..and mr. censor strikes again.

as i was checking the lineup for monday's good morning america (doublechecking a tv listing i'm editing), i ran across this. apparently, the new education secretary is upset about an episode of a pbs cartoon called "postcards from buster" because the episode, in which buster tours vermont and educates kids about farming and maple sugaring, has two lesbian couples in the episode.

nevermind the focis is on vermont, farming and maple sugaring.

nevermind the show never says, "hey, this is a gay couple!" or explains anything about same sex unions.

just the mere sight of a lesbian couple has sparked the new secretary of education, margaret spellings, to ask the boston pbs station that produces the show to refund the government the money it contributed to that episode and remove the seal of the department of ed from that show. Her reasoning?

"Many parents would not want their young children exposed to the lifestyles portrayed in the episode," Spellings wrote in a letter sent Tuesday to Pat Mitchell, president and chief executive officer of PBS.

"Congress' and the Department's purpose in funding this programming certainly was not to introduce this kind of subject matter to children, particularly through the powerful and intimate medium of television."

from ap article

the boston station has said they will not distribute it to all of the pbs stations, but will leave it available for stations to air at their own discretion. however, wgbh has said they will still air the episode. right on.

i can't say i'm surprised with the board of ed. it's very in keeping with their current policies. i just think it's amazing that a man who on wednesday said that america will be "reflecting universal values and universal ideas that honor each man and woman, that recognize human rights and human dignity depends upon human liberty," yet we still in this country don't give basic rights to gays and lesbians (or people of color, for that matter).