Sesame Street provokes outpourings of love with puppet-filled Pride rainbow
Sesame Street has a special message for you this Pride Month.
And it just so happens to be the same message the show has been openly pushing since 1969 – the same year as the Stonewall riots.
Some of the most beloved characters on TV gathered for an open celebration of the LGBT community, forming a rainbow.
The thing I liked most about the characters/muppets was that I never was under pressure to assign genders to any of them.
— Semiotic Hatpin (@semiotic_pirate) June 24, 2017
Growing up in Bluefield WV, Sesame Street taught me to accept myself. Thanks ?? for the great lesson. ❤️
— Sumeeta Patnaik (@mywritinginprog) June 24, 2017
I am freaking crying I have been watching Sesame Street since my very first breath
— deets (@abusivemother) June 24, 2017
You were groundbreaking, influential and inspiring when I was a child. I’m 47 and nothing’s changed. Hooray for you!
— Lesley Parr (@WelshDragonParr) June 25, 2017
Thank you for helping me grow up to focus more on love than hate, laughter more than anger, & pride in diversity.
— Josh Neff (@joshuamneff) June 24, 2017
There is true beauty in seeing a children’s show that so openly accepts people like this.
— Abbie LeGrand (@Make_a_change75) June 24, 2017
You people were always the coolest.
— Wolfie Rankin (@Wolfie_Rankin) June 23, 2017
I love this a whole lot. ?️?
— mindy reznik belser. (@dupreeblue) June 24, 2017
As pointed out by NewNowNext, there was a backlash from ultra-conservative publication Lifesite, and some of the comments underneath the photo were hateful.
The anti-LGBT, anti-abortion publication said the photo and message “abandon any notion of childhood innocence while simultaneously promoting the politicisation and sexualisation of kids.”
The article asked: “Do they also need to take sides in a political war in which they have no chance of understanding until they are much, much older?”
But the show’s glorious impact on popular culture is too widespread to row it back now.
One prominent example of this influence was when The New Yorker used Bert and Ernie to celebrate the Supreme Court’s decision to repeal a key section of the Defense of Marriage Act.
According to Lifesite, Sesame Street has joined the wrong side of what it calls the “LGBT culture wars”.
“This tweet reveals that Sesame Street is overtly pro-gay,” the article concludes.
And what’s wrong with that?
