Twenty-two seasons in, beloved PBS animated series Arthur premiered Monday, May 14, to much hullabaloo after writers developed a new plot twist for one of its characters. Arthur’s third grade teacher Mr. Ratburn came out as gay on the season 22 premiere, and got married.
The episode was entitled “Mr. Ratburn & the Special Someone.” The episode showed much speculation amongst the students, who presumed Mr. Ratburn was marrying Patty. (She ended up being his sister.) On the day of the nuptials, Mr. Ratburn’s students Arthur, Francine, Muffy, Buster (remember all of these names?) discovered that their third grade teacher was marrying another aardvark… who showed up wearing a suit.
PBS
PBS
“It’s a brand new world!” one of Mr. Ratburn’s students exclaimed.
While PBS has yet to speak out about the nuptials, Twitter immediately reacted to the story. See the reactions below.
Welcome out and congratulations Mr. Ratburn! 🏳️🌈
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜#Arthur #LoveIsLovepic.twitter.com/2oL141PVmx— Q. Allan Brocka (@allanbrocka) May 13, 2019
1) Shoutout to Mr. Ratburn!
2) Arthur has been on TV forever. Season 22?? https://t.co/27W8Xo1NhA
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) May 13, 2019
It turns out Arthur is more courageous and explicit than Avengers: Endgame when it comes to LGBTQ2 lives and storylines. Congrats Mr. Ratburn! Your move, Marvel…. https://t.co/eq99SerHaC
— Rachel Giese (@rachelagiese) May 13, 2019
On the one hand this gay wedding on Arthur is so cute but on the other hand imagine going to a teacher’s wedding
— Ira Madison III (@ira) May 13, 2019
I think the biggest surprise about Mr. Ratburn from Arthur being gay is that I’m just now finding out that Arthur is still coming out with new episodes.
— Erica Mendez (@tsunderica) May 14, 2019
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