'Arthur's' Gay Wedding Episode Banned by Alabama Public Television

Andy Swift
Updated

Alabama’s at it again. According to a report from AL.com, Alabama Public Television chose not to broadcast the Season 22 premiere of Arthur, which included the same-sex wedding of beloved elementary school teacher Mr. Ratburn.

Rather than airing the episode as scheduled, APT Director of Programming Mike McKenzie opted to show a rerun from a previous season.

“Parents have trusted Alabama Public Television for more than 50 years to provide children’s programs that entertain, educate and inspire,” Mckenzie tells the site. “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 episode, titled “Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone,” is still available to stream on PBS’ official site. Click here to check it out.

But as AL.com points out, this isn’t the first instance of APT taking a stand against the Arthur-verse. In 2005, it chose not to air an episode of Arthur spinoff Postcards From Buster, which included several children with lesbian moms.

Your thoughts on APT’s (not entirely shocking) decision to ban this episode? Drop ’em in a comment below.

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