Now that the question of whether the US Presidency will survive seems to be subsiding, a new question is threatening to surface in the American discourse: is Tinky Winky gay?
The Rev Jerry Falwell, a rightwing Christian televangelist who came to fame with the Moral Majority in the 1980s, has pronounced one of the Teletubbie characters a homosexual role model.
An article in the February edition of the National Liberty Journal, published by Falwell, is headlined "Parents Alert: Tinky Winky Comes out of the Closet."
The telltale signs of Tinky Winky's sexual orientation are clear to Falwell. He is purple, the gay pride colour; and his antenna is shaped like a triangle, the gay pride symbol. Beyond that, the clincher for Falwell is that Tinky Winky has the voice of a boy but carries a purse. "As a Christian I felt that role-modelling the gay lifestyle is damaging to the moral lives of children," Falwell said.
The British children's television show arrived in the US last spring and has become a huge hit. For the few left untouched by their allure, the Teletubbies are portrayed by actors in brightly coloured costumes like babies' all-in-one suits. They have television screens on their tummies and live in a super dome hidden in the hills.
A spokesman for Itsy Bitsy Entertainment Co, which licenses the Teletubbies dolls and products in the US, says Falwell's got it all wrong. Tinky Winky does not carry a purse; that is his magic bag. "The fact that he carries a magic bag doesn't make him gay," said Steve Rice of Itsy Bitsy.