Jerry Falwell

===''Teletubbies''===

In February 1999 a ''National Liberty Journal'' article (the media attributed it to Falwell)<ref name=NLJ>{{cite web|url=http://nljonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=269&Itemid=0|title=PARENTS Alert... Parents Alert|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060516002632/http://nljonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=269&Itemid=0|archive-date=May 16, 2006|access-date=June 30, 2023|work=NLJ|url-status=dead}}</ref> claimed that Tinky Winky, a [[Teletubbies|Teletubby]], was intended as a homosexual role model. The NLJ is a publication of the university he founded. An article published in 1998 by the ''[[Salon (website)|Salon]]'' website had referred to Tinky Winky's status as an icon for the same movement.<ref name=Tubbythump>{{cite web| url=http://salon.com/media/1998/04/03media.html|title=Tubbythumping|last=Millman|first=Joyce |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613062013/http://salon.com/media/1998/04/03media.html|archive-date=June 13, 2011|access-date=February 16, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[http://www.liberty.edu/libertyjournal/index.cfm?PID=15758&artid=97 Arizona supporter funds largest-ever gift annuity to LU] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526012026/http://www.liberty.edu/libertyjournal/index.cfm?PID=15758 |date=2011-05-26 }} (February 27, 2008) By Mitzi Bible – Liberty Journal</ref> In response, Steve Rice, spokesperson for Itsy Bitsy Entertainment, which licenses ''[[Teletubbies]]'' in the United States, said, "I really find it absurd and kind of offensive."<ref name=Tinky>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/276677.stm | title=Gay Tinky Winky bad for children | access-date=May 18, 2007 | work=BBC News | date=February 15, 1999 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714040014/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/276677.stm | archive-date=July 14, 2007 }}</ref><ref name=Winky>{{cite news | url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=auX3.SI9QH2M | title=Jerry Falwell, Evangelist, Political Activist, Dies | access-date=May 18, 2007 | last=Burke | first=Heather | work=Bloomberg | date=May 15, 2007 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930075811/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=auX3.SI9QH2M | archive-date=September 30, 2007 }}</ref> The UK show was aimed at pre-school children, but the article stated "he is purple–the [[gay pride]] color; and his antenna is shaped like a [[Pink triangle|triangle]]–the gay-pride symbol". Apart from those characteristics Tinky Winky also carries a magic bag which the ''NLJ'' and ''Salon'' articles said was a purse. Falwell added that "role modeling the gay lifestyle is damaging to the moral lives of children".