When hate-mongering televangelist Jerry Falwell croaked the other day, I was reminded that he engaged in a popular right-wing tradition-- getting in a fight with a fictional character. 
His fictional characters were the children's show The Teletubbies. According to an article in Wikipedia, in a February 1999 article in the National Liberty Journal that was published by evangelical pastor Jerry Falwell the "Tinky-Winky" character, who carried a purse, "could be a hidden homosexual symbol, saying "he is purple—the gay pride color, and his antenna is shaped like a triangle—the gay pride symbol."
Of course, this made Falwell look like a complete idiot.
The Verdict:
Teletubbies the winner by popular decision.
5 comments:
I think Jerry was a closet homosexual. Anyone with that much hate for other people must be hiding from the truth.
It does make you wonder about motivations, doesn't it?
Anyone who wants to shoehorn their agenda into any situation is always good for a laugh, and also kinda sad because you know at least a few folks took this guy seriously.
wait, I thought purple was the royal color and was only one of the colors of the rainbow that makes up the gay pride "color". HHUUMMM
Oh Lord, I remember this episode all too well ;)
Cheer34 is probably right.
Cheer34-
He was dealing with something. Basing your life's work on that level of hatred is an enormous weight to bear.
Mob-
Unfortunately a lot of folks took him seriously. People like us look at him like he was some sort of cartoon, and it's hard to understand people who took his word as gospel, literally.
Natalie-
He was showing his ignorance there. The triangle symbol gay folks use is the pink triangle-- it was because that was the way the Nazis marked homosexuals in the concentration camps. The purple triangle was used to mark Jehovah's Witnesses. Falwell obviously did not put himself in good company in hating gay people.
Erik-
In my experience, most homophobes are dealing with some issue.
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