Last week Oklahoma’s Republican governor vetoed House Bill 2820, which continues funding for Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, which airs PBS Kids’ “Clifford the Big Red Dog,” “Work It Out Wombats,” “PBS Newshour” and the Osiyo TV series featuring Cherokee language speakers, national treasures and outstanding citizens. The Cherokee Nation also helps to fund OETA.

Veto overrides require a high approval of at least 2/3rds of both legislative chambers, and it’s unclear whether his veto will be overridden. In addition there is also the impending deadline. as this year’s legislative session is scheduled to end in three weeks.

“I don’t think Oklahomans want to use their tax dollars to indoctrinate kids,” Gov. Kevin Stitt told reporters during a press conference on Friday about his decision to veto the bill. “Some of the stuff that they’re showing just overly sexualizes our kids.”

In a statement released to various media outlets in the state, a spokesperson for Stitt’s office said that the OETA had promoted LGBTQ-focused Pride Month programming in recent years. The spokeswoman also took aim at two popular animated children’s cartoons — “Clifford the Big Red Dog” and “Work It Out Wombats!” — which air nationally on PBS affiliates and OETA have included lesbian characters in some episodes.

The spokeswoman pointed out a “PBS Newshour” segment in which an Indiana couple talked about how gender-affirming care was beneficial for their daughter. The governor told reporters: “Oklahoma taxpayers are going, ‘Hey, hang on, time out for just a second. That’s not my values. I’m just tired of using taxpayer dollars for some person’s agenda. I represent the taxpayers.”

The governor’s action echoes Oklahoma Public Schools Supt. Ryan Walters who has publicly said: “Radical leftists and Biden administration, they would prefer to sexualize our kids.” Walters has also proclaimed that the Christian Bible should be used as a history text in the state’s public and private schools.

“Oklahomans, we have a clear choice in front of us. When it comes to our schools, do we want the radical ideology in our classroom that pushes gender theory? That pushes graphic pornography in order to push a social experiment on our kids?

“Or do want the U.S. Constitution? Do we want documents like the Federalist Papers and the Bible? So that our kids understand our history and how our government was put together?

“Those core fundamental principles have made us the greatest country in the history of the world. Real Americans know that we’ve got to support our kids by giving them a great understanding of our history,” Walters is quoted as saying.

Vanity Fair pointed out:

Speaking to Fox News Digital, Stitt said, “You know, the big, big question is why are we spending taxpayer dollars to prop up or compete with the private sector and run television stations? And then when you go through all of the programing that’s happening and the indoctrination and over-sexualization of our children, it’s just really problematic, and it doesn’t line up with Oklahoma values.”

Among the content that Stitt apparently finds objectionable is a segment called “Let’s Learn,” which features a children’s book called “The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish”; a gay character in “Work It Out Wombats!”; LGBTQ characters on “Clifford the Big Red Dog”; and a same-sex wedding featured on “Odd Squad”. 

The Republican-held majority Oklahoma State Senate enacted passage of multiple anti-LGBTQ+ bills this week including a 37 to 7 vote on S B2, which would restrict transgender girls from playing on school sports teams that match their gender identity.

SB 2 now heads to Republican Governor John Stitt’s desk where, if signed, it would become the third anti-transgender sports ban enacted into law this year.

In addition to S B2, the Senate also passed two additional anti-LGBTQ+ bills, SB 9 and SB 1100 that continue to advance through the state legislature. If enacted, these bills would ban materials about LGBTQ people and topics in the classroom and restrict access to gender-affirming documents for nonbinary youth in the state.

“Today, the Oklahoma Senate voted to advance three anti-LGBTQ+ bills regulating school sports, identity documents, and curriculum. While their subjects were different, their target was the same: transgender and nonbinary youth. Lawmakers added these attacks to the agenda behind closed doors in the early hours of the morning, part of a coordinated strategy to use trans youth as political pawns,” said Sam Ames, Director for Advocacy and Government Affairs at The Trevor Project. “This legislation offers solutions to problems that simply do not exist in Oklahoma, but the harm it can cause LGBTQ+ youth is very real. We urge the governor to follow the actions of governors in Utah and Indiana and veto the anti-trans sports ban that now heads to his desk. We also urge the Oklahoma House to reject SB 9 and SB 1100 in support of their trans and nonbinary constituents.”

According to a recent poll conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of The Trevor Project, 85% of transgender and nonbinary youth — and two-thirds of all LGBTQ+ youth (66%) — say recent debates about state laws restricting the rights of transgender people have negatively impacted their mental health.