Tough Pigs News Extra
updated July 28, 2002
The
GOP vs. Sesame
First up, because people will be asking, a little rumor-busting:
All the Sesame Street Muppets are alive and well.
None of the Sesame Street Muppets you know are sick, dying or dead. There are no plans for that, and there never have been. The "HIV-positive Muppet" you may have heard about is a character for the South African version of Sesame Street, and there aren't any plans for that character to appear on the American Sesame Street right now.
Some right-wing folks, including some Republican congressmen and Donald Wildmon's American Family Association, may say different. That's because, as usual, they're trying to manipulate people's fears in the interest of short-term political gain, in this case cutting funding for public broadcasting. It's cynical and misleading, and they should be ashamed of themselves.
There, now that's out of the way. Here's excerpts from some news articles on the subject:
Sesame Street to introduce HIV+ Muppet
Reuters -- July 12, 2002
by Bernie Woodall
reprinted entirely without permission
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Sesame Street will soon introduce its first HIV-positive Muppet character to children of South Africa, where one in nine people have the virus that can lead to AIDS.
The upbeat female Muppet will join Takalani Sesame on September 30 for its third season on the South African Broadcasting Corporation. The new Muppet, which does not have a name or final color or form -- will join "Takalani Muppets" [pictured above] Moshe (yellow), Neno (red), Zuzu (purple) and Zikwe (blue). The character will travel to many if not all of the eight other nations that air versions of the educational children's show that began in the United States in 1969, said Joel Schneider, vice president and senior adviser to the Sesame Street Workshop.
Schneider said talks are underway to introduce an HIV-positive character to US viewers.
Schneider announced the new character this week at the 14th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain, where he spoke by telephone on Thursday. "This character will be fully a part of the community," Schneider said. "She will have high self-esteem. Women are often stigmatised about HIV and we are providing a good role model as to how to deal with one's situation and how to interact with the community."
The program is aimed at children from 3 to 7 and the messages delivered by the new character will be "appropriate," said Schneider, meaning that there will be no explicit mention of sex.
"Not every show will deal explicitly with HIV/AIDS," Schneider said. "We want to show that here is an HIV-positive member of our community who you can touch and interact with. We will be very careful to fashion our messages so they are appropriate to the age group. What do I do when I cut my finger? What do I do when you cut your finger? That sort of thing."
Takalani Sesame will be the second children's show in South Africa to have an HIV-positive character. But it is believed to be the first among shows designed for preschoolers, said Beatrice Chow, spokeswoman for the Sesame Street Workshop in New York.
In some parts of South Africa, 40 percent of women of child-bearing age are infected with HIV, and in 2000, about 40 percent of adult deaths in South Africa were attributed to AIDS, according to the State Department.
The First HIV+ Muppet
Associated Press -- July 12, 2002
reprinted entirely without permission
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) -- The first HIV-positive Muppet will soon join the cast of Sesame Street in South Africa, where the deadly virus infects more than 10 percent of the population, a producer at Sesame Workshop said. The female Muppet, whose color and name were still on the drawing board, will be introduced on the children's program Takalani Sesame in September.
The Muppet will be a 5-year-old orphan who came to live with a human family after her mother died under unexplained circumstances, Robert Knezevic, a producer at Sesame Workshop, said Friday. "She's imaginative, a natural storyteller, interested and enamored with learning and education. She is in all aspects a normal child that deals normally with the cast," Knezevic said.
The Muppet will associate freely with the show's other characters as a way to fight stereotypes and dispel myths about people living with the virus, said Yvonne Kgame of the South African Broadcasting Corp., which airs the program. "We want to build hope and address the issues of stereotypes against HIV," Kgame said. Storylines were in development, but in one possibility, the new character would become sad after children refuse to play with her because she has HIV. The other Muppets would then console her and explain that those children didn't understand that HIV cannot be spread by simply playing with someone, Knezevic said.
Sesame Street adds HIV+ Muppet
Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network -- July 12, 2002
by Dan Kerman
reprinted entirely without permission
[ Deleted first few paragraphs, repeating information from the Reuters and AP articles... ]
AIDS educators in the United States think it's a wonderful idea.
"Sesame Street has a history of educating children and helping them understand that even though someone has a disability that it's OK and we need to treat them with love and respect," said Raquel Silverio, child life program coordinator for New York's Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC). "It will (also) open the door for HIV-positive parents to communicate with their kids about HIV," she told the Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network.
Right now one in nine South Africans, or more than 4.7 million people, are HIV-positive, which is more than in any other country in the world. The government of South Africa is said to be fully supportive of the new character and hopes the show will lead to family discussions about HIV and AIDS.
While there are no plans to introduce an HIV-positive Muppet on the US version of Sesame Street, producers say they are talking about it. While members of the GLBT [ Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender ] and AIDS communities hope it eventually happens, they agree it's likely to cause quite a stir.
"We saw the firestorm over Tinky Winky possibly being gay and the recent Nick News controversy. Both are examples of how talking to kids about gays and lesbians, sexuality, or HIV and AIDS is a real hot potato," said Cathy Renna of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. "That being said, let's hope they consider it as an option. It would do a lot of good."
GMHC's Silverio agreed and pointed to the fact that half of all new infections in the United States are those under the age of 25 and a quarter of those are teenagers. "It's a growing number, so it's beneficial for young people to find out at an early age what it means to be HIV-positive," she said.
GOP Grouchy Over HIV+ Muppet
E! Online -- July 15, 2002
by Josh Grossberg
reprinted entirely without permission
Call it the Great Muppet Caper, part two.
Disturbed by the prospect of Sesame Street introducing an HIV-positive Muppet on its South African version as part of an AIDS education effort, a group of conservative lawmakers is making like Oscar the Grouch and has sent a letter to PBS expressing concern over the appropriateness of such a character and subject matter on public television.
"We look forward to working with you to ensure that only age and culturally appropriate programs air on PBS, which is a mainstay that millions of parents have come to rely upon over the past 35 years," reads the letter, which was obtained by Daily Variety.
Five Republican members of the powerful House Commerce Committee, led by chairman W.J. "Billy" Tauzin of Louisiana, also reminded PBS president Pat Mitchell that Congress has the last word on funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS' backer.
The new HIV-infected female Muppet is set to debut September 30 on Takalani Sesame with the goal of helping combat the spread of HIV and AIDS by educating youngsters on the epidemic and repudiating widely held cultural stereotypes about the virus and those infected. More than 10 percent of the South African population is infected with HIV.
The forces behind Sesame Street say the character, who has yet to be designed or named, will freely interact with her fellow Muppets, and the topic of AIDS would be handled delicately and not explicitly mention sex.
While the HIV-positive Muppet might later be introduced in other countries where a sizeable percentage of the population is battling AIDS, PBS said last week that there were no immediate plans for a similar character to join Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Elmo and the rest of the gang Stateside.
Still, that's not stopping conservatives from taking swipes at the award-winning children's series. The American Family Association says the character is a means for homosexual activists to influence young viewers. And the Tauzin-led congressional letter-writers -- which also included Representatives Joe Barton (R-Texas), Cliff Stearns (R-Florida), Fred Upton (R-Michigan), Charles Pickering (R-Mississippi), and Richard Burr (R-North Carolina) -- are taking PBS' Mitchell to task.
"While it is important to teach children in an age-appropriate manner about compassion for those who contract certain diseases, we would like to inquire whether there is other PBS programming, aimed at an older age group, which may be more suitable for such sensitive messages," the letter continues.
The politicians, all supporters of a movement in Congress to slash funding for public broadcasting, have requested that Mitchell respond to their inquiry by Friday. She has been asked to answer questions regarding how much funding PBS annually allocates Sesame Street, whether or not the PBS bigwig would allow corporations to play a larger role in underwriting more programming, and whether the show has plans to bring the HIV-positive Muppet to America. This despite PBS' assurances that it wasn't.
Ironically, one of the few morality mavens coming out in support of the HIV-positive Muppet was none other than the Reverend Jerry Falwell. Falwell, who notoriously tried to out Teletubby Tinky Winky, says he believes the new Muppet will have a positive effect, as long as there is no discussion of its sexuality.
A PBS spokesperson declined to comment Monday on the letter.
GOP lawmakers mark HIV-positive Muppet
Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network -- July 12, 2002
by Dan Kerman
reprinted entirely without permission
The decision by Sesame Street producers to introduce an HIV-positive Muppet on the South African version of the show has raised the ire of a handful of congressional Republicans in the United States.
At last week's international AIDS conference in Barcelona, Spain, the show's producer announced the new character would be introduced in South Africa in September, with a possibility of bringing a similar HIV-positive character to the program in the United States.
On Friday, six Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee rushed a letter to the president of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which airs the show, voicing their concerns: "According to the Sesame Workshop, the average age demographic for Sesame Street in the United States is children 2 to 4 years of age. We are concerned that what may be fitting for viewers of Sesame Street in South Africa (which reportedly has the most HIV-infected people of any nation in the world) may not be appropriate for children in the United States, especially in such a very early age group," the lawmakers said.
The letter, obtained from the gay and lesbian political organization the Log Cabin Republicans, made a veiled threat at PBS' funding:
"As you know, in the United States, Sesame Street is broadcast by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which receives federal tax dollars through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), over which the House Energy and Commerce Committee has jurisdiction... How much public money is dedicated to the Sesame Street series as well as this particular project that the Sesame Workshop has recently undertaken?"
Log Cabin Republicans reacted angrily to this letter, saying the statements should not be construed as a reflection of how all Republicans think. "I can't think of a more idiotic letter to be sent at a time when the Bush administration and the Congress have never been more engaged in the fight against AIDS," said Kevin Ivers, public affairs director for the Log Cabin Republicans. "For this small group of people to write such a petty letter and give this incredibly important issue such a trivial tone is shocking. This letter is ridiculous, and Republicans have a right to be angry about it," he told the Gay.com/PlanetOut Network.
The letter was signed by Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, R-La, chairman; Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas; Rep. Richard Burr, R-NC; Rep. Charles "Chip" Pickering, R-Miss; Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla; and Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich.
Ivers said he was told that at least one of the lawmakers who signed the letter was unaware of its contents and did not see the final text of the letter. "The committee people have defended the letter, saying it as designed to remind PBS while appropriate for South Africa, it's not appropriate for the US. I would disagree. HIV is no different than cancer to a 2-year-old or 4-year-old, and adults are the ones who give it a stigma," Ivers said. "The bottom line here is you're talking about children who are suffering, and these people (at Sesame Street) want to help people who are suffering."
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) also called the letter a disappointment. "I would think we would be past this, but some members of Congress refuse to realize the global aspects of this disease and the different communication mechanisms needed to educate people about it," HRC's David Smith told the Gay.com/PlanetOut Network. "It's unclear what legislative action if any that this letter would lead to. It could be the rantings of conservative members of Congress just to appease their special-interest lobby groups," he said.
Calls to both Rep. Tauzin's office and Sesame Street Workshop were not returned.
Public TV exec won't rule out HIV+ Muppet
Associated Press -- July 27, 2002
by Lynn Elber
reprinted entirely without permission
PASADENA,
California -- A public television executive said she won't rule out the
appearance of an HIV-positive Muppet on Sesame Street, saying the show's
approach will reflect the virus' impact on US children.
An HIV-positive character will join South Africa's version of the show in September, and some federal American lawmakers had grown alarmed by the possibility of such a character joining the US show, questioning whether it was age appropriate.
PBS President Pat Mitchell told the Television Critics Association on Friday that the South African character grew from the needs of that country, where millions of children are affected by AIDS.
If the virus became a more serious problem for US children, Sesame Street would be as responsive as it has been to other topics, Mitchell said.
The public television show aimed at preschoolers has dealt with the issue of death before, Mitchell noted.
She and the show's producers had previously said no HIV-positive character was planned in the US version.
South Africa's Takalani Sesame is one of several locally produced versions of the children's program, which premiered in the United States in 1969. Its new HIV-positive Muppet character was created at the urging of the South African government to educate children about AIDS. Some 4.7 million South Africans -- one in nine -- are HIV-positive, more people than in any other country.
For more information on Takalani Sesame, visit