FCC Chair Brendan Carr rips House Democrats amid battle over kids’ content

FIRST ON FOX — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr on Tuesday issued a fiery response to the opposition from House Democrats over the agency’s effort to reform television ratings for children’s programming, some of which promotes gender ideology.

In April, the FCC issued a public notice seeking feedback about parents’ concern about the content of shows their children watch, suggesting the current ratings system is outdated and deems “shows with transgender and gender non-binary programming as appropriate for children and young children” and that new ratings may be necessary.

That prompted a response in June from Democrats on the Congressional Equality Caucus, who accused the FCC of wanting to “censor the inclusion of transgender characters or topics” from children’s programming and said that the current ratings system is “satisfactory and overwhelmingly popular among parents.”

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“We strongly believe that parents should decide what their children watch on television,” the lawmakers wrote. “Programs should not have higher ratings or content warning simply because of the identity of the programs’ characters. Applying higher ratings or content warnings because of a character’s gender identity would be harmful to transgender people and transgender acceptance and would harken back to a time when politicians sought to censor television programming because they included minorities.”

The House Democrats continued, “Any attempt by FCC to censor content because it includes transgender characters or topics would raise both legal and constitutional concerns… Any attempt to issue rating warnings for depictions and themes related to transgender people would also raise concerns of content-based and viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment.”

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In a letter sent Tuesday to Congressional Equality Caucus Chair Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., Carr expressed regret for the stance the Democratic lawmakers had taken.

“I am deeply concerned by the position that you and over 60 of your Democrat colleagues in the House of Representatives are taking regarding the right of parents to know whether their sons or daughters are being exposed to controversial gender identity ideologies—including the promotion of transgender and gender non-binary programming—in television shows that are rated as appropriate for young children,” Carr began the letter obtained by Fox News Digital. 

“In your letter, you come out swinging against both transparency and common sense,” Carr added. “You stake out the radical position that parents have no right to know whether controversial gender identity ideologies are being promoted in children’s television programming. In your view, parents should not be empowered to make informed choices about the programs their children watch.”

Carr called the Democrats’ defense of transgender people an “extreme position” which he said comes as children’s programming is “secretly promoting gender ideology to young kids without the knowledge or consent of their parents.”

He went on to list several examples of gender ideology appearing in children’s programming, citing an episode of Disney Jr.’s “Muppet Babies” reboot (TV-Y) where Gonzo wants to dress as a princess instead of a knight, calls himself “Gonzo-rella” and is referred to in the episode with the “they” pronoun, as well as a trans character in Netflix’s “Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City” (TV-Y) and pansexual and non-binary characters in the Disney Channel’s animated series “Primos” (TV-Y7).

“Keeping parents in the dark about the nature of these programs is a feature not a bug of the effort. Indeed, you write in your letter that ‘many recognize their gender identity at a young age.’ And you appear to suggest that informing parents would prevent ‘self-acceptance,'” Carr wrote. “Recent studies show a massive spike in younger people identifying as transgender with some attributing this to media exposure. But your position that New York and Hollywood programmers should have a direct line to children without parental knowledge is at total odds with the law Congress passed.”

“Opposing transparency puts you on the wrong side of the issue. Parents are nearly unanimous in wanting to know what their children are watching and to determine for their own families what shows are appropriate. Despite your opposition, the FCC will continue its work to empower parents and continue to engage with stakeholders as part of the agency’s open and ongoing proceeding,” Carr added.

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Rep. Takano’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.