Mr. Ratburn's gay wedding episode of 'Arthur' banned in Alabama
Alabama Public Television did not air the season 22 premiere of the children's cartoon "Arthur," citing concerns that the episode's depiction of a same-sex wedding would be a "violation of trust" of parents in the state.
The May 13 episode, titled "Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone," features Arthur's third-grade teacher walking down the aisle at a wedding attended by his third-grade students. Mr. Ratburn, a noted fan of desserts, weds his beau Patrick, who is a chocolatier.
“Parents have trusted Alabama Public Television for more than 50 years to provide children’s programs that entertain, educate and inspire,” McKenzie said in a statement. “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.”
Prior episodes featuring Mr. Ratburn, a staple on the show since its 1996 debut, had never acknowledged the teacher's romantic preferences, marking a first for the beloved program. Although the episode made national headlines, APT determined that most parents would be unfamiliar with the new development.
"The vast majority of parents will not have heard about the content, whether they agree with it or not," McKenzie said. "Because of this, we felt it would be a violation of trust to broadcast the episode."
APT made a near-identical decision nearly two decades ago, in 2005, yanking an "Arthur" episode that included a character with two mothers.
"Our feeling is that we basically have a trust with parents about our programming," the network's then-executive director said at the time. "This program doesn't fit into that."
Alabama, no stranger to controversy, has found itself in the center of several social issue debates this year. Its new highly-restrictive reproductive rights bill has fueled a major national firestorm.
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