Few figures are as universally celebrated and beloved as American television host and Presbyterian minister Fred Rogers.
His show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” an educational program for preschool-age children, is perhaps the crowning achievement of the Public Broadcasting Service.
Despite the show ending only a few decades ago, it’s unlikely that PBS would feel comfortable broadcasting it today — especially episodes about the biological reality of gender.
“Boys are boys from the beginning. Girls are girls right from the start. Everybody’s fancy. Everybody’s fine. Your body’s fancy and so is mine,” Rogers sings in the clip below.
During a 1980 interview on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” Rogers explained the purpose of the 60-second song.
Carson asked if the audience of Rogers’ show was too young for the topic of sex.
“Not at all,” Rogers responded. “That’s where they learn the differences.”“Sometimes children think that they might change, they might have to change after a while. And, you know, we laugh about that now, but it’s because we had that concern when we were little,” Rogers said.
Carson followed up, saying, “Yeah, because you’re really not sure. You thought maybe you’d become a girl or a girl would become a boy, right?”
R&I – TxPAT