Black, gay and frequent wearer of so-called feminine clothing, the actor Billy Porter has confirmed participation for this year in the children's series Sesame Street, broadcast in the USA on the public channel PBS. Now, a conservative politician in the country wants to cut funding to the program because of this.
The Republican Senator Jason rapert, elected from the southern state of Arkansas, said in Facebook post that the presence of Porter – winner of the Emmy in 2019 for his work on the series pose, from pay channel FX – in Vila Sésamo it is part of a “radical LGBTQ agenda”. “What do you think I should do about this as your senator?” he asked online.
In an interview with the newspaper Arkansas Times, Rapert suggested he will try to cut public funding from AETN, the local PBS affiliate, because of this.
“I can pass a bill to cut all funding for airing all PBS programming through AETN and stop all funding from AETN if necessary,” he said.
“If they choose to allow our state's taxpayers to fund a politicized platform in this way, they are going to have to make a decision about who they actually serve,” he told the newspaper.
Let's agree: the people of Arkansas would gain more if they cut the funds that pay the senator's salary...
