Posted on 02/02/2005 1:32:30 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Despite a rebuke from the new education secretary and an official cancellation by PBS, several large affiliates of the public TV network say they will air today a controversial episode of "Postcards from Buster," a cartoon series for pre-schoolers, that portrays homosexuality.
Shortly after taking office last week, Secretary Margaret Spellings denounced PBS for using public dollars to promote the homosexual lifestyle.
In a letter to the president of PBS, Spellings said: "Many parents would not want their young children exposed to the lifestyles portrayed in this episode. Congress' and the Department's purpose in funding this kind of programming certainly was not to introduce this kind of subject matter to children, particularly through the powerful and intimate medium of television."
PBS subsequently canceled the episode, entitled "Sugartime!" In the episode, Buster the rabbit visits a Vermont home headed by two lesbians.
According to a report in New York Newsday, WGBH, the powerful Boston public television station that makes the series, said it will air the program today and has offered it to other PBS stations. The paper says 18 stations plan to air it, including New York's WNET and KQED in San Francisco.
Maryland Public Television said it will not air the program tomorrow but might show it later, Newsday reported.
"We really have delineated children's television as a safe harbor for families," Maryland Public Television spokesman Larry Hoffman told the paper. "But we also realize we have a commitment to tolerance. It's a tough decision."
Peggy Charren, a WGBH board member, effused about the program.
"I am so proud of WGBH for airing this show and making it available so that other stations can now order it," Charren told the New York paper. "Unlike most of the people who are talking about this episode, I have actually seen it, and it is such a sweet, mild and wonderful program."
The American Family Association is urging its supporters to thank Spellings for taking a stand against the show.
"Secretary Spellings has been ridiculed in the liberal media and bombarded by the homosexual community because of her bold stand for our children," Don Wildmon, AFA chairman, said in a statement. "We need to let her know that mainstream America appreciates her recognition that the government should not push a homosexual agenda on children that goes against many parents' convictions.
"Children's videos should not be used to promote the homosexual lifestyle, and we want Margaret Spellings to know we appreciate her commitment to our children and respect for their parents."
"Postcards from Buster," which gets most of its $5 million budget from the taxpayers, features a rabbit whose parents are divorced and who travels with his pilot father sending video "postcards" back home.
The Education Department has paid about $100 million to PBS under a five-year contract to provide TV programming targeting preschoolers.
From the SF Chron...http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/02/01/DDG3HB2HG91.DTL&type=printable
Buster the talking rabbit has brought his video camera to film an Orthodox Jewish family in New York, a Muslim family in Chicago and Pentecostal Christians in North Carolina.
But it was the character's interactions with two lesbian families in Vermont that brought the ire of George Bush's new appointment for education secretary, along with a PBS decision to pull the "Sugartime" episode of the "Postcards From Buster" children's television show from nationwide distribution.
San Francisco public television station KQED received the episode directly from the producers at WGBH in Boston, and it will premiere at 4:30 p. m. Wednesday on Channel 9. At that time, Bay Area viewers may feel let down by the lack of controversial fodder in the episode. An early look at "Sugartime" shows more minutes spent discussing dairy farms, making chocolate chip cookies and draining sap from maple trees than exploring same-sex unions.
"I didn't understand what all the hullabaloo was about. It falls in line with what Buster has done in the past," said Jeff Clarke, KQED's president and chief executive officer, during an interview Monday. "He visits a Mormon family in Utah, and he visits with an African American cowgirl down in Houston. The whole idea is to showcase the local and regional differences that we have around the country."
"Postcards From Buster," a spin-off from the popular "Arthur" series, premiered in October, and is aimed at children ages 4 to 8. It blends animation and live-action footage, with Buster behind the camera as he interviews real-life people and films educational demonstrations. The show has already visited San Francisco twice -- including shows featuring Chinese New Year and some hip-hop dancers -- although no same-sex couples were included.
"Postcards From Buster" is funded in part from the $100 million Ready-To- Learn Television Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Education. The public controversy started after Education Secretary Margaret Spellings sent a letter to PBS President Pat Mitchell last week, explaining that "Congress' and the Department's purpose in funding this kind of programming certainly was not to introduce this kind of subject matter to children, particularly through the powerful and intimate medium of television."
PBS officials decided not to distribute the episode to its 349 stations, with a spokeswoman telling the Associated Press that it was 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."
A PBS spokeswoman on Monday said the decision not to distribute "Sugartime" was made shortly before the letter from Spellings arrived.
A WGBH official said the station was surprised by the decision to pull the program, which came after the episode had already been delayed so stations could review the content.
"I think that a lot of people have spoken out without having seen it," said Jeanne Hopkins, WGBH vice president for communications. "It's not about anything except maple sugar and a dairy."
A screening copy of the 30-minute program shows that less than 30 seconds is spent discussing the gender makeup of the two same-sex families included on the show. The longest exchange is a conversation between Buster and an 11-year- old girl named Emma, who lives with her mother, Karen, and partner, Gillian.
"So Gillian's your mom, too?" Buster asks the girl, who answers, "She's my stepmom."
"Boy, that's a lot of moms," Buster quips.
Later, Buster asks the girl about why she likes some framed photographs.
"Because they have my mom and Gillian, who I love a lot, and they mean a lot to me," Emma responds.
Reached at her Vermont home, Gillian Pieper said she asked producers about potential controversy when the episode was filmed last March but never expected a media frenzy to result.
" 'The Today Show' called us last week," said Pieper, who entered into civil union with Karen Pike in 2001. "We were already on 'Good Morning America' at the time."
Pieper said the real victims are the children featured in the episode, who are now aware that the episode won't air nationwide.
"The bottom line is, it's going to be seen in certain places, but the damage has been done to the children," she said. "Their work won't be seen because of what people think about their parents."
"Sugartime" will air on Vermont, Boston, New York, New Jersey and San Francisco public television stations, with several other stations across the nation still deciding. KQED President Clarke said he doesn't expect a lot of outrage from Bay Area residents.
"Folks who have concerns about the program ought to take a look at it," Clarke said. "Once they see it, they will find it's not what it's been made out to be. My assessment is it's not a big deal. It's about maple sugaring and it's about dairy cows and it's about cheese, and those kinds of things that go on during mud season in New England."
"...those kind of things that go on during mud season in New England." Yeah, right. And sleazy bars outside Austin too.
I deeply resent every penny of my tax dollars which is extorted from me to support PBS.
p.b.s. should be flushed down the toilet. It is constantly pushing socialist and homo and unAmerican agendas.
Buster the Rabbit, meet Mr. Stewpot.
You won't be needing that camera anymore.
Republicans routinely vote to fund PBS/NPR. Click on my home page (name) to see an old list...
Not only that, but PBS uses tax payer dollars to promote liberal bias overall. Time to get rid of PBS, or at least wean them from our money.
Homosexuality is no cartoon!....to attempt to go after pre-school kids with this indoctrination is rediculous...another great reason for charter schools and why the government must give tax breaks to parents who must sent their kids to alternative schools to get a normal education....Why should hard working parents be forced to support a whacked out leftist public education system and pay for charter schooling at the same time?...They should not!...for the most part, the public school system in this country is a massive failure.
The only shows I watch on PBS are New Yankee Workshop, This Old House (and it's spinoffs), and Woodwright's Shop. Everything else I've seen on PBS just SUCKS!!!!
Change the channel, or (better idea) turn off the TV.
| Homosexual Agenda: Categorical Index of Links (Version 1.1) |
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| What We Can Do To Help Defeat the "Gay" Agenda |
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| Myth and Reality about Homosexuality--Sexual Orientation Section, Guide to Family Issues" |
Ah yes. Tolerance. The ultimate pinnacle of human endeavor. The very best we can ever hope to be: tolerant. Not honorable, not honest, not principled, not patriotic, not respectful, not loyal, not good...but tolerant. All other weaknesses and shortcomings shall be forgiven if we are but tolerant.
We should all aspire to tolerate socialism, treason, fraud, hypocrisy, irrational hatred -- as long as it comes from the left, racism -- as long as it comes from the left, moral depravity, sexual perversion, dishonesty and blasphemy. Only if we embrace all these things and allow them to live harmoniously in our midst will we be complete.
Does anybody with a functioning brain believe this makes sense!?
But I don't want the taxpayer money wasted on PBS to be reduced by 1% - - I want the whole operation defunded entirely and thrown out on the street. Since second-termer Dubya now claims to be serious about reigning in spending, I can hardly think of a better place to start than by cutting off the disgraceful taxpayer funding of a DNC propaganda arm.
Regards,
LH
GAY MAFIA BUMP!!!!!!!
It's about maple sugaring (and promoting homosexuality) and it's about dairy cows (and promoting homosexuality) and it's about cheese (and promoting homosexuality), and those kinds of things that go on during mud season in New England."
Maybe you are too young to remember the shellacking they got in the 90's when they "voted to cancel Barney".
Some battles are just not worth the consequences when you are fighting a war on terror, reducing taxes, fixing social security and re-aligning the judicial system.
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