‘Blue’s Clues’ targets children with transgender and ‘non-binary’ characters

In anticipation of LGBT Pride month, the long-running Nickelodeon children’s show Blue’s Clues has confused and enraged many Americans after posting a sing-along to YouTube featuring drag queen Nina West of RuPaul’s Drag Race fame.

The video depicts a cartoon gay Pride parade set to the tune of the Civil War-era song “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” updated to describe various sexualities and every gender expression under the sun. There are also flags represented in the video for each sub-group of the LGBT community.

According to the Post Millennial, “The parade is surrounded by a flurry of flags common in the LGBT community, including the ‘aromantic’ flag for individuals who have little or no romantic attraction to others, the ‘intersex’ flag, the ‘pansexual’ flag, the ‘genderqueer’ flag, and so on.” The animated drag queen singer also holds a microphone with a Black Lives Matter clinched fist subtly displayed on it.

Yahoo! News praised the video, writing: “Pride Month is a perfect time to do this but that support needs to be there all the time to remind everyone around us that inclusion and acceptance is the way to go.”

The outlet further reported that the producers of Blue’s Clues consulted with Lindz Amer, a “non-binary” activist who created and started the web series Queer Kid Stuff. Amer started the web series in 2015 and describes it as “an LGBTQ+ and social justice web series for kids” that “explain[s] queer topics through a vlog-style conversation with young viewers focused on love and family.”

The Post Millennial shared a clip of the video to Twitter, adding: “Blue’s Clues hosts pride parade targeting children with sing-along drag queen and gay, transgender, and non-binary animals.”

Many respondents on Twitter were less than complimentary of the video. One questioned if this type of messaging was age appropriate, tweeting: “I don’t mind but why do kids have to think about their sexuality at such an early age? I mean I accepted all people who weren’t mean to me when I was a kid.”

Another tweet pointed out the Black Lives Matter paraphernalia. “Nice detail right down to the BLM fist on the mic and flag…Notice how it’s a full on attack on the family unit. No surprise there. Poor kids. Why do adults want to do this to kids?”

The animated drag queen in the video is voiced by real life drag personality Nina West, whose actual name is Andrew Levitt. Levitt was profiled in Out magazine after competing on RuPaul’s Drag Race. The article, written by Levitt, discusses his Republican roots. “I have a long line of family involved in politics, especially organizing and running the county Republican Party. So I grew up in a very conservative environment.”

In that article, Levitt went on to praise his conservative upbringing as the catalyst that made him the successful performer, organizer, and philanthropist he is today.

“There’s been a large impact of being raised in that environment on who I am as a person… As a drag queen, I feel that I am a politician and I’m a spokesperson for my community, which happens to be underserved and underrepresented and in dire need of rights and access. So knowing the environment that I came from, my parents practically bred me for this. We might not agree politically but I know they are proud of me and are incredibly in awe of the child that they raised because I’m so much of both of them. So much of that activist and that organizer and the person who wants to get answers, and they are too.”