Thirty years ago, Congress decided that parents deserved a way to monitor what the entertainment industry was beaming into their homes. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 recognized that children are influenced by what they see on television and that the entertainment industry has a role to play in helping parents navigate their children’s media consumption.
That law led to the creation of the television content rating system we all know today: TV-G for episodes appropriate for all ages, TV-PG for when parental guidance is suggested, TV-14 for content suitable for teens but not younger children, and TV-MA for episodes inappropriate for minors. The rating system is especially concerned with protecting kids: Children’s media is classified as either TV-Y, meaning suitable for all ages, or TV-Y7, meaning it may frighten children too young to distinguish between reality and make-believe.
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The TV Oversight Management Board (TVOMB) is in charge of applying these ratings to episodes of television. The TVOMB includes major cable networks and entertainment companies — it is essentially a vehicle for the television industry to classify its own content for the convenience of parents at the behest of Congress. In addition to the general age appropriateness ratings, the TVOMB labels content with shorthand for why each episode received its rating: D for suggestive dialogue, FV for fantasy violence, L for foul language, S for sexual situations, and V for violence.
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Fast-forward to 2026, and explicit language and violence are not the only kinds of content that parents might want to filter out of their homes. In recent years, television producers have woven woke gender ideology into episodes aimed at young children. As a result, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has proposed adding a new descriptor to the list that tells parents when an episode involves gender identity themes.
“Steven Universe,” a show on Cartoon Network, has dozens of LGBT characters. Netflix’s “Dead End: Paranormal Park” has a gay transgender character. These are only a few examples of transgender, pansexual, or nonbinary themes appearing in shows aimed at children — the Independent Women’s Forum’s letter to Carr details a litany of additional examples. Parents are, understandably, not thrilled about this trend. Carr has solicited public comments on the proposal to label LGBT content in children’s programming.
The outrage from the progressive left has been swift and loud. Author Tyler King opined on Bluesky, “The FCC is looking to take control of the voluntary TV ratings system to banish transgender and non-binary subject matter, hijack the TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board, and go on a censorship spree in the name of ‘protecting children.’”
GLAAD has asked its supporters to submit comments to the FCC, writing, “The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is targeting LGBTQ stories. They are trying to control what you see on television. This government overreach is dangerous to the existence of an independent and free media.”
These are serious accusations that, fortunately, are entirely false. The government is not restricting content from the airwaves. The government is not telling Hollywood what shows it may or may not produce. The government is not telling people what they should or should not watch. The government is not setting rules about what shows children may or may not see.
Remember, the government isn’t even assigning the ratings. That’s up to the TVOMB, an organization stacked with representatives from the television industry.
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Carr’s proposal may not change as much as its supporters hope or opponents fear. Gender ideology programming could still be broadcast without restrictions. It would just carry a label that would allow parents to spot it at a glance and filter it out of their homes. After all, the current ratings system has labels for sex, violence, and foul language, but lots of all three are still broadcast every single day.
The FCC’s proposal would simply give parents more information to make choices about what is best for their children. Anyone who wants to rob parents of that opportunity does not have children’s best interests at heart.
Angela Morabito is a senior fellow at Independent Women, the spokesperson at the Defense of Freedom Institute, and a former U.S. Department of Education press secretary.
