Winnie the Pooh
An undated handout image shows a scan of an original drawing of Winnie-the-Pooh The first official sequel to the original Winnie-the-Pooh books will appear in October, its publishers said on January 10, 2009, more than 80 years after the honey-loving bear first appeared in print. REUTERS/THE ESTATE OF E.H. SHE

One of the most well-loved cartoon character, "Winnie the Pooh," has been slandered in a local council meeting in Poland. The local council deems Pooh as a hermaphrodite - a bear who is confused on its gender and cannot be bothered to wear some pants!

In the small town of Tuszyn, Poland, a town council is said to be thinking up the name of a local playground. It is said that local school children wanted "Winnie the Pooh" to be their playground's name. However, the innocent desire of the kids was shut down by a heated dialogue between councillors. This debate was caught on tape and leaked. In the tape, it could be heard that most of councillors found a lot of elements they are not happy with regarding the British bear, from its wardrobe to its gender. "The problem with that bear is it doesn't have a complete wardrobe," Ryszard Cichy, a local councillor said. He added that the fictional bear is half-naked, which should not be appropriate for children. Instead, he lauded on the country's national fictional bear, Uszatek, which is dressed from head to toe. Pooh is only dressed from the waist up, so the councillor thinks he should not serve as the playground's mascot or name.

Adding fuel to the fire is another councillor who believes Pooh was not given pants because it does not have a sex anyway. The childhood character was called a "hermaphrodite." Another councillor suggests that this is "very disturbing" to imagine. "The author was over 60 and cut [Pooh's] testicles off with a razor blade because he had a problem with his identity," the councilor explained.

Upon learning of the leaked tapes, Cichy told a newspaper that his comments were jokes. He made them because the discussion on the playground has gone for too long. The town members of Tuszyn however, are not buying his "jokes" explanation. They are not impressed that the councilors are giving the topic so much time and effort either. One local resident told the Police news program TTV that those who are concerned with this topic, pertaining to the councilors, are of "low intellect."