A new controversy is brewing around Ken Burns’ PBS documentary The American Revolution. LGBTQ advocates say the film both omits and defames queer people, especially Revolutionary War General Baron von Steuben. The critic writes, “It reinforces the dangerous idea that all gay people are pedophiles,” noting Burns’ only reference to von Steuben’s sexuality is the line, “he took familiarities with boys…“They risk erasing the fact that a gay man played a significant and indispensable role in founding this nation.” Historians, however, dispute that claim, calling it an unfounded rumor.
