I’d hate to live in a censored world
However, Arthur creator Marc Brown says that the response to the episode was overwhelmingly positive.
He explained to Canada’s CBC: “It made me feel great that we were able to do something that was really helpful to so many people. Art reflects life, life reflects art, and kids needs to see what’s happening in the world.
“I’d hate to live in a world that was sanitised and censored. That’s something I can’t get behind.”
He added: “I’m not any different from millions of other families around the world that have people we love who are gay, young families, raising children.
“It makes me very sad that these young families are not well represented, or hardly represented at all in our media, and I don’t think that’s a good thing.
“One of the [episode] ideas we had was a teacher getting married, and the more we talked about it, the more we saw it as an opportunity for a learning experience, and a great way to represent another part of life that so seldom gets portrayed on television.”
