Teletubby Says For the Rerd We Were Not Gay

Contents:

• YEP, THE PURPLE TELETUBBY WAS GAY
• THE GUY WHO PLAYED TKY WKY, THE ‘GAY’ PURPLE TELETUBBY, HAS DIED
• THE TELETUBBI EMBRACE PRI, MORE THAN TWO S AFTER 'GAY' TKY WKY SNDAL
• THE WHOLLY UNSURPRISG STORY BEHD TKY WKY’S ELEVATN AS A GAY IN
• TELETUBBY IS SECRET GAY, SAYS EVANGELIST
• NATNAL NEWS BRIEFS; FALWELL SE 'GAY' IN A TELETUBBY
• THE LAST WORD: TELETUBBY SAYS WE WEREN'T GAY
• THE GAY TELETUBBY; TELEVISN: THE REV. JERRY FALWELL SISTS THE PURPLE BABY-SHOW CHARACTER TKY WKY IS HOMOSEXUAL.
• SIMON SHELTON, ‘TELETUBBI’ TKY WKY ACTOR, DI; FALWELL CALLED HIM THE GAY TELETUBBY

YEP, THE PURPLE TELETUBBY WAS GAY

Jerry Falwell ma his livg fdg gay people where they didn’t belong. “Remember … homosexuals do not reproduce, ” the televangelist and activist warned his followers 1981.

” He claimed to have nonted Print Carter about why he employed “practicg homosexuals” the Whe Hoe 1980. So when Falwell claimed 1999 to have disvered that one of the Teletubbi was gay, seemed like yet another example of his proprietary blend of vicns and absurdy.

“He is purple—the gay pri lor, and his antenna is shaped like a triangle—the gay pri symbol, ” Falwell wrote an issue of his own magaze. To have “ltle boys nng around wh purs and actg effemate and leavg the ia that the mascule male, the feme female is out, and gay is OK” is somethg “Christians do not agree wh, ” he told Katie Couric. How uld they be gay?

THE GUY WHO PLAYED TKY WKY, THE ‘GAY’ PURPLE TELETUBBY, HAS DIED

In the years precedg his supposed exposé, many publitns had wrten about the gay muny’s adoptn of Tky Wky as one of their own. When the show buted England 1997, s hypnotic, wkg weirdns had almost immediately bee popular wh club kids and the gay muny.

The Inpennt referred to his “mp, handbag-rryg antics, ” and the Guardian lled him a “gay in” who “pranc around. Proment gay gossip lumnist Michael Mto told Entertament Weekly (“only half tongue--cheek”) that the character offered a great msage: “not only that ’s okay to be gay, but the importance of beg well-accsorized. At the time, many enlightened mastream crics took the attu that Falwell and the gay prs were equally perverse for foistg sexual preferenc on bunch of preverbal stuffed animals.

For one thg, to ll Tky Wky “gay” do not mean that Tky Wky has sex, and the mere prence of queer characters is not self “sexual nuendo. In the years sce then, subtext has bee text, and children’s televisn producers have gone om wkg at their characters’ private liv to creatg openly gay adult and kid characters.

THE TELETUBBI EMBRACE PRI, MORE THAN TWO S AFTER 'GAY' TKY WKY SNDAL

Four days ago, Simon Barn, the 52-year-old actor bt known for playg Tky Wky, the purple creature the BBC prchool children’s seri Teletubbi, passed away, givg pse to remember Wky’s legacy as the “the gay Teletubby. In a 1999 article by homophobic televangelist Jerry Falwell published his magaze Natnal Liberty Journal, Falwell clared that Tky Wky was gay. “He is purple, the gay pri lor, and his antenna is shaped like a triangle, the gay pri symbol.

THE WHOLLY UNSURPRISG STORY BEHD TKY WKY’S ELEVATN AS A GAY IN

First off, purple isn’t the gay pri lor — ’s lavenr or rabow. Outspoken gay gossip lumnist Michael Mt clared, “Tky Wky is … a great msage to kids: not only that ’s okay to be gay, but the importance of beg well-accsorized. ” But even before Falwell’s article, The Advote had lled Tky Wky, a “big, fabulo fag, ” a Brish media rearcher lled him, “the first queer role mol for toddlers” and The Inpennt labeled him “a gay in.

In an emergency prs nference about Falwell’s claim, Teletubbi spokman Kenn Viselman said, “If gay people thk Tky Wky is gay, ’s bee there aren’t enough gay role mols on TV. Barn, who had taken over the role of “the gay Teletubby” 1997 om Dave Thompson who was unexpectedly fired om the show. “People always ask me if Tky Wky is gay, ” Barn said.

(Photo urty Teletubbi Pri Collectn)When to pearl-clutchg gay sndals volvg children's TV characters, the story of the Teletubbi — particularly of the handbag-holdg Tky Wky — is right up there wh that of Bert and now looks like the seri is embracg the 22-year-old ntroversy a most rabow-hued way: by lnchg the official Teletubbi Pri Collectn, jt ahead of June. Om 1998 to 2008 and had a reboot 2015 — all started 22 years ago, when Baptist televangelist and noted homophobe Jerry Falwell penned "Parents Alert: Tky Wky Com Out of the Closet, " the Natnal Liberty Journal, a promotnal publitn for his evangelil Liberty Universy, notg, "He is purple — the gay pri lor, and his antenna is shaped like a triangle — the gay pri symbol.

TELETUBBY IS SECRET GAY, SAYS EVANGELIST

(GIF: YouTube/Teletubbi)A ltle ntext: This was jt two years after Ellen DeGener me out as gay and three years after Print Bill Clton signed the Defense of Marriage Act to law, effectively banng same-sex marriage.

NATNAL NEWS BRIEFS; FALWELL SE 'GAY' IN A TELETUBBY

Anti-sodomy laws are unnstutnal, and five years before Massachetts would bee the first state to legalize gay marriage (while feral legalizatn would not e until 2015) so, for those who haven’t been followg along om the begng — or anyone need of a reher — here's a brief timele of the Teletubbi' journey om nial to acceptance to full-on pri. 1999Jerry Falwell panics, cg "evince" about Tky Wky's gay role mol stat.

"The character, whose voice is obvly that of a boy, has been found rryg a red purse, and has bee a favore character among gay groups worldwi, " Falwell (who would die 2007) famoly wr his magaze, along wh tails about character's hue and triangle antenna. He adds, "As a Christian, I feel that role-molg the gay liftyle is damagg the moral liv of children. (Photo: REUTERS/Trevor Samson)Falwell giv some cred for the tip-off to Washgton Post wrer Michael Colton, who had recently (and jokgly) clared, his annual "In/Out" lumn, that Tky Wky would be replacg the jt-out Ellen Degener as the new gay ambassador (somethg Colton amgly apologiz for after the Falwell fallout) others had beaten him to the punch, wh Tky Wky already proudly claimed by the gay prs — cludg the Advote, Out magaze and the Village Voice, which lumnist Michael Mto clared that Tky Wky is "out and proud" and sends "a great msage to kids — not only that 's OK to be gay, but the importance of beg well-accsorized.

THE LAST WORD: TELETUBBY SAYS WE WEREN'T GAY

" Lookg back years later, Mto would rell, "As I land the middle of this hilar ntretemps, I had to chuckle over the fact that Falwell and I actually agreed on somethg—that Tky was gay. "After penng his divisive piece, Falwell doubl down on the Today show, tellg then-host Katie Couric that to have "ltle boys nng around wh purs and actg effemate and leavg the ia that the mascule male, the feme female is out, and gay is OK" is somethg "Christians do not agree wh. " Teletubbi spokperson Kenn Viselman, meanwhile, holds a prs Falwell rilg folks up wh homophobic rhetoric was nothg new, as evinced by this photo of gay prottors at the 1992 Republin Natnal Conventn, outsi of Falwell luncheon, Hoton, Tex.

" He adds, "If gay people thk Tky Wky is gay, ’s bee there aren’t enough gay role mols on TV.

THE GAY TELETUBBY; TELEVISN: THE REV. JERRY FALWELL SISTS THE PURPLE BABY-SHOW CHARACTER TKY WKY IS HOMOSEXUAL.

Later I learned that this may have a homosexual unrtone. "Whether Tky Wky is gay or not is still the most equently asked qutn that we get. Obuari note that Barn, who replaced origal Tky Wky Dave Thompson, had at one pot addrsed the ntroversy, sayg, "People always ask me if Tky Wky is gay, but the character is supposed to be a 3-year-old, so the qutn is really que silly.

The time was ripe for a homophobic Teletubby nspiracy.

SIMON SHELTON, ‘TELETUBBI’ TKY WKY ACTOR, DI; FALWELL CALLED HIM THE GAY TELETUBBY

That antenna stuck on s head was shaped a triangle – a gay pri symbol.