Sesame Street Faces Intense Backlash Over Pride Month Post, Critics Point to Troubling History
Sesame Street, the long-running children’s television program, has ignited significant controversy following a recent social media post celebrating Pride Month. The official Sesame Street account shared a message stating, “On our street, everyone is welcome. Let’s build a world where every person and family feels loved and respected where they are. Happy Pride Month“. The post featured images of puppets holding hands, with colors seemingly representative of the pride flag.
While the post garnered a large number of likes, it also prompted a wave of criticism in the comments section. Many viewers expressed outrage, accusing the show of “pushing woke BS” and promoting content they deem inappropriate for children. Comments included strong reactions such as “My children will never watch your filth,” “This is grooming,” and “This is criminal“. Critics argued that children, particularly the show’s target audience of two to five year olds, should not have these themes pushed on them.
A major point of contention raised is that Sesame Street receives federal funding, leading to concerns that taxpayer dollars are being used to support content many find objectionable.
This latest controversy adds to what we see as a “spotted history” for Sesame Street. We previously highlighted the show’s involvement in promoting COVID-19 vaccines, notably using Elmo on a CNN show to encourage children to ask their parents for the jab. This segment implied that vaccination was necessary to protect others, a claim we argued was “actual nonsense” given the low risk to children and the fact that vaccines didn’t prevent transmission. Furthermore, resurfaced accusations against Elmo’s puppeteer concerning alleged inappropriate contact have also been part of the show’s troubling past.
Beyond the Pride post, we’ve observed segments on Sesame Street that feature content we believe is unsuitable for its young audience. This includes appearances described as “two men pretending to be women” and a segment featuring an individual with a beard wearing a dress during a “monster makeover”. We noted a particular moment during the “monster makeover” revealing what we perceived as a double entendre regarding “monster piece,” raising concerns about the underlying messaging. We question why programming for young children needs to include this type of content.
We feel this approach deviates significantly from classic children’s programming messages. We contrasted Sesame Street’s current content with an episode of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood where Mr. Rogers washed the feet of a Black mailman. This episode, we recalled, conveyed a simple yet powerful message of kindness and acceptance across racial differences (“I’m black or he’s black, I’m white, but we’re all the same”), which we fully support teaching children. In contrast, we believe Sesame Street is now pushing agendas beyond general acceptance, leading to accusations of “grooming” from some viewers.
It’s worth noting that Sesame Street’s decision comes at a time when many corporations appear to be scaling back on Pride-related promotions due to them being “too divisive”. We observed that Major League Baseball (MLB), for instance, seemed to have removed a previous Pride post.
Ultimately, we believe that young children, particularly two to five year olds, do not need to be exposed to these complex and controversial topics. The strong reaction from the public, including comments calling the content “creepy” and questioning why a kids’ show needs to discuss these things, highlights a widely shared concern. We feel it would be a fair and reasonable step for Sesame Street to simply stop incorporating these themes into their programming.
