# Sesame Street to introduce HIV-positive Muppet **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 12, 2002, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523 "2002-07-12T00:24:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/1 "2002-07-12T00:24:57Z")
[Sesame Street to introduce HIV-positive Muppet](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020711/od_uk_nm/oukoe_life_sesamestreet_1&printer=1) ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/2 "2002-07-12T00:40:55Z")
This has gotta be a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/3 "2002-07-12T00:49:29Z")
Without reading the link, my first thought was, ‘Oh Bert! No!’ My second thought was, ‘Maybe it’s Ernie.’ My third thought was…well, that’s about as far as my thought process took me. Happy ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/4 "2002-07-12T01:10:06Z")
More specifically, for those of you who don’t want to read the article, Sesame Street will introduce an HIV+ muppet in South Africa, as a positive female role model in a country with an infection rate of almost 40% in adult women. Sounds like a good idea to me. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/5 "2002-07-12T01:16:40Z")
They show Sesame Street in South Africa? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/6 "2002-07-12T03:12:15Z")
They show Sesame Street in so many different countries it’s mind-boggling. And all of them have a different cast, of both people and muppets, as far as I remember. There are South American versions, an Israeli version, an Egyptian version, the South African version, and several others that I can’t get the Children’s Television Workshop website to cough up. ☹ jayjay ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/7 "2002-07-12T03:13:24Z")
“This episode brought to you by the letter T and the number 4…” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/8 "2002-07-13T00:25:23Z")
I think it’s a great idea. Education is the best prevention, and that’s what is probably being done here. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/9 "2002-07-13T03:26:49Z")
Sounds great to me. And they’re adding a character, not suddenly making one of your faves HIV+ (and as noted, they have different characters in different countries, anyway). Very good idea. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/10 "2002-07-13T03:39:24Z")
I wonder if they’ll talk about the character’s method of acquiring the virus? Unsafe sex, mother to child, IV drug use, blood transfusion, etc. Do any of those things apply to muppets? Why not an HIV+ human character? ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/11 "2002-07-13T03:40:37Z")
When I first heard this I thought it was, at the very least, quite odd. After thinking about it though, it’s not a bad idea. I could see it being a huge disaster, but if they handle it right, it could also be very positive. ---
**Author:** ![g8rguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@g8rguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/g8rguy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/12 "2002-07-13T05:46:45Z")
Yeah, I first saw the headline and I thought “Dear God, that’s odd.” Reading through the article, though, and thinking for a fraction of a second, it does make sense. **Shibb** , they’re not planning on discussing how the muppet got HIV, if the article at yahoo is correct. Rather, it looks to me sort of as if they want to portray HIV+ people in a positive light (“Yes, little Suzie has HIV, but that’s no reason to be mean to her” sort of things), which is all to the good. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/13 "2002-07-13T12:34:41Z")
Wow, that’s really impressive. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/14 "2002-07-13T12:47:55Z")
wow… that is odd… ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/15 "2002-07-13T12:53:53Z")
> [@](#): > > I gladly condemn that homo-slut muppet. Said by **Brutus** a couple of posts up from the end of [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=125071) thread. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/16 "2002-07-13T12:55:17Z")
Can a mod fix the coding on the above post for me please? ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/17 "2002-07-13T13:15:09Z")
Jackalope and I had a discussion about this and we agree that the muppet will most likely be born with HIV because that is something which is very present in South Africa. One thing about Sesame Street is they don’t just sing silly songs, they explain things to kids, they talk about issues. They have had deaf, blind, retarded and physically handicapped kids on the show to show kids that they aren’t someone to be made fun of, they’re people too. And this is yet the next step in introducing kids to HIV and explaining that it is okay to have the virus, and it is okay to be friends with people who have HIV. I admit when I first heard it I was rather afraid of the implications but after the discussion with my bro Jackelope, and reading the articles I think we can soon see one on the US Sesame Street. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/18 "2002-07-13T14:39:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ronincyberpunk \* > \*\*… I think we can soon see one on the US Sesame Street. \*\* Oh, I hope so. Just for Jerry Falwell’s reaction alone. ---
**Author:** ![tetsusaru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f14d63/32.png) [@tetsusaru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tetsusaru)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/19 "2002-07-13T14:46:12Z")
Meet The Feebles has much to answer for. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2002, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523/20 "2002-07-13T18:36:23Z")
Did anyone else see the discussion on Chris Matthews show last night with a CWA (concerned women of america) and Falwell about this? The lady was so against it. Jerry, however, said he thought it was okay because it teaches kids to be tolerant of others who are different. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sesame-street-to-introduce-hiv-positive-muppet/118523.md?page=2)