Popular children’s television series Arthur made a splash during its latest season premiere, which featured a coming out storyline for one character.
Arthur returned for its 22nd season on PBS Kids on Monday and the season premiere featured quite a big moment for none other than Mr. Ratburn.
As fans who grew up with the beloved children’s series might recall, Mr. Ratburn is Arthur’s teacher who, as it turns out, is actually gay.
The long-running series unveiled the teacher’s sexual orientation (much to the joy of fans far and wide on Twitter) during Monday’s season premiere.
Titled “Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone,” the episode finds Arthur and friends discovering that Mr. Ratburn is gearing up to tie the knot.
Related: The Disney Channel’s Andi Mack will introduce a gay storyline in season 2
Under the impression that their beloved teacher is gearing up to marry an uptight woman, Arthur, Buster and the rest of the gang devise a plan to stop the impending nuptials before it’s too late.
It’s not until the kids show up to the wedding ready to object that they realize Mr. Ratburn is actually marrying a nice man. Needless to say, they’re definitely happy about the turn of events — especially given that it means Mr. Ratburn isn’t actually marrying the uptight woman they saw him hanging out with toward the beginning of the episode.
Mr. Ratburn’s newly confirmed sexuality is definitely a step forward in the right direction when it comes to representation. Here’s hoping more children’s series follow suit!
[h/t: TV Line]