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Winnie the Pooh banned from Polish playground over ‘dubious sexuality’

Winnie the Pooh banned from Polish playground over ‘dubious sexuality’
Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh Disney

TUSZYN, Poland — Authorities in the Polish town of Tuszyn have blocked a plan to have famed children’s character Winnie the Pooh used as the public face of a local playground because the bear is of “dubious sexuality” and “inappropriately dressed” for children because he is “half naked.”

The Independent reports that conservative members were outraged by the plan to use Pooh as the playground’s patron, even denouncing Pooh as a “hermaphrodite.”

“The problem with that bear is it doesn’t have a complete wardrobe,” said Ryszard Cichy during the discussion.

“It is half naked which is wholly inappropriate for children. [Poland’s fictional bear] is dressed from head to toe, unlike Pooh who is only dressed from the waist up.”

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The Croatian Times reports that council member Hanna Jachimska then began criticizing the Winnie the Pooh author A. A. Milne, who died in 1956 at the age of 74. Milne created Pooh in 1924.

“This is very disturbing but can you imagine! The author was over 60 and cut his [Pooh’s] testicles off with a razor blade because he had a problem with his identity,” she said.

The councillors have yet to make a formal decision about which bear will be the patron of the children’s playground.

But Pooh is not a candidate, they said.

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