Last week, FCC head Brendan Carr stated he wants the US TV industry rating system to basically start censoring family-friendly content featuring transgender and nonbinary folk. To quote Variety:
Regarding the TV ratings system, Carr wrote in a post on X, “parents have raised concerns with the industry’s approach — including with ratings creep. Specifically, they argue that New York & Hollywood programmers are promoting controversial issues in kids programming without providing any transparency or disclosures to parents. This undermines the whole point of the law and the ratings system parents rely on.”
The TV ratings, adopted in are used by traditional TV broadcasters, pay-TV cable and satellite providers TV sector, and streaming platforms like Netflix. The system overseen by the TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board, which was put in place after Congress passed a 1996 law that led to the establishment of an industry voluntary rating system.
While the FCC does not directly set or enforce the TV content ratings, it has the authority to review the effectiveness of the ratings system.
While this is obviously yet another attempt to punch down at trans people (as part of the Trump administration’s bigotry-driven culture war nonsense), it’ll also certainly be extended to anyone under the LGBTQ label. Recently, there’s been some progress in children’s TV showing same-sex couples, usually as the parents of one of the characters. A few major LGBTQ characters have also been featured, such as Mr. Ratburn of “Arthur” and Luz from “The Owl House.” While trans representation is still lacking in TV animation, at this point, basically all major children’s animation outlets feature at least one LGBTQ character:
- Nickelodeon/Paramount+: “The Loud House” features Clyde’s fathers, as well as Luna Loud. “Transformers: EarthSpark” has a nonbinary character.
- Cartoon Network/HBO Max: “Craig of the Creek” has a few LGBTQ characters.
- Disney/Disney+: “The Owl House”’s star character, Luz, is bi. The “Baymax!” miniseries (a spin-off of “Big Hero 6”) features a brief appearance of a trans man.
- PBS Kids: “Work It Out Wombats” features a pair of kangaroo moms, who’re raising an adopted daughter (a tarsier).
- Netflix: “Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts” features a gay youth.
At this point, one would have to either stick with DVDs or a retro animation outlet like MeTV Toons to avoid anything with LGBTQ characters. Though since modern spin-offs have treated Velma Dinkley from “Scooby-Doo,” Snagglepuss, and Mildew Wolf as openly LGBTQ, I suppose even MeTV Toons isn’t “safe” for the anti-LGBTQ crowd. Obviously, this normalizing doesn’t sit well with the likes of Carr and the Trump administration, and thus they’ll do anything that tries to roll back the clock on progress.
While Carr doesn’t have direct control over the ratings system or cable/streaming, he does have control over license renewals; Disney, Comcast, and Paramount all have a handful of owned-and-operated TV stations in major cities. The TV ratings board also has some representatives from these conglomerates. My guess is Carr could try making as a condition for license renewals having their representatives pressure the TV ratings board to institute a ban on LGBTQ characters in anything rated TV-Y, TV-Y7, and TV-G. (Never mind TV-G would also extend to non-kids’ content like HGTV remodeling shows.) Carr’s already trying to use early license renewals as a way to censor speech—ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel made a joke about Trump. This also would let Carr indirectly censor cable TV and streaming, as those also use the ratings system.
If Carr’s somehow successful, I wonder where that leaves currently airing shows with LGBTQ characters: edited content, like in some international versions of films and TV shows for LGBTQ-hostile countries (or US airings of “Sailor Moon” back in the 90s)? Said shows bumped up to TV-14, no matter the content? Left alone, but future episodes of ongoing series forced to write such characters out—say, “Work It Out Wombat”’s kangaroo/tarsier family “conveniently” moving away? Content warnings slapped in front of even PBS Kids’ shows? Some combination of the above?
I note all this (especially for cable/streaming) likely runs afoul of the first amendment, something the Trump administration clearly doesn’t care about. Also, the rating system’s technically voluntary; Netflix uses it, but doesn’t have any representation on the ratings board. What’s to stop Netflix from just ignoring a Trump-modified ratings system and either make up their own ratings system or import, say, Canada’s TV rating system (which is similar to the American one)? Given Netflix’s one of the most popular outlets for kids’ programming (as the popularity of “KPop Demon Hunters” shows), they shouldn’t feel pressured to support such censorship.
US TV ratings and cartoons
Below is a summary of TV ratings as they apply to cartoons. The ratings are based on what’s currently provided by their respective streaming services/networks.
TV-Y
Suitable for all children. Everything on PBS Kids (including the aforementioned “Work It Out Wombats”) is TV-Y, as well as shows aimed at preschoolers/younger viewers like “Paw Patrol.”
TV-Y7
Suitable for children age seven and above. This includes shows with slapstick or fantasy violence. “The Owl House,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Transformers: EarthSpark,” and some superhero shows (“Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” “Static Shock”) fall under this. The designation “TV-Y7-FV” (“FV” = “Fantasy Violence”) is used for shows with dramatic violence, such as “The Owl House” and the superhero shows.
TV-G
Suitable for all ages. This seems to get used for some older shows; Tubi rates “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You,” “Yogi Bear,” and “The Flintstones” as TV-G.
TV-PG
Some material may be unsuitable for younger children. This includes shows with moderate violence or more serious themes. Superhero shows like “Batman: The Animated Series,” old-school slapstick cartoons like “Looney Tunes,” and a few Cartoon Network shows like “Adventure Time” and “Steven Universe” fall under TV-PG. This is also the most permissive rating children’s animation outlets will use.
TV-14
Material unsuitable for children under 14. Adult-oriented cartoons usually receive this rating at a minimum: “The Simpsons” (how it’s currently rated on Disney+, though I’ve seen it rated TV-PG in the past), “Family Guy,” and “Batman: Caped Crusader” all are TV-14. Ditto Adult Swim’s lineup (if not TV-MA).
TV-MA
Adults only, with material unsuitable for children under 17. Adult cartoons like “South Park,” “Rick and Morty,” and “Harley Quinn” fall under here.
Photo by the Federal Communications Commission (Flickr / public domain)
