Washington Blade - July 19, 2002
Laura Douglas-Brown

"We are concerned that what may be fitting for viewers of Sesame Street in South Africa (which reportedly has the most HIV-infected people of any nation in the world) may not be appropriate for children in the United States, especially in such a very early age group," Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.) wrote July 12 in a letter to PBS President and CEO Pat Mitchell.

But officials with Sesame Workshop, the New York-based non-profit children's television company that produces the show, said that despite media reports to the contrary, they never planned to air the character in the U.S.

"We always look at the local needs in the countries we work with so we can address them in our programs," said Beatrice Chow, spokesperson for Sesame Workshop. "This was created specifically for South Africa, and there has been no discussion about having this Muppet appear on the U.S. program."

About one in nine South Africans are HIV-positive, one of the highest rates in the world, and people with the disease -- including children -- face enormous social stigma.

Joel Schneider, vice president and senior adviser to Sesame Workshop, announced the creation of the HIV-positive character for "Takalani Sesame," the South African version of the award-winning children's show, at the XIV International Conference on AIDS in Barcelona last week.

The Muppet, an orphaned 5-year-old girl, hasn't yet been named, but will begin appearing on "Takalani Sesame" on Sept. 30, Chow said. The show will not discuss sexual activity, intravenous drug use or other ways of transmitting HIV, she said.

"A storyline might be that some kids don't want to play with her because she is HIV-positive, and then her Takalani friends think 'Why not, you're a lot of fun,' so they will play with her," Chow said. "It's about destigmatizing people with AIDS and how other children view them."

Tauzin and the five other U.S. Congress members -- Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Chip Pickering (R-Miss.), Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and Fred Upton (R-Mich.) -- don't want the character on U.S. television because they believe viewers are too young, according to Ken Johnson, spokesperson for the House Energy & Commerce Committee.

"In some cases, we're talking about children between the ages of 2 and 4," Johnson said. "In a nutshell, what we are arguing is isn't that a little early to subject kids to all the problems and frailties of the human race?"

Some committee members also objected to the focus on HIV.

"Their feeling is that we are all concerned about AIDS, but what about children born blind, deaf or with birth defects? Are their causes any less important?" Johnson said.

Chow said "Sesame Street" already has featured a human character who is deaf and one who uses a wheelchair.

'Sesame Street' funding eyed

Tauzin's letter reminded Mitchell that PBS "receives federal tax dollars" through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, overseen by the House Energy & Commerce Committee, which he chairs.

Lawmakers in the letter asked to know by July 19 how much "public money" goes to "Sesame Street" and to the creation of the HIV-positive character, but Johnson said the questions were not an implied threat to cut funding.

"It's a routine question we ask when we make an oversight inquiry," he said.

"From Chairman Tauzin's perspective, even if this degenerated into a political battle between conservatives and liberals, we still believe in the sanctity of the First Amendment."

PBS responded to Tauzin in a July 16 letter stressing that the HIV-character is not being planned for U.S. television and noting that PBS has no control over Sesame Workshop's international programs.

"PBS contracts with Sesame Workshop to broadcast 'Sesame Street' and other programs here in the United States," Mitchell wrote.

According to PBS officials, in 1999, the last year for which figures are posted, PBS received 14.8 percent of its $1.6 billion annual revenue from the federal government.

No PBS funding supports "Takalani Sesame," Mitchell wrote to Tauzin. Officials with PBS and Sesame Workshop declined further comment on Tauzin's letter.

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