Arthur character Mr. Ratburn comes out as gay in same-sex wedding episode

The Season 22 opener was praised on Twitter for representing same-sex relationships
In the episode, Arthur's teacher Mr Ratburn marries Patrick, a local chocolatier
PBS Kids

Much-loved children’s cartoon Arthur has been praised for a new episode which reveals that teacher Mr. Ratburn is gay and getting married to a man.

The long-running series, which airs on PBS Kids in the United States, started its 22nd season with an episode titled Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone, in which Arthur and his classmates discover that their teacher is about to tie the knot.

Arthur, Buster, Francine and Muffy assume that Mr. Ratburn is marrying Patty, a female rat voiced by former Glee star Jane Lynch – until it transpires that she is in fact his sister.

The groom then enters the wedding marquee accompanied by another groom, Patrick, the local chocolatier, and the couple say their vows, prompting Francine to remark: “It’s a brand new world.”

The new episode was roundly praised on Twitter, with one fan thanking the show for “celebrating” a same-sex relationship and “fearlessly exampling to a young audience all types of relationships.”

Others hailed the storyline as an important milestone for representation in children’s TV. “I never thought I’d see the day that a PBS Kids show, especially Arthur, have a gay character,” one Twitter user wrote. “Way to go Mr. Ratburn! It’s a good day to be alive.”

“I think the best thing about this is that Mr. Ratburn is like, an actual character on the show,” another commenter pointed out. “This isn’t just a one-off gay couple introduced so they could have this episode, which’d still be neat, albeit less so. This is an actual, established character.”

Some fans even pointed out that the children’s show had been more “courageous” than recent Marvel movie Avengers: Endgame, after the film’s brief introduction of a gay character left some viewers disappointed.

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“It turns out Arthur is more courageous and explicit than Avengers: Endgame when it comes to LGBTQ2 lives and storylines,” one tweet read. “Congrats Mr. Ratburn! Your move, Marvel…”

The show previously featured a same-sex couple in the 2005 spin-off series Postcards from Buster, in which Arthur’s rabbit best friend travelled to Vermont and met children with lesbian parents.

Arthur has aired on PBS since 1996, and follows the adventures of anthropomorphic aardvark Arthur Read and his friends in the fictional Elwood City.

The show has previously dealt with issues such as cancer, dyslexia, diabetes and autism.

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