A recent episode of Arthur shows same-sex wedding and Alabama Public Television is not accepting to air this episode as it ‘violates’ the trust of their audience.
In the episode, which aired nationwide on May 13, Arthur and his friends attend their beloved teacher Mr Ratburn’s wedding to his partner and happy to see him walking arm in arm with his soon to be husband.
The episode in question, titled “Mr Ratburn and the Special Someone,” shows Mr Ratburn gets married to the love of his life who is a man.
According to NBC, Mike McKenzie who is the director of programming at Alabama Public Television said in a statement: “Parents have trusted Alabama Public Television for more than 50 years to provide children’s programs that entertain, educate and inspire.”
“More importantly — although we strongly encourage parents to watch television with their children and talk about what they have learned afterwards — parents trust that their children can watch APT without their supervision.
We also know that children who are younger than the ‘target’ audience for ‘Arthur’ also watch the program.”
“The vast majority of parents will not have heard about the content, whether they agree with it or not,” he added. “Because of this, we felt it would be a violation of trust to broadcast the episode.”
According to AL.com: ‘’Misty Souder, a substitute teacher in McCalla, saw the celebration of inclusion on social media and recorded the episode to watch with her 9-year-old daughter.
She and her daughter were disappointed when the episode, which still was named “Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone,” turned out to be a re-run. Souder reached out to APT and used the experience to teach her daughter about the importance of speaking out for the minority groups.
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There is a petition with more than 10,000 signatures is going on ‘to change the Alabama state flag to Mr. Ratburn’s wedding.’
“With LGBTQ visibility at an all-time high on television, including in the Kids and Family Programming genre, this attack to censor content is not only mean-spirited, it’s a losing battle,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis.
“LGBTQ parents and their children deserve to see themselves reflected in media and if leadership of this public broadcasting station cannot serve the interests of the entire public, it’s time to find someone who can.”
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