The Independent referred to his “camp, handbag-carrying antics,” and the Guardian called him a “gay icon” who “prances around. “Tinky Winky is the first queer role model for toddlers,” a British media studies lecturer wrote that summer. From children’s books to corporate wokeness, to the smug, pro-gay/trans/non-binary cheerleaders in the media and Hollywood, you just can’t escape ubiquitous LGBTQueer propaganda these days. When the show debuted in England in 1997, its hypnotic, winking weirdness had almost immediately become popular with club kids and the gay community. This Is the Perfect LGBTQ Meme for America Today Folks, this one says it all. In the years preceding his supposed exposé, many publications had written about the gay community’s adoption of Tinky Winky as one of their own. But here’s the awkward thing about Falwell’s take on Tinky Winky: He wasn’t totally wrong. The incident is now remembered as a kind of dumb climax to the ’90s culture wars: the reductio ad absurdum of religious-right paranoia and the epitome of pre-9/11 unseriousness. One newspaper columnist joked that Elmer Fudd would be next: “Aging queen’s second life exposed!” On Saturday Night Live, “Falwell” (Darrell Hammond) held up a Tinky Winky doll that said things like “Do you like watching figure skating on TV?” and “I want to be Donna Summer!” When Falwell died in 2007, Tinky Winky was mentioned in almost all of his obituaries. Falwell’s many critics took turns being appalled and amused.
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