Is Barney gay?

by ApplesH

Anyone who has taken cared of a child would have come across Barney, the purple dinosaur. You will have seen him in various audio and video cds. I receive many of those cds during my own two kids birthdays. They seem harmless enough. The songs are very catchy and kids find it easy to follow the tunes. In fact, my 1-year old’s favorite morning exercise is dancing to Barney and Friends.

Sometime ago, someone told me that Barney was not good for my son. I was told that Barney was gay and somehow was promoting being gay through his tv shows. My immediate reaction was alarm (that someone is a friend after all). Alarm that such a show would be used to promote something that could be confusing to a 2 year old. But then, I said really? I wasn’t sure because a lot of other parents I knew had Barney in their homes and on their tv and I never heard them say they knew him to be gay.

So I surfed the net and discovered how Barney has come to be tagged as gay.

You can view the article at www.worldnetdaily.com.

I looked at the website and could not find anything specific that pertains to homosexuality or anything similar. The site indicates that the foundation aims to educate people to appreciate cultural diversity. And I guess that is where the buzz about the promotion of homosexuality came from.

The buzz was started 2 years ago. What is left is some sort of conclusion that Barney is gay (the color purple doesn’t help).

Regardless, my kids love Barney and Friends. I watch the show with my kids and as long as I do not see anything wrong with the content and material - the cds will remain my kids’ favorite.

Written by ApplesH.

Submitted by ApplesH (view blog

) on Fri, 09/14/2007 - 5:44am

Posted In

Race & Ethnicity

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Here is my question

You were alarmed because Barney might be promoting homosexuality yet are you alarmed because every other television show your child will be exposed to is promoting heterosexuality?

Not that I think Barney promotes any sexuality - I just don't understand the "alarm factor". Your child is not going to grow up gay if he or she is exposed to alternative cartoons. Any more than I grew up straight because that was the only type of cartoon I ever saw. I'm gay - all the heterosexual cartoons in the world couldn't change that. And if your child is straight, none of the queer cartoons in the world could possibly change that.

Alarm is unnecessary.

~Denise
Fast Times @ Homeschool High & Flamingo House Happenings

Submitted by Denise on Fri, 09/14/2007 - 08:25

It is adults who are confused

I continue to find that in many cases of discussions involving the subjects of sexuality, religion and race...many adults find justification in their discomfort or "confusion" by putting words or predicted reactions in the mouths of the children they feel they represent.

Most children (especially at age 2) would not be confused even if Barney was supposed to be a gay dinosaur. Most children would not even notice or care if it wasn't for the adults in their lives teaching them to notice and criticize differences. Children learn how to love and hate from the adults in their life, not from the cartoon channel.

That being said, everyone has the right to their feelings. As you stated, you were in fact "alarmed" and I know that as a parent, I have been guilty of having an irrational fear or two. However, being the information junkie I am, I always try to identify the reasoning behind my fear, understand where it came from and educate myself a bit more before I decide to own my fear or simply dismiss it. For example, I am afraid of heights. It is not going to go away. I have tried everything to get over it. However, I am not going to let my fear of heights keep my son from climbing as high as the sky.

I am sorry that you were alarmed. I am glad to see that you tried to find out a bit more about your fear by understanding the source of the rumor. However, I might challenge you to continue to work towards addressing and understanding your underlying concern regarding your concern regarding homosexuality. While it may be a fear you decide to own, it may not be one you wish to pass on to your children. I might also caution that comments seemingly innocuous such as "(the color purple doesn't help)" does lend itself to stereotype that can be confusing to children. The color purple is the beautiful color purple until an adult teaches them otherwise.

Erin
ExpectingExecutive
In order to change your life, you must first change your life.

Submitted by ExpectingExecutive on Fri, 09/14/2007 - 10:23