September 22, 2021
'Little Gay Demons!': Right-Wing Pol in Teletubbies Tizzy
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
A right-wing politician took to Instagram to smear the Teletubbies as "little gay demons" following a social media exchange between the colorful quartet of kids' show icons and gay hip-hop artist Lil Nas X, the Daily Star reports.
"American Christian Nationalist Lauren Witzke made the comment on Instagram after the Teletubbies tweeted the rapper about featuring on the next album," the Daily Star said.
Witzke, "a former Republican nominee for US Senate, posted a screenshot of a tweet from the Teletubbies to Lil Nas X with the caption 'I always knew that the Teletubbies were little gay demons,'" the article detailed.
The post garnered the sober concern from social media users that it warranted. "are you really that upset over a toddler show?" one person queried Witzke. Another responded, "Imagine being pressed about imaginary children's characters posting a meme."
indy100 reported that another social media user chided Witzke: "You forgot fabulous."
As previously reported at EDGE, Lil Nas X's debut album "Montero" dropped on Sept. 17, fully loaded with contributions from a host of guest artists. Elton John, Megan Thee Stallion, Doja Cat, and Miley Cyrus were all featured.
The Teletubbies evidently wanted in on the action next time, tweeting Lil Nas X, "can we get a feature on the next album?"
The out artist – whose sense of humor around the album's release has made headlines, including a "pregnancy" photo shoot, an announcement that Elton John is the godfather, and a video in which Lil Nas X "gives birth" to the album – responded enthusiastically.
Witzke's belief that the Teletubbies are "gay demons" marks neither the first, nor the most absurd, of the fringe right's obsession with the longtime TV staples. After the show premiered in 1997, and became a global sensation, American televangelist Jerry Falwell concocted a conspiracy theory in which Tinky Winky – the purple Teletubby with a triangle-shaped antenna and a red bag that Falwell took to be a purse – was an agent of the gay agenda deployed as a "role model" to the young.
That was just the tip of the iceberg. The CBC ran down a list of various Teletubbies-related conspiracy theories, including a claim that the cartoon sun hanging over the realm where the Teletubbies live is in actuality a demon; an idea that the fuzzy, brightly-hued characters are genetically engineered slaves; and the perception that a labyrinthine, Dan Brown-esque connection secretly exists between the Teletubbies and the fantasy world of Harry Potter.
More recently was the claim that the Teletubbies were single-handedly responsible for transgender people. As The Star recalled, "former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka claimed Teletubbies 'started that whole trans thing,'" an assertion Gorka made on a talk radio show.
As evidence for his extraordinary claim, Gorka offered this: "One of them wore a tutu."
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
