2014Michael Buckner/Getty ImagesSave this storySaveSave this storySaveFar from the Hundred Acre a town council was trying to come up with the name for a local playground In the running was naming the park after Winnie-the-Pooh the beloved silly old bear that has warmed the hearts of children around the world for generations Thanks to a leaked tape of the council session the world can bear witness (pun intended) to a startling anti-Pooh sentiment stemming from the bear's unclear gender and immodest clothing one council member is heard saying: “Anyone who knows Winnie-the-Pooh knows he has no sex [genitalia],” which would normally be considered a good thing in a children's cartoon character was viewed as a symptom of deeper moral issues with the “immodest” bear involving “Pooh's testicles” and “a rusty razor blade.” Milne modeled the well-loved characters after his son and his favorite stuffed toys but isn’t that what everyone says when they get called out for their bias one local resident compared Pooh’s admitted “low intellect” to that of the town councillors saying: “Winnie the Pooh was a bear with low intellect this is also evident in those who are concerned with this topic” Poor old Pooh Bear might want to stick his head in a honey pot until this all blows over {via} Chances are that very few people would have ever heard of Tuszyn had it not been for a local official recording an awkward discussion about the sexuality of a fictional children's character Local councilors in Tuszyn were debating whether to make Winnie the Pooh a children's cartoon bear created by British author A.A the mascot of a local playground when more conservative members of the local board began fretting over the fact that the fictional bear doesn't wear pants and doesn't have genitals The incident occurred in 2014, but went viral again in September 2021, when the British website Unilad reported it without noting in its article that the story isn't current The 2021 Unilad headline read, "Winnie The Pooh Banned From Playground For Being 'Inappropriate Hermaphrodite.'" The term "hermaphrodite" is a dated word that refers to people who are intersex or "people who carry variations in their reproductive and sexual anatomy that differ from what is traditionally male or female." the town council decided against making Pooh the mascot for the playground in question the council voted down Pooh as the mascot due to "unclear gender and immodest clothing." Although the AP didn't report whether the town selected another mascot some present during the meeting suggested Uszatek a Polish cartoon bear who is fully clothed The AP reported the discussion happened in a closed-door meeting and that the story only gained widespread attention after a recording of it was leaked to the news media Winnie the Pooh was adapted into a cartoon by Disney, whose animators have drawn the honey-loving bear wearing only a bright red shirt News reports centered on the strangeness of the town's officials fixating on the lack of pants and genitals of a fictional, animated character. Generally, cartoon characters that aren't human don't wear clothes, or are only partially clothed Days after the story went viral, one of the town officials stated that his comments about Winnie the Pooh were taken out of context and that his remark about the bear being a "hermaphrodite" were made in jest Articles at that time were based on a November 2014 by the Croatian Times, an English-language news outlet with what appears to be a now-defunct website, as its web address now redirects to a payday loan site. An archived version of the Croatian Times story, however, is still available here the town council decided that Winnie the Pooh would not be the playground mascot Half Naked Winnie The Pooh Banned From Playground - Around the World News - Croatian Times Online News - English Newspaper https://web.archive.org/web/20141121163908https://www.croatiantimes.com/news/Around_the_World/2014-11-19/36417/Half_Naked_Winnie_The_Pooh_Banned_From_Playground_ Polish Town Opposes Pooh Bear for Unclear Gender - ABC News https://web.archive.org/web/20141122071921/https://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/polish-town-opposes-pooh-bear-unclear-gender-27099433 “This Polish Town Thinks Winnie the Pooh Is Too Scantily Dressed to Be around Children.” Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/11/21/this-polish-town-thinks-winnie-the-pooh-is-too-scantily-dressed-to-be-around-children/ Winnie The Pooh Banned From Playground For Being ‘Inappropriate Hermaphrodite.' Unilad https://www.unilad.co.uk/life/winnie-the-pooh-banned-from-playground-for-being-inappropriate-hermaphrodite/ “Winnie the Pooh Banned from Polish Playground for Being ‘Inappropriate Hermaphrodite.’” The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/winnie-pooh-banned-polish-playground-being-inappropriate-hermaphrodite-9872278.html https://www.them.us/story/inqueery-intersex "Polish town opposes Pooh Bear for unclear gender," 21 November 2014 https://apnews.com/article/4b128f53251949ebac84c90edb231496 Bethania Palma is a journalist from the Los Angeles area who started her career as a daily newspaper reporter and has covered everything from crime to government to national politics. She has written for ... read more This material may not be reproduced without permission Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com BREAKING: Winnie the Pooh is a hermaphrodite exposes himself in public and has no business being around children — at least according to a Polish town council Officials in the Polish town of Tuszyn (87 miles southwest of Warsaw) were deciding on a mascot for the town playground when the classic children's character was suggested as a candidate because he's an "inappropriately dressed" bear of "dubious sexuality." Winnie is a honey junkie who spends most of his time with a chronically depressed donkey and a suspiciously energetic tiger and if you don't want your kids hanging with that sort of crew But if you don't want Winnie at playgrounds because he doesn't wear pants and has no external genitalia According to the Croatian Times members of the Tuszyn town council were having this totally reasonable conversation about Winnie's biological sex and choice of outerwear when one of them decided it was worth recording and leaking to media We all owe this person a debt of gratitude Because now we know the following things about the members of the Tuszyn town council Resident and councilor Ryszard Cichy apparently believes this about Winnie: "The problem with that bear is it doesn't have a complete wardrobe It is half naked which is wholly inappropriate for children." An unnamed official apparently knows why: "It doesn't wear underpants because it doesn't have a sex Alan Alexander Milne: "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." We also learned that some members of the Tuszyn town council are biased against intersex individuals Winnie's out of the running for playground mascot but as the councilors move forward with the decision-making process they should consider that their no-pants rule excludes nearly every cartoon character ever invented h/t the Independent This article originally appeared on GlobalPost. GlobalPost is a USA TODAY content partner providing world news coverage. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY. Officials in the town of Tuszyn appeared to oppose naming a park after the beloved children’s book character because of his attire though one has since said that the discussion was in jest “The problem with that bear is it doesn’t have a complete wardrobe,” Councillor Ryszard Cichy said in an audio recording of a closed-door meeting that was reportedly leaked to the press, according to the Croatian Times which is wholly inappropriate for children.” Another official called Pooh a “hermaphrodite.” Councillor Hanna Jachimska continued the conversation suggesting Pooh author Alan Alexander Milne was “disturbing.” “The author was over 60 and cut [Pooh’s] testicles off with a razor blade,” she said “because he had a problem with his identity.” Cichy later told a newspaper that he was joking after the official discussion about the playground had gone on too long it’s a good thing the meeting didn’t look too closely at the rest of Pooh’s friends Eeyore and Tigger are not only pants-less but shirt-free [AP] Write to Nolan Feeney at nolan.feeney@time.com An 80.7 km section of the A1 motorway between Częstochowa and Tuszyn in southern Poland will be modernised under this EU-funded project This will ensure the A1 corridor from Gdańsk in northern Poland to the village of Gorzyczki on the border of Czechia The A1 through Poland forms part of the Baltic-Adriatic TEN-T corridor except the section from the Częstochowa bypass to the town of Tuszyn This is one of the busiest sections of the Polish motorway network and is a mixture of dual carriageway/expressway and old motorway standard The existing road bypasses most urban areas but intersects a number of major local roads Several sections have a poor safety record in part due to the lower standard of the road The upgrade will ensure the road meets full motorway standards allowing for travelling speeds of up to 120 km/h It will mainly have 2x3 lanes running in opposite directions except for a 3km section near the city of Piotrków Trybunalski which will be a 2x4 design to accommodate the heavier traffic along this section Other elements of the project are five grade-separated junctions where roads are aligned at different heights (grades) to ensure uninterrupted traffic flow and other necessary elements and utilities The principal objectives of the project are to create a section of TEN-T Baltic-Adriatic corridor that allows for high-speed The upgrade will ensure the road can accommodate existing and projected levels of traffic Greater capacity on the road will reduce congestion and pollution and improve living conditions for residents along the A1 Reduced travel time will contribute to socioeconomic development the number of accidents and fatalities on the network is expected to diminish both to moderate traffic levels and to compensate for environmental impacts of road traffic 12.98% of the total project costs will be dedicated to reducing and/or compensating for the negative environmental impacts of the project The money will be spent on noise and light barriers passes for large and medium-sized animals and amphibians Total investment for the project “Construction of the A1 motorway section from the Częstochowa bypass to Tuszyn” is EUR 913 051 083 with the EU’s Cohesion Fund contributing EUR 447 240 975 through the “Infrastructure and Environment” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period The investment falls under the priority “transport infrastructure” Ministerstwo obsługujące ministra właściwego ds General Directorate for National Roads and Highways (GDDKiA) 21 (UPI) -- Winnie-the-Pooh is being run out of town The issue came up when it was proposed that Pooh be the patron of the playground But the more conservative members of the council took issue with the fact he was only half-dressed "It doesn't wear underpants because it doesn't have a sex It's a hermaphrodite," said one Councillor They had an explanation for why poor Pooh is of "dubious sexuality" and it's through no fault of his own but rather due to the cruelty of his author, A.A. Milne. "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," said Councillor Hanna Jachimska. Oh, bother. One of America's favorite childhood characters has just been called out, big time. A Polish town is rejecting a Winnie the Pooh mascot because he's "inappropriately dressed" and of "dubious sexuality." The mascot would have been stationed at a local playground and the committee didn't want a pantsless bear who regularly exposes his nongenitals to go anywhere near the town's children The committee even went so far as calling Pooh Bear a "hermaphrodite" because it has no sex organs A bunch of full-grown adults in the town council sat around and had an earnest and heated discussion about how Winnie the Pooh could corrupt their children beyond repair Pooh was chastised during a meeting between officials in the town of Tuszyn was thrown into the mix as a mascot choice officials basically slammed their fists down and shouted that is Polish for "Are you crazy?!" the meeting was recorded by one of the council members and leaked to the press because either they actually thought this discussion was important enough for the world to know about or they were dying of laughter on the inside could be heard saying — probably at a raised volume — to the council members: Then he very seriously suggested a Polish cartoon bear as a candidate because it did not have a Miley Cyrus-level aversion to pants: Another council member then offered this very scientific you've just uttered the most ridiculous sentence in human history.It's unclear which mascot they ended up choosing but you can be sure it's fully clothed and does not have a honey addiction But the committee probably rejected a few more candidates before coming to a decision Following the same reasoning of inappropriate dress and questionable sex the town of Tuszyn would not only reject these popular cartoon characters but they'd probably want to see them behind bars Donald Duck took a page out of Pooh's style book rocking that shirt with no pants look like it's nobody's business What would Tuszyn think of this chipmunk duo They're completely nude and not at all ashamed Pretty much every Looney Tunes character would be a pervert in Tuszyn's eyes while Porky Pig's outfit is almost even more lewd Wearing a blazer and a red bow tie with nothing else Porky looks like he just stepped out of a male revue along with Chip and Dale You're not fooling anyone with your collar and tie You may be business up top but you are definitely all debauchery below