Season Premiere of ‘Arthur’
Features Same-Sex Wedding The episode, titled ‘Mr. Ratburn and the
Special Someone,’ aired on PBS Kids
and kicked off the show’s 22nd season. It featured Arthur and his group of
friends realizing that Mr. Ratburn is getting
married to a character named Patrick. In a nod towards gender fluidity, the episode
never explicitly referenced Patrick’s gender. This isn’t the first time that PBS has featured a
same-sex couple on a children’s television program. In 2005, ‘Postcards From Buster’ featured a pair of
lesbian moms and was met with heavy criticism from
the acting secretary of education, Margaret Spelling. As a result, PBS was forced to pull
the episode from affiliate stations and
went on to lose a number of sponsors. ‘Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone’ has received
a much more positive response and has been highly
praised on social media for its representation.