Congratulations Mr. Ratburn !
The affable elementary school educator came out as gay and tied the knot with a man in the Season 22 premiere of PBS Kids show “Arthur” that aired Monday.
The same-sex nuptials followed an investigation by titular aardvark character Arthur and his pals into Ratburn’s home life, during which they initially believed the rat was getting hitched to a bossy woman (voiced by “Glee” star Jane Lynch, who is gay) who turned out to be his sister.
The episode ― titled “Mr. Ratburn & the Special Someone” ― did not actually explicitly acknowledge that the ceremony involved two male characters.
But the storyline for the cartoon, which in 2005 pulled an episode involving lesbian mothers following a backlash, was widely welcomed on Twitter.
The social media platform was flooded with loving messages for the newlyweds:
Mr. Ratburn being gay is *my* Game of Thrones finale
— 𝚂𝚊𝚕 𝙼𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚜’ 𝚃𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 (@salmattos) May 13, 2019
Mr. Ratburn is the gay icon I never knew I needed pic.twitter.com/wp4o5TLr1p
— Andrea Cee (@extraspicee) 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
MR RATBURN IS GAY HELLO !! HE GOT MARRIED !! pic.twitter.com/T1Emc97Y0f
— EIGHTH WONDER (@WOLFNOlR) May 13, 2019
Omg I'm crying 😭 Mr. Ratburn got married!! Arthur really said gay rights! #Arthur #loveislove pic.twitter.com/u4IIzQD57B
— Le$lie (@Leslie_Alert) May 13, 2019
Damn, Mr. Ratburn’s sister glowed up. pic.twitter.com/ekB7HgDrTK
— Kayla A. Greaves 🍔 (@KaylaAGreaves) May 13, 2019
1) Shoutout to Mr. Ratburn!
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) May 13, 2019
2) Arthur has been on TV forever. Season 22?? https://t.co/27W8Xo1NhA
This episode was wild too, Arthur and his friends thought he was marrying this pushy woman and tried to break them up only to find out the lady was his sister and Mr. Ratburn was marrying the guy from the chocolate shop they went to earlier in the episode https://t.co/mOXjvjBw34
— Christi Trottie (@ChristiTrottie) May 13, 2019
Mr. Ratburn is trending which is as good a time as any to remind the world that pic.twitter.com/mRtwFBzV8i
— mix1073DC (@mix1073DC) May 13, 2019
for real tho I have loved mr. ratburn basically my whole life, it honestly lifts my heart to see he has a husband now
— Son Of a Bitch 🤠 (@ZaneJuIien) May 13, 2019
genuinely didn’t know arthur still made new episodes but we stan mr ratburn https://t.co/QPkjZjiR5m
— milah | i love you 3000 (@cerclannister) May 13, 2019
Check out the full episode here.
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