Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor Billy Porter (Kinky Boots, Pose) will appear in the next season of Sesame Street with Elmo and his friends, wearing the black tuxedo dress that he wore to the Academy Awards last year.
I’ve been writing about Sesame Street’s need for LGBTQ inclusion for well over a decade, and been a fan since it first aired in 1969, when I was two. I was disappointed, however, by producer Sesame Workshop’s denial this week of a romantic relationship between Bert and Ernie, not only because that would be awesome, but also because they missed an opportunity to highlight the existing (though limited) queer inclusion on the show and to commit to more.
The New Yorker brought a smile to many of our faces with its latest cover, showing Sesame Street’s Bert and Ernie embracing while they watched news of the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision. I had mixed feelings about this, though, for the cover drove home to me once again how little representation of LGBT families there really is for the youngest age groups—even on a show known for its groundbreaking depictions of families of color, children with disabilities, and single moms.
I was wrong. Well, sort of. Last week, I was bemoaning the lack of LGBT representation on Sesame Street. From the Twitter feed of the folks at Dottie’s Magic Pockets, however, comes a reminder of the below segment, “We All Sing the Same Song,” which has two children singing, “I have one daddy . .
In honor of the 40th season of Sesame Street, which starts tomorrow, I thought I’d rerun this video, which made the rounds earlier this year and is based on a much older episode of the show. Yes, this is exactly what marriage equality proponents want to teach children. The horror. I was two when Sesame
Amidst all the talk of potential progress for LGBT rights under President Obama, one opportunity has made few headlines: the prospect of more LGBT inclusive children’s programming on public television. Talk with almost any LGBT parent, and they will bemoan the dearth of LGBT families in children’s media. There is a clear need—and a new
A bit of celebrinews to start the week: In an interview for Newsweek about her wedding, Ellen Degeneres was asked whether she and spouse Portia De Rossi were thinking about children: Are you going to have kids? I don’t know. They’re cute, but they’re a lot of trouble. There’s always something to worry about at
Kermit Love, the costume designer who helped Jim Henson create Big Bird, has died at age 91. He is survived by his partner of 50 years, Christopher Lyall. Love built the Big Bird costume based on designs by Henson, and also helped design costumes and puppets for Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster, among
