Proud Parenting

LGBTQ Parents - Lesbian Moms & Gay Dads

Muppets cut ties with Chick-fil-A because of gay rights bigotry

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On its Facebook page, The Jim Henson Company’s CEO Lisa Henson says she is a “strong supporter of gay marriage.”

However, Henson’s company formed a partnership with Chick-fil-A at the beginning of summer in order to feature toys in kids’ meals from July until August 2012. Soon after the agreement, Chick-fil-A’s president, Dan McCarthy, announced his opposition to marriage equality because of his religion.

In an interview with The Baptist Press earlier this month, McCarthy said: “We are very much supportive of the family – the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that,” said McCarthy.

A report from the LGBT advocacy group Equality Matters said that Chick-fil-A donated more than $3 million from 2003 to 2009 to Christian groups that oppose homosexuality. The company then escalated its donations, giving $2 million to such causes in 2010 alone, according to Equality Matters.

The Company says it will be donating its final residual check from Chick-fil-A to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

[via ABC News]

Banned from Sesame Street: Katy Perry’s chest

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A clip from the planned Nov. 3 episode of “Sesame Street” featuring Katy Perry singing a version of her song “Hot N’ Cold” went viral and the reaction was extreme. Parents complained that Katy’s chest was too prominent for some parents. Sesame Street says, “In light of the feedback we’ve received on the Katy Perry music video which was released on You Tube only, we have decided we will not air the segment on the television broadcast of ‘Sesame Street,’ which is aimed at preschoolers,” Sesame Workshop said in a statement.

WATCH:

Neil Patrick Harris nominated for Emmy

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All around versatile performer, NPH has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the category Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series for his work as Barney Stinson in ‘How I Met Your Mother’.

6/18/2009
Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka searching for a surrogate?

Our friends at Growing Generations may help Neil Patrick Harris [l] and David Burtka [r] have a baby.

Star magazine reports Neil and David – who have been together for five years – are currently in the process of selecting a surrogate to carry their baby.

Growing Generations is also working with Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick – who will be parents to twin girls in July.

After going through a rigorous screening process, “Neil and David were so relieved and excited once they were approved,” says the source. “Now they have so many surrogate profiles to go through to find the right woman to carry their child.”

“Neil and David can’t wait to hold their baby; they don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl. They just want a healthy child,” says the source.

According to Harris’s Fall 2008 interview with “Out” magazine, Burtka has twin children [born via surrogate] with a former boyfriend.

7/27/2008
Neil Patrick Harris as Sesame Street’s Shoe Fairy

Neil Patrick Harris – from the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother – plays the “Shoe Fairy” on the 39th season premiere of Sesame Street.

NPH spoke to AfterElton.com about the character: “Not the shoe fairy – the fairy shoe person. It’s quite a different connotation. I was asked by Sesame Street to be a part of a song and I just leapt at the opportunity. Jim Henson was the only person I ever wrote a fan letter to as a kid and I’m a wild fan of puppets and the Henson Company in general. They wrote a song, wanted me to sing it. There are all these different mythical characters this season. Sandra Oh plays another type of fairy that Abby Cadabra creates and so we got to do this big musical number with puppets and dancing. It was a great, great afternoon. It’s one demographic that I have yet to win over.”

Harris played the role of Doogie Howser, M.D. from 1989-1993. He was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico – on June 15, 1973.

VIDEO: Sesame Street’s definition of marriage mentions nothing about ‘traditional’

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Our friends at Sesame Street have brought wisdom to the forefront with a question about marriage.

Grover: Hi Jessie.
Jessie: Hi Grover.
Grover: I have a question for you.
Jessie: What is it?
Grover: Do you know what marriage is?
Jessie: A marriage is when two people get married… they kiss… they hug… they live together… they help each other…
Grover: Are they friends also?
Jessie: Yep.
Grover: I guess that’s what marriage is about.
Jessie: Yep.
Grover: Thank you for your help.
Jessie: Your welcome.

WATCH:

Co-Creator of Sesame Street’s Big Bird dies at 91. Leaves behind male partner of 50 years

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NYTimes.com has published the obituary of Kermit Love, “the costume designer for some of ballet’s most renowned choreographers whose greatest fame came as a creator, with Jim Henson, of the beloved “Sesame Street” characters Big Bird and Mr. Snuffleupagus…”

The obit says the death was caused by congestive heart failure.

The Times remembers Love’s work: “Although Mr. Love collaborated with luminaries of dance like George Balanchine, Agnes de Mille, Robert Joffrey, Jerome Robbins and Twyla Tharp, it was the 8-foot-2, yellow-feathered Big Bird and his 7-foot, woolly mammoth-like friend Mr. Snuffleupagus – both perennially 6 years old – that brought him global attention.”

Kermit Love lived in Stanfordville, N.Y., with his male partner of 50 years. He was 91.

Rubber Ducky, you’re still the one. Cuddle with your kid while watching Sesame Street on your computer

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She won’t be asking to sit on your lap forever. And you can keep your kid close longer if there’s a computer in front of you – with Sesame Street splashed on the screen.

According to the Smart Television Alliance, one of its favorite parenting sites – Babble.com – has compiled fifty great clips from Sesame Street.

Babble’s Gwynne Watkins says, “It’s one of the longest-running shows in television history, and one of the best-loved — so perhaps it’s not surprising that there are more than 20,000 Sesame Street videos on YouTube alone. Babble combed through countless fan sites and video pages — not to mention our collective memories — to bring you the 50 most memorable moments in Sesame Street history.”

Watch them all here.

STA is a new coalition of national nonprofit organizations united by a shared commitment to improving what our children see on television. Its mission is to increase awareness of available quality children’s programming and show parents and caregivers how they can make smart choices and easily manage television viewing in their homes.