Sesame Street tweeted support for Pride Month. Take a wild guess how bigots responded
Sesame Street tweeted support for Pride Month. (Credit: Getty / Twitter)
Long-running children’s show Sesame Street has tweeted its support for Pride month and, like clockwork, bigots have piled into comments with abuse, demanding boycotts and calling it disgusting.
There was a more positive response on Instagram.
The much-loved show posted: “On our street, we celebrate inclusion, belonging and freedom of authentic self-expression. Happy #PrideMonth to all the people in our neighbourhoods.”
A string of different coloured heart emojis followed.
The post was also accompanied by a graphic of the Progress Pride Flag hanging on the wall of a garden, with a butterfly and some flowers drawn to have the signature broad smile and faces of Sesame Street characters.
On Twitter, many of the replies called queer people groomers, saying the post was disgusting, and claiming they’ll boycott the show.
Others even called for US TV network PBS to be defunded. Sesame Street has aired on the public broadcast service since its debut in 1969.
A number of the responses come from users with explicitly conservative or right-wing usernames, such as @communismhellno, who tweeted: “Are there any churches on your street?”, and @ownthelibs, who wrote: “The letter of the day is G for groomer.”
However, on Instagram the comments were much more supportive.
Many praised the show for embracing inclusivity and thanked Sesame Street for continuing to post supportive content despite negative comments.
Sesame Street’s LGBTQ+ history
In recent years, Sesame Street has been a staunch ally in its support and recognition of LGBTQ+ identities, having largely not mentioned the issue at all before 2018.
It tested the waters with LGBTQ+ imagery, including showing visuals of children with same-sex parents, and has discussed LBGTQ+ families in episodes. It also began posting about Pride month on social media.
During Pride month in 2021, it introduced its first openly queer characters: same-sex couple Frank and Dave, and their daughter Mia.
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