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Arthur's Gay Wedding Is Triggering Conservative Groups
One Million Moms started a petition for PBS Kids to no longer air Mr. Ratburn's wedding episode.
PBS Kids' beloved animated series Arthur made viral headlines earlier this week after Mr. Ratburn, the show's teacher and cake fiend, got married to his now husband in what can only be described as one of the cutest same-sex weddings in children's TV history.
\u201cMR RATBURN IS GAY ?!? IM CRYING\u201d— MOVED TO GATTSKIN (@MOVED TO GATTSKIN) 1557756022
As groundbreaking and cute as Arthur's "Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone" episode was, not everyone was a fan of Mr. Ratburn's union...
Because the gays can't ever have nice things without weird, hateful backlash, conservative media watchdogs One Million Moms took it upon themselves to create a petition to try and ban the episode from airing on PBS Kids ever again.
"Discussion of such controversial topics and lifestyle choices should be left up to parents," One Million Moms said in a post about their petition. "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."
According to the One Million Moms website, the petition currently has 13,000+ signatures.
While seeing the same, tried, old "lifestyle choice" argument over and over again is nothing new to us, it's still discouraging that on Beyoncé's internet, in the year of our lord 2019, people are still so opposed to innocent displays of inclusion and diversity on a kid show.
Luckily, praise for Mr. Ratburn's wedding is still drowning out all of the negativity on social media.
\u201cLive look at conservative parents after they let their kids watch the season premiere of Arthur where Mr. Ratburn gets married.\u201d— Dane Jackson (@Dane Jackson) 1557793839
\u201cPRIDE reports that Mr. Ratburn, Arthur\u2019s 3rd grade teacher, is gay! I don\u2019t why this makes me so happy. Possibly a sense of justice knowing that equality was quietly at work against the conservative establishment that was PBS at the time. Now Ms. Frizzle can come out! #Arthur\u201d— Ellingwood 2022\u2019s version \ud83e\uddf8 (@Ellingwood 2022\u2019s version \ud83e\uddf8) 1557817441
\u201cReading about those negatives comments and opinions about Arthur gay teachers got me laughing. HOMOPHOBIC PEOPLE are literally loosing their mind over a CARTOON GAY RAT!!! #TheHomophobesAreAtItAgain\u201d— \ud83e\udee7\ud83e\udeb7Alejandro \ud83e\udeb7\ud83e\udee7 (@\ud83e\udee7\ud83e\udeb7Alejandro \ud83e\udeb7\ud83e\udee7) 1557845669
Arthur is currently airing on PBS Kids! Watch "Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone" on PBS Kids' website here!
Raffy is a Los Angeles-based writer, editor, video creator, critic, and digital director of Out Magazine. The former editor-in-chief of PRIDE, he is also a die-hard Rihanna and Sailor Moon stan who loves to write about all things pop culture, entertainment, and identities. Follow him on Instagram (@raffyermac) and Twitter (@byraffy), and subscribe to his YouTube channel.
Raffy is a Los Angeles-based writer, editor, video creator, critic, and digital director of Out Magazine. The former editor-in-chief of PRIDE, he is also a die-hard Rihanna and Sailor Moon stan who loves to write about all things pop culture, entertainment, and identities. Follow him on Instagram (@raffyermac) and Twitter (@byraffy), and subscribe to his YouTube channel.
