Sesame Street prompts strong reaction with Pride Month Twitter posts: ‘Happy Pride! Elmo loves you!’
PBS kids’ staple Sesame Street recently published multiple Pride Month posts to Twitter, using several of its kid-favorite puppet characters to “celebrate diversity.”
The posts generated a wave a response from users who were supportive of the post, along with users angry that a show appealing to kids as young as toddlers would be touting the LGBTQ agenda.
The latest Pride Month post from the decades-old kids TV show featured a colorful image of several of its beloved characters interlocking arms in a display of solidarity for the LGBTQ community. Though users couldn’t see their faces, they could make out several of them based on the colors of their clothing and fur (and feathers).
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The drawing in the post clearly depicted Elmo, Bert and Ernie, Big Bird, and Oscar the Grouch, among other of the show’s colorful characters.
The caption for Sesame Street’s post stated, “This #PrideMonth, let’s celebrate diversity and unity and spread love and acceptance. Together, we can make the world a kinder place for all.” It also featured an array of hearts matching the colors of the rainbow, Pride’s official logo.
Twitter users swarmed the post, some praising it and others denigrating it.
Verified user @Huff4Congress ripped the show, accusing them of implicitly exposing kids to inappropriate sexual themes. He wrote, “Implicit in this image is the placement of children into categories of sexual preference. Children shouldn’t be thought of as people who ought to have any sexual preference at all, and you mustn’t be allowed to be around them.”
Actress Meggan Anderson offered support for the tweet, commenting, “Love this! Happy Pride month LBGTQ+! Proud to be your ally!”
Conservative user Meghan Hennes replied to the post, saying, “Or let’s call it what it really is. Grooming.”
Self-proclaimed socialist user Jess rebuked those slamming the post, saying, “If you’re mad that Sesame Street is advocating for love and acceptance, it is painfully obvious that you have never paid attention to the show before. Sesame Street has always taught love, peace, and acceptance. Good on them.”
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College professor Christian Christensen praised Sesame Street and slammed the post’s haters, tweeting, “Sesame Street has been a powerful force for good and decency in the US, and around the world, for over 50 years. It’s a national treasure. If this irritates you…you have no soul.”
Conservative citizen journalist @delinthecity claimed the post is evidence that Sesame Street is not what it used to be. He wrote, “Sesame Street, a show for children, is out here celebrating Pride Month, which is a MAJOR departure from what I remember as a child. Jesus, take the wheel and drive fast.”
In addition to the still image, Sesame Street tweeted out a video of actress Ariana DeBose and Elmo himself wishing everyone a happy Pride Month. In the clip, DeBose stated, “Elmo and I wanted to share that everyone is always welcome on Sesame Street. This month and every month we wanna uplift and celebrate our LGBTQIA+ family, friends and communities.”
In his high-pitched voice, Elmo added, “Happy Pride! Elmo loves you!”
Sesame Street has been a friend to the LGBTQ movement for years now, having featured LGBTQ queer characters in its show broadcasts as well as publishing pro-Pride posts for the past several years now.
Recent Pride and LGBTQ initiatives, particularly those aimed at kids, have been met with anger from millions of Americans and have cost the brands promoting them billions of dollars in market value.
Fox News Digital reached out to Sesame Street for comment on those pushing back against the child-oriented company for promoting LGBTQ content. The show has yet to respond.
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NY Times to ‘correct’ report of Alabama player at deadly shooting after team staffer’s admission
Just days after Alabama’s Kai Spears filed a lawsuit against The New York Times for reporting he was at a deadly shooting with teammates, his name might be cleared.
A member of the Alabama men’s basketball team staff admitted to the outlet that he, not Spears, was there.
“I can confirm that I was the passenger in Brandon Miller’s car at the time of the shooting,” Cooper Lee, 21, wrote in an email to the Times.
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The lawsuit also says Lee was the passenger in Brandon Miller’s car the morning of Jan. 15.
An earlier report said Spears was at the site of the fatal shooting with teammates Miller, Darius Miles and Jaden Bradley. Michael Davis allegedly fired the shot that killed 23-year-old Jamea Harris.
“I was not anywhere near the scene or vicinity at the time that took place,” Spears told The Washington Post, which reported about the lawsuit Wednesday. “I don’t think it is a mistaken identity. I just think they didn’t do their due diligence.”
With the new information regarding the shooting, the Times says it will “correct its coverage.”
“We have a longstanding policy of correcting errors,” Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha said in a statement. “Based on information in the affidavit and new reporting by our newsroom, we believe our original story was not accurate and plan to append an editor’s note to the story.”
Miller, a likely top five pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, was enveloped in controversy the remainder of the season after the shooting because he was not charged nor was he punished by the school. However, his car was hit by stray bullets.
Bradley was not charged either. Miles and Davis were both charged with capital murder.
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Strawberry supermoon to appear brightest in sky, plus other stunning full moons to catch this year
Tonight the beautiful full strawberry moon will light the sky at its brightest — but it’s not the only special moon to gaze upon this year.
Each month a new full moon can be seen in the stars above, each with its own unique nickname.
The different names come from “Native American, Colonial American or other traditional North American sources passed down through generations,” according to the Farmer’s Almanac.
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This year the wolf moon, snow moon, worm moon, pink moon and flower moon have already made an appearance.
Take a look at the rest of the full moons you can admire through December 2023.
Here are interesting and numerical facts as well.
The strawberry moon first began to appear on Friday, June 2 — and it will continue through the weekend, up until early Monday morning, June 5, remaining a full moon for a period of three days, according to NASA.
“On June 3 at 11:42 pm ET, the moon will appear at its brightest for the last time this spring,” Fox Weather reported.
The June full moon was nicknamed “strawberry moon” because wild strawberries reach peak ripeness during that time — leading up to the June harvest, said the website for Farmer’s Almanac.
The Buck Moon, July’s full moon and one of the four “supermoons” of 2023, will reach peak illumination at 7:39 am ET, almanac.com shared.
“It will be below the horizon at that time, so plan to look towards the southeast after sunset to watch it rise into the sky,” the online almanac continued.
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The nickname “buck moon” refers to the time in which a buck’s antlers have reached full size, after first coming in early spring, almanac.com noted.
Catch the buck moon on the morning of July 3 this year, according to NASA.
The sturgeon moon is named after the sturgeon, a pre-historic fish that has reportedly “been traced back to around 136 million years ago,” almanac.com stated.
The nickname refers to the time in which “this large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water like Lake Champlain is most readily caught,” space.com reported.
Last year, the sturgeon moon was the last supermoon of 2022, which was seen on Thursday, August 11, 2022, at 9:36 pm ET, as Fox News Digital previously reported.
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The next sturgeon moon will begin Aug. 1, 2023, around 2:32 p.m., according to the Farmer’s Almanac.
The harvest moon, which lights up the night sky in September, has at least three other nicknames including the barley moon, the corn moon, the mid-autumn and mooncake, Fox News Digital previously reported.
A European nickname for it is the fruit moon, since many fruits ripen when summer ends.
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The next harvest moon will appear on Sept. 28, 2023, at 5:58 a.m., according to the Farmer’s Almanac.
The name hunter’s moon was first identified in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1710, Fox News Digital previously reported.
The hunter’s moon is also called the travel, dying grass, sanguine or blood moon.
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It’s typically known as the hunter’s moon since leaves fall during October, the deer are fattened and it’s time to hunt, according to the Farmer’s Almanac
The next hunter’s moon will appear on Oct. 28, 2023, at 4:24 p.m.
The beaver moon lunar eclipse was seen in the sky on Nov 19., 2021, and was considered “the longest of the century,” space.com reported at the time.
The beaver moon is reportedly named due to the moon signaling the time to set beaver traps before swamps freeze “to ensure a supply of warm winter furs,” according to space.com.
“Another interpretation suggests that the name beaver full moon comes from the fact that the beavers are now active in their preparation for winter,” the site continued — “also called the frosty moon.”
The next beaver moon will appear on Nov. 27, 2023 at 4:16 a.m.
The next time a cold moon will appear on Christmas Day will be 2034, space.com reported.
The cold moon, sometimes referred to as the “moon before Yule,” will appear one day after Christmas in 2023, unlike the aforementioned nickname, space.com noted.
“December’s full moon is most commonly known as the cold moon — a Mohawk name that conveys the frigid conditions of this time of year, when cold weather truly begins to grip us,” almanac.com stated.
This year, a cold moon will appear on Dec. 26 at 10:33 p.m. ET.
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Fox News Digital’s Julia Musto contributed to this report.
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Romney Senate challenger Trent Staggs receives endorsement from Utah’s largest police union
FIRST ON FOX: Utah’s largest police union has tossed its support behind one Republican candidate seeking to replace GOP Sen. Mitt Romney in the 2024 Senate election.
“The Utah Fraternal Order of Police unanimously endorses Trent Staggs for United States Senate,” a press provided to Fox News Digital stated. “Mayor Staggs has been a longtime supporter of law enforcement and specifically the FOP. He continually shows through words and actions what it means to support law enforcement and he received the unanimous endorsement of our executive board and trustees.”
“He understands the need to protect our safety as well as our working conditions, and we wholeheartedly endorse his candidacy,” the union added.
The union’s endorsement of Staggs, who has served as the mayor of Riverton since 2018, marks the group’s first Senate primary endorsement. In prior elections, the Utah FOP backed now-Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, as well as former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah.
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Brent Jex, president of the Utah Fraternal Order of Police, told Fox News Digital that Staggs “has stood up for the blue even during recent times when it was politically expedient to keep law enforcement at arms length.”
“He’s had our back, and now we have his,” Jex added.
Responding to the endorsement, Staggs told Fox News Digital that he is “honored” to have the union’s support and vowed to continue his support for them.
“In light of the attacks on law enforcement in recent years, the very first endorsement I sought out was the Fraternal Order of Police,” Staggs said. “I wanted our local officers to know they’d always have my support, and I’m honored to have theirs. They deserve a senator who is willing to stand beside them rather than march against them.”
Staggs — who gained notoriety in 2020 for his opposition to mask mandates amid the coronavirus pandemic — announced last month that he was running for the Senate seat currently held by Romney, who has yet to declare whether he will seek re-election.
In a possible first step toward running for re-election, Romney filed FEC paperwork in April. But his chief of staff told local media that he has not made a final decision.
“I love my children, and I’m worried about the country they will inherit if I sit on the sidelines,” Staggs told Fox News Digital in May. “For too long, we’ve allowed government bureaucrats to spend away the next generation’s future, and we need more voices willing to push back.”
When asked why he believes Romney may not be an effective leader for the state, Staggs said: “Unfortunately, Mitt Romney has let personal beefs get in the way of good governance. From not standing with Mike Lee against raising the debt ceiling to voting for the $1.7 trillion omnibus, he has helped drive us deeper in debt.”
“He votes to impeach President Trump but then has the nerve to confirm a radical justice like Ketanji Brown Jackson and incompetent cabinet members like open border [DHS Sec. Alejandro] Mayorkas,” he added.
In announcing his candidacy in the race, Staggs became the first person to publicly pose a challenge to Romney, who has angered many voters within his own party for his reasoning and support for certain policies and bills.
“Mitt Romney fits in the Senate much better than I do. We’ve elected far too many people who ‘fit in’ in Washington. I’m not going to Washington to make friends, I’m going to make change,” Staggs declared.
Romney has gone on the record saying that if he were to run, he has no doubt he would be successfully re-elected. He defeated Democrat Jenny Wilson with more than 62% of the vote in 2018.
“I’m convinced that if I run, I win. But that’s a decision I’ll make,” Romney said of a potential re-election bid.
Romney was the GOP nominee in the 2012 presidential election but was defeated by former President Obama.
Romney’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.