By Ben Feller
Associated Press
Published January 26, 2005
WASHINGTON -- The nation's new education secretary denounced PBS on Tuesday for spending public money on a cartoon with lesbian characters, saying many parents would not want children exposed to such lifestyles.
The not-yet-aired episode of "Postcards From Buster" shows the title character, an animated bunny named Buster, on a trip to Vermont, a state that recognizes same-sex civil unions. The episode features two lesbian couples, although the focus is on farm life and maple sugaring.
A PBS spokeswoman, Lea Sloan, said late Tuesday that the non-profit network has decided not to distribute the episode, called "Sugartime!," to its 349 stations. She said the Education Department's objections were not a factor in that decision.
"Ultimately, our decision was based on the fact that we recognize this is a sensitive issue, and we wanted to make sure that parents had an opportunity to introduce this subject to their children in their own time," said Sloan
Post cards from Buster is a spin off of the popular Arthur show.
The USA TODAY also had a story on this called Education secretary blasts children's show
By Greg Toppo.
WASHINGTON — Public TV stations that don't mind an animated bunny breaking bread with a same-sex couple have the option of airing a show that the U.S. secretary of education finds objectionable.
The as-yet-unaired episode of Postcards from Buster, an animated children's travelogue, takes place in Vermont, which recognizes same-sex civil unions. Buster, a bunny who also appears in PBS' long-running Arthur series, meets real children and sends "video postcards" back home. In the Vermont episode, a girl introduces Buster to "my mom and Gillian," and the group sits down to dinner.
PBS, which receives a federal literacy grant to produce the show, pulled it Tuesday amid criticism from Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, who blasted it for featuring lesbian parents. But the show's creator, Boston station WGBH, will air it anyway and can provide the show to other PBS stations. A WGBH spokeswoman said Wednesday that a dozen stations have asked to take a look and decide for themselves.
Spellings, a former White House domestic adviser whose first day as education secretary was Monday, wrote PBS president Pat Mitchell on Tuesday with "strong and very serious concerns."
She says the episode strays from the intent of the government program designed to prepare preschoolers for school: "Many parents would not want their young children exposed to the lifestyles portrayed in this episode."
Spellings was applauded by James Dobson's Focus on the Family, which has criticized the use of the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon character in a video it says promotes homosexuality.
Karen Pike, one of the Vermont mothers, called the objections "disgusting." The show is "trying to show that kids are kids and that there are many kinds of families," says Pike, 42, a photographer who has done freelance work for USA TODAY.
Spellings also asks that PBS "strongly consider" refunding the federal money used for the episode. John Wilson, PBS's senior vice president for programming, says PBS will not refund the money but will shoot another episode.
Wilson says PBS officials already had decided to pull the episode before Spellings' letter arrived. The mention of same-sex parents, while "pure backdrop," was obscuring "what we had hoped would be a wonderful story about sugaring in Vermont," he says.
Asked how Buster reacted to the two moms, Wilson replied: "Buster is a very tolerant and accepting rabbit, and he sort of took it at face value."Education secretary blasts children's show
By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Public TV stations that don't mind an animated bunny breaking bread with a same-sex couple have the option of airing a show that the U.S. secretary of education finds objectionable.
The as-yet-unaired episode of Postcards from Buster, an animated children's travelogue, takes place in Vermont, which recognizes same-sex civil unions. Buster, a bunny who also appears in PBS' long-running Arthur series, meets real children and sends "video postcards" back home. In the Vermont episode, a girl introduces Buster to "my mom and Gillian," and the group sits down to dinner.
PBS, which receives a federal literacy grant to produce the show, pulled it Tuesday amid criticism from Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, who blasted it for featuring lesbian parents. But the show's creator, Boston station WGBH, will air it anyway and can provide the show to other PBS stations. A WGBH spokeswoman said Wednesday that a dozen stations have asked to take a look and decide for themselves.
Spellings, a former White House domestic adviser whose first day as education secretary was Monday, wrote PBS president Pat Mitchell on Tuesday with "strong and very serious concerns."
She says the episode strays from the intent of the government program designed to prepare preschoolers for school: "Many parents would not want their young children exposed to the lifestyles portrayed in this episode."
Spellings was applauded by James Dobson's Focus on the Family, which has criticized the use of the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon character in a video it says promotes homosexuality.
Karen Pike, one of the Vermont mothers, called the objections "disgusting." The show is "trying to show that kids are kids and that there are many kinds of families," says Pike, 42, a photographer who has done freelance work for USA TODAY.
Spellings also asks that PBS "strongly consider" refunding the federal money used for the episode. John Wilson, PBS's senior vice president for programming, says PBS will not refund the money but will shoot another episode.
Wilson says PBS officials already had decided to pull the episode before Spellings' letter arrived. The mention of same-sex parents, while "pure backdrop," was obscuring "what we had hoped would be a wonderful story about sugaring in Vermont," he says.
Asked how Buster reacted to the two moms, Wilson replied: "Buster is a very tolerant and accepting rabbit, and he sort of took it at face value."
It is not PBS's job to teach my children that a behavior is acceptable that I do not find it to be. I will not let my children watch a show that promotes living together outside marriage because it is a sin. I do believe that homosexual acts are sins.
Earlier this week there was an article in the paper. The state of Illinois or Indiana....I forget. They said that churches could not deny homosexuals jobs based on thier sexual status. Well, the law was passed across the board. No job could deny based on a person being a homosexual. And legislators of that state said, well, we will not pursue the law in regard to churches. But there is no written exception.
How can the government make laws that govern religion? Isnt that the idea of how our Constitution was set up? That The government should not force anyone to follow one religion or denomination....and they would stay out of the churches bussiness since the church was not in thier bussiness? Only, apparently it does not apply when they want the church to find a sin as acceptable. What a sad statement about our nation.
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