The Guy Who Played Tky Wky, the ‘Gay’ Purple Teletubby, Has Died | Hor, the Queer Social Network

Contents:

• NATNAL NEWS BRIEFS; FALWELL SE 'GAY' IN A TELETUBBY
• IS TKY A GAY ROLE MOL FOR BOYS, OR A PURPLE TODDLER FULL PLAY?
• YEP, THE PURPLE TELETUBBY WAS GAY
• 20 GREAT ROL: OUR FAVORE STRAIGHT ACTORS WHO HAVE PLAYED GAY CHARACTERS
• THE GUY WHO PLAYED TKY WKY, THE ‘GAY’ PURPLE TELETUBBY, HAS DIED
• `TELETUBBI' CHARACTER IS GAY SYMBOL, SAYS FALWELL
• ROLE MOL: A GAY SPORTS ROMANCE (GAME CHANGERS BOOK 5) KDLE EDN
• LGBT ROLE MOLS: ‘I GREW UP GAY WHEN SEX BETWEEN MEN WAS A CRIMAL OFFENCE’

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

11, 1999See the article s origal ntext om Febary 11, 1999, Sectn A, Page 26Buy ReprtsTimMache is an exclive benef for home livery and digal Wky, one of four characters on the children's TV show ''Teletubbi, '' is gay and therefore a moral menace to Amerin youth, the former Moral Majory lear Jerry Falwell warns. He also noted that Tky Wky rri a purse-like pany that licens Teletubbi the Uned Stat, the Itsy Bsy Entertament Company, has nied that Tky Wky was nceived as a gay role mol and said the purse was a ''magic bag. Falwell “don’t have to scratch that ep to fd a way to talk about his own prejudice, ” said Cathy Renna, spokwoman for the Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Anti-Defamatn.

IS TKY A GAY ROLE MOL FOR BOYS, OR A PURPLE TODDLER FULL PLAY?

“I once said to someone, ‘If Tky Wky was gay, his accsori would match, '” said Kenn Viselman, print of sy bsy Entertament, which holds Amerin licensg rights to the Teletubbi.

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. 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. 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.

YEP, THE PURPLE TELETUBBY WAS GAY

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. 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.

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. 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. Falwell ntends the "subtle pictns" are tentnal and a statement issued yterday said, "As a Christian I feel that role molg the gay liftyle is damagg to the moral liv of children. In 1997, Falwell urged General Motors, Chrysler and Johnson & Johnson to whdraw their sponsorship of an episo of the s "Ellen" when the lead character announced her homosexualy.

20 GREAT ROL: OUR FAVORE STRAIGHT ACTORS WHO HAVE PLAYED GAY CHARACTERS

In an article lled Parents Alert: Tky Wky Com Out of the Closet, he says: "He is purple - the gay-pri lour; and his antenna is shaped like a triangle - the gay-pri symbol.

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

He said the "subtle pictns" of gay sexualy are tentnal and later issued a statement that read: "As a Christian I feel that role mollg the gay liftyle is damagg to the moral liv of children. She is still happily married to my dad, but the fact that she had the urage to prent her te self after all the years (when she grew up a very relig hoehold and had a lot of ternalized homophobia) is very spiratnal to me.

Even though they still face a lot of stupid qutns and homophobic people, they take on each day knowg they are who they are and people jt have to accept that.

Nyle DiMar, the 2015 wner of Ameri's Next Top Mol and 2016 wner of Dancg wh the Stars, is known as an out gay activist, mol, and advote for those the af muny like him. He hosted the 2016 to 2017 Emmy-nomated seri Gaytn that looked at LGBTQ+ culture and rights around the world, and spoke out publicly for LGBTQ+ rights before his g out.

`TELETUBBI' CHARACTER IS GAY SYMBOL, SAYS FALWELL

X was print of the school's gay-straight alliance, bravely took a public stand for gun ntrol, and livered a powerful and viral speech at the March for Our Liv they helped anize. While gay characters were equently ed for lghs or not explicly stated to be queer most early mastream Hollywood films, a brief relaxatn Germany's film productn the early 20th century allowed for LGBTQ+ classics like Anrs als die Anren and Mädchen Hollywood, the strict Hays Co forba explic pictns of homosexualy on film for three s, durg which there were a slew of queer-d villas.

The film, which featur an all-Black st, was one big step toward makg gay cema that isn't whewashed, featur a range of inti, and don't make s queer characters one-note or vehicl of sufferg. The history starts 1894, wh the very first gay film, and ends 2021 wh a mastream children's movie featurg a ma character who is may also like: Bt Emmy-nomated shows of all time1894: 'The Dickson Experimental Sound Film' as first gay filmAlso known as "The Gay Brothers, " this short film showed two men dancg together. 1919: 'Anrs als die Anren' advot for LGBTQ acceptanceAnrs als die Anren (a German film whose tle translat to Different om the Others) is one of the olst survivg movi wh a gay protagonist and was ma durg a rare perd where German film censorship was relaxed after World War I.

It centers on a vlist who ms suici after gettg blackmailed for his sexualy and ends wh an appeal for gay tolerance by German gay rights activist Magn Hirschfeld.

ROLE MOL: A GAY SPORTS ROMANCE (GAME CHANGERS BOOK 5) KDLE EDN

1922: Gay llaboratn durg the filmg of 'Salome'Charl Bryant's adaptatn of gay wrer Osr Wil's play of the same name reportedly featured several queer llaborators—namely, bisexual lead actrs Alla Nazimova and set signer Natacha Rambova (her mored lover). "]1938: 'Brgg Up Baby' 'gay' a queer ntextIn one scene om the 1938 screwball edy Brgg Up Baby, the word "gay" was ed a queer ntext for likely the first time (possibly thanks to queer performers' e of "gay" as a slang term). "1941: A newly queer-d villa 'The Malte Faln'"For all s efforts, the Productn Co didn't erase homosexuals om the screen; jt ma them harr to fd, " The Celluloid Closet stat.

LGBT ROLE MOLS: ‘I GREW UP GAY WHEN SEX BETWEEN MEN WAS A CRIMAL OFFENCE’

1948: Gayns and murr lli Hchock's 'Rope'Loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb murr se, Aled Hchck's Rope tells the story of two heavily d gay men who murr one of their classmat for the sheer thrill of .

1955: 'Rebel Whout a Cse' featur the 'first onscreen gay teenager'The well-known drama clus clear, d gay subtext between troublemakg teen protagonist Jim Stark (supposedly queer actor Jam Dean) and his new classmate, Plato (Sal Meo). 1961: 'Victim' criciz Brish homophobiaVictim opens 1960s London, where a man's ath leads the film's gay ma character (played by proment actor Dirk Bogar) to disver a blackmail scheme agast several gay men.

While The Children's Hour is notable for prentg a sympathetic queer ma character a time when that was rare, has also been cricized for rercg the "tragic gay endg" stereotype. 1967: 'Portra of Jason' explor '60s Black gay intyPortra of Jason was shot over 12 hours, as experimental filmmaker Shirley Clarke terviewed Jason Holliday—a Black gay sex worker and aspirg baret dancer.