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Oklahoma’s governor is joining the messaging war against gay, lesbian and transgender Americans with an announcement on Monday that he would veto a bill set to fund the state’s PBS station through 2026. Kevin Stitt made the news on Friday, and expanded on his decision in an interview with Fox News. He told the right-wing network that Oklahoma’s local PBS station OETA was responsible for the “sexualization” of children. “OETA, to us, is an outdated system. You know, the big, big question is why are we spending taxpayer dollars to prop up or compete with the private sector and run television stations? And then when you go through all of the programing that's happening and the indoctrination and over-sexualization of our children, it's just really problematic, and it doesn't line up with Oklahoma values," he said. “I mean, some of the programming that we're seeing… it just doesn't need to be on public television.” he continued. “Oklahoma taxpayers are going, 'Hey, hang on, time out for just a second. That's not my values.” His office provided numerous examples of supposedly objectionable instances of PBS programming to Fox News. Some were typical of the recent anti-transgender panic: A reading of The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish by drag queen Little Miss Hot Mess, while others were more in line with the typical efforts by conservative Republicans to paint any mention of LGBT persons as “propaganda” in support of some sinister political agenda. In that vein, the governor’s office took issue with a PBS Newshour segment where persons who supported the use of puberty blockers were interviewed, as well as a depiction of a same-sex marriage on the show Odd Squad. He argued that the prevalence of digital technology in contemporary life made the concept of a publicly-funded broadcast channel obsolete. Republicans have long made that argument from a government spending standpoint. During the 2012 presidential election, funding for PBS was among the federal programs that would-be president Mitt Romney would have cut had he defeated then-President Barack Obama. At the time, the Obama campaign savaged Mr Romney over his suggestion. “There’s so much television, there’s so much media,” the governor told Fox News. “Maybe in 1957 you could have made an argument that you needed a public television station. That’s totally outdated at this point.” His critics, including some Republicans, argue that his explanation displayed a critical lack of understanding regarding rural life in his home state. “Our broadcast towers are how we inform a lot of rural Oklahoma about disasters like tornadoes and thunderstorms,” said Kenneth Busby, a board member of Friends of OETA and CEO of the Route 66 Alliance. His concerns were highlighted on an MSNBC segment hosted by Joy Reid over the weekend. Mr Stitt dismissed concerns that rural Oklahomans without access to cable news or internet would be adversely affected by a cut to the channel’s broadcast infrastructure. Oklahoma is largely enveloped by an informal section of the American midwest known as “Tornado Alley”, where particularly violent storms are known to form with regularity. "All those towers and our communications, that's all owned by the state and whether we continue to fund an outdated public television station with taxpayer dollars, or we let the free market work, we're still going to have the same capabilities, the same assets, the same towers," he said. "Our DPS system is what rolls out the Amber Alerts, for example. None of that's going away," the governor continued. "So that's just people confusing the issue, not being clear with their mission, trying to make excuses of why the tax dollars should still fund this outdated system. His effort to make his own personal contribution in the campaign to smear content that features LGBT persons or supports their basic rights as the “sexualization of our children” doesn’t appear to be headed for success. If it does, members of his own party (not to mention Democrats) say it will hurt the state’s Department of Public Safety — specifically, the state’s early emergency alert system. A number of Republicans are reportedly against the governor’s veto and told local publication Tulsa World that they plan to override the veto. Doing so would take two-thirds of Oklahoma’s legislature, which leans heavily Republican. The state House speaker and president of the Senate both say they support OETA’s funding. The Oklahoma Senate Pro Tem, Greg Treat, told Tulsa World that he had been reprimanded by his predecessor over his support for a previous attempt to cut OETA’s funds, and was informed at the time about OETA’s importance for the state’s early warning system. “Ever since then, I have supported its continuation,” he told the publication. 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Equal prize money at the 2026 and 2027 men’s and women’s World Cups has to happen “no matter what”, according to world players’ union FIFPRO. Gianni Infantino, the president of football’s global governing body FIFA which organises the tournaments, said in March it was his ambition for there to be equal prize money after this summer’s Women’s World Cup. He has said sponsors and broadcasters must play their part in helping to achieve that, something FIFPRO general secretary Jonas Baer-Hoffmann agrees with. Qatar." data-source="FIFA"> However, Baer-Hoffmann insisted on Friday that equal prize money must not just be a goal – it was essential. “It is not wrong from FIFA to actually call all the other economic contributors to the tournament to the table,” he said. “You can say whatever you want about how footballing institutions have probably massively under-invested in the game and have not done enough to develop it. “At the same time, so have many other stakeholders, whether they are broadcasters or sponsors. “So while we think this prize money equalisation has to happen in 26-27 no matter what, we also are looking to work with FIFA to make sure that the economics of this tournament continue to develop because it shouldn’t just be a prize money equalisation on the back of a political commitment.” Infantino had been especially critical of broadcasters in some of the big European markets, including the United Kingdom, for offering a tiny fraction of the money they had put forward for the 2022 men’s finals compared to this summer’s women’s tournament. However, a deal for the tournament to be screened on the BBC and ITV was announced earlier this week. FIFA has confirmed a record prize money pot will be distributed for the tournament in Australia and New Zealand, with 270,000 US dollars (around £216,000) earmarked for each member of the winning squad. Every player involved in the tournament is guaranteed to receive at least 30,000 US dollars (just over £24,000), at a time when the average salary in the women’s game worldwide is 14,000 US dollars (£11,000), according to last year’s FIFA benchmarking report. World players’ union FIFPRO has praised FIFA “for listening to the voice of players” on the issue of pay, and for ensuring equal conditions in terms of training facilities and transport for players at this summer’s finals compared to the men’s tournament in Qatar late last year. A group of 150 players from 25 national teams – including players from England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland – had written to FIFA in October last year calling for equal conditions and for a guarantee that at least 30 per cent of prize money would be allocated to players. Previously, there was no requirement for national associations to distribute a minimum amount of World Cup prize money to participating players. The overall performance-based fund for the finals is 110million US dollars (£88.1m), more than three times what was on offer at the 2019 World Cup in France, with the players sharing more than 44 per cent of that between them. FIFPRO said on Friday that the money earmarked for players would go into designated accounts audited by FIFA to ensure it got to them. There remain issues globally regarding the conditions for players, with the Jamaican squad publishing a statement on Thursday criticising their country’s federation for how it has resourced and handled the team’s World Cup preparations. Their complaints include a failure to pay agreed compensation or provide sufficient resources for team preparation in some areas, including food, training and travel. Sarah Gregorius, FIFPRO’s director of global policy and strategic relations for women’s football described the plight of the Reggae Girlz as “completely unacceptable”. FIFPRO also confirmed FIFA had presented its proposed approach regarding armbands to a players’ group at a meeting on Thursday. A group of seven European nations were threatened with sporting sanctions starting with a yellow card for their captains if rainbow-coloured ‘OneLove’ armbands were worn at the men’s World Cup in Qatar last year. Discussions are ongoing with other stakeholders on the issue, with the Football Association understood to be in almost daily written contact with FIFA regarding this topic. Baer-Hoffmann said feedback from the players’ group would be passed to FIFA in due course. Infantino said in March that all sides had learned lessons from what happened in Qatar and was confident “a solution” would be agreed for the Women’s World Cup. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Kim Huybrechts and Dimitri Van den Bergh put on united front after ‘differences’ Zak Crawley sets the tone for England before Australia hit back in Ashes WRU criticised for ‘serious failure of governance’ over misconduct allegations

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