Spongebob Queerpants? Gimme a Break

Yesterday, the high was 75º, so initially being in a good mood, I decided to take advantage of the weather and go sit in the backyard and catch up on some letter writing and some reading. Since I don't currently have a portable radio with batteries that aren't drained, I had to resort to listening to my AM-only Hawaiian Punch radio. Naturally, the reception was crystal clear and naturally there wasn't much variety to choose from, so I ended up listening to, of all things, Dr. Laura (gag), but was forced to change it because her cawwing was inducing bouts of IBS. This brought me to The Michael Medved Show which claims to "emphasize the intersection of politics and pop culture." The topic at hand was the Christian Right's latest affirmation that they (yet again) have way too much time on their hands: Apparently Spongebob Squarepants is a queermonger. I finally had to just turn the radio off after some pathetic woman called in claiming that there was an actual episode where Squidward allegedly tells Spongebob "I wanna lie down on top of you!" Gee, I wonder if she lives in a red state? And people wonder why I have such disdain for the Christian "lifestyle." No thanks. I'm trying to limit my bigot intake.

Here's an article that goes into a little more detail about Spongebob's alleged "agenda":

U.S. Christians issue gay warning over kid video

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Christian Conservative groups have issued a gay alert warning over a children's music video starring SpongeBob SquarePants, Barney and a host of other cartoon favorites.

The wacky square yellow SpongeBob is one of the stars of a music video due to be sent to 61,000 U.S. schools in March. The makers -- the nonprofit We Are Family Foundation -- say the video is designed to encourage tolerance and diversity.

But at least two Christian activist groups say the innocent cartoon characters are being exploited to promote the acceptance of homosexuality.

"A short step beneath the surface reveals that one of the differences being celebrated is homosexuality," wrote Ed Vitagliano in an article for the American Family Association.

The video is a remake of the 1979 hit song "We Are Family" using the voices and images of SpongeBob, Barney, Winnie the Pooh, Bob the Builder, the Rugrats and 100 TV cartoon stars. It was made by a foundation set up by songwriter Nile Rodgers after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks to promote the nation's healing process.

Christian groups however have taken exception to the tolerance pledge on the foundation's Web site which asks people to respect the sexual identity of others along with their abilities, beliefs, culture and race.

"Their inclusion of the reference to 'sexual identity" within their 'tolerance pledge' is not only unnecessary but it crosses a moral line," Dr James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, said in a statement on Thursday.

Rodgers was astounded at the attack. "That is so myopic and harsh. You have really got to look hard to find anything in this that is offensive to anyone. The last thing I am going to do is taint these characters," he told Reuters.

Dobson was quoted by the New York Times on Thursday as having singled out the wildly popular SpongeBob during remarks about the video at a Washington D.C. dinner this week.

SpongeBob, who lives in a pineapple under the sea, was "outed" by the U.S. media in 2002 after reports that the TV show and its merchandise was popular with gays. His creator, Stephen Hillenburg, said at the time that although SpongeBob was an oddball, he thought of all the characters as asexual.

It is not the first time that children's TV favorites have come under the critical spotlight of the U.S. Christian right. Tinky Winky, the purse-toting purple Teletubbie, was in 1999 declared a homosexual role model by Rev. Jerry Falwell.