Issue Update: 2/4/05

TPT Takes A Principled Stand On
"Postcards from Buster"

Recently the new U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has revved up a controversy regarding a PBS children's television show - Postcards from Buster. In the episode "Sugartime," Buster (an animated rabbit) visits a farm in rural Vermont with some real life kids to see how maple syrup is made and how cows are milked, among other things. The children he tags along with have same-sex (lesbian) parents. The Secretary of Education thought this was an inappropriate episode because it depicts a "lesbian lifestyle." She suggested that PBS pull the plug on the episode or risk losing federal funding. PBS pulled the episode.

OutFront has learned that our own PBS affiliate, TPT, has decided to air the episode. In their statement released on Tuesday they said, "After reviewing the episode, Twin Cities Public Television believes it is consistent with our mission and appropriate to broadcast." Read the full statement.

TPT will be barraged by letters from extremists who are angry that this episode is airing. Please contact TPT at viewerservices@tpt.org to let them know how much you appreciate their decision and how this decision affects you and your family. We ought to be proud of our folks at TPT for taking a principled stand.

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