Far-right congressional Republicans have accused the Public Broadcasting Service of “grooming” children with a Sesame Street post on X for LGBTQ+ Pride Month.
Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.
“On our street, everyone is welcome,” the post reads. “Together, let’s build a world where every person and family feels loved and respected for who they are. Happy #PrideMonth!” It went up Sunday.
The Republican Study Committee, which bills itself on its website as “the conservative conscience of Congress,” responded Monday with a meme of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, and the words “I am once again asking PBS to stop grooming children.” It wasn’t clear why the group chose Sanders, except perhaps for his progressive views.
The exchange was first reported by The Hill, which sought comment from PBS, Sanders, and the Republican Study Committee but received no responses.
Individual Republican Congress members denouncing PBS for the post include U.S. Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois, who shared the Sesame Street post on her X feed and wrote, “PBS is shamelessly grooming our children while collecting taxpayer dollars. This is evil and should infuriate every parent in America. DEFUND!!” Miller has also introduced a resolution to declare June Family Month instead of Pride Month.
She is a member of the Republican Study Committee. Its full membership isn’t public, but its leaders, listed on its website, include such anti-LGBTQ+ stalwarts as Reps. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Tom McClintock of California, Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, and Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin.
U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, went after Sesame Street by sharing a clip on X ofQueer Eye’s’s Jonathan Van Ness on the program in 2020. “Federal funds aren’t for grooming,” he wrote. “Through Sesame Street characters or otherwise. Defund PBS.”
Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona shared the same clip and commented, “PBS is grooming children on American taxpayers’ dime. This is unacceptable. Congress must defund them and hold the executives accountable.”
Sesame Street has been a beacon of inclusivity, often sending out Pride messages. It has frequently featured entertainers from the LGBTQ+ community, such as Ian McKellen, Brandi Carlile, and Billy Porter. A 2021 episode called “Family Day” had actors playing a gay couple and their daughter. Plus there’s the ongoing debate about whether popular puppets Bert and Ernie are lovers or platonic friends. And right-wingers have previously lambasted the program for its inclusion.
Now PBS and National Public Radio are in Republicans’ cost-cutting sights amid allegations that they have a liberal bias. Donald Trump has issued an executive order stating that no funds from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting can go to PBS or NPR; the broadcasters are fighting that in court.
Plus Trump has asked Republicans in Congress to rescind the $1.1 billion it has allocated for all public broadcasting over the next two years. That was part of the stopgap budget bill approved by Congress and Trump in March. NPR President and CEO Kathryn Maher called the proposal “explicitly viewpoint-based and aimed at controlling and punishing content” and said it “violates the Public Broadcasting Act, the First Amendment, and the Due Process Clause.”
