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Arthur returned for its 22nd season in the US yesterday (May 13), and with it came a delightful storyline – as one of its major characters was revealed to be LGBTQ+.
In the episode 'Mr Ratburn and the Special Someone', Arthur and his pals are surprised to learn that their teacher Mr Ratburn is engaged, because they can't accept that teachers have lives outside of school.
At one point, they spot him having lunch with an uptight woman (played by Jane Lynch) who they assume to be his fiancée.
However, she turns out to be his sister, as when the wedding comes around, Mr Ratburn actually walks down the aisle with his husband-to-be, much to the joy of the assembled guests.
The episode doesn't mention the word 'gay', and treating the marriage of the character so matter-of-factly is clearly a positive step.
It's not the first time that the world of Arthur has represented the LGBTQ+ community, with an episode of spin-off show Postcards from Buster depicting the titular rabbit meeting children whose mothers happened to be lesbians.
That episode – which aired back in 2005 – also didn't use the word 'lesbian', recognising it as a given much like the latest episode.
https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a...episode-lgbtq/
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I love how more and more makers of children's TV shows are doing these storylines. The more normalised the LGBT become, the less likely future generations will take on the same level of homophobia from older generations.