Potato Head’s heterosexual relationship with Mrs. But anything goes in the fantasy realm of cartoons where inanimate objects can talk and, presumably, find love. There’s nothing inappropriate about kids watching or reading about characters who happen to be gay just as there’s nothing inappropriate about kids watching or reading about characters who happen to be straight.Īs to Arnette’s suggestion that a sponge - a la SpongeBob can’t be gay, this may be true in real life, among real world sponges. Opposition to gay characters in children’s entertainment was homophobic then and it’s homophobic now.
#IS SPONGEBOB GAY 2021 MOVIE#
This same scandalized scenario played out twice in 2018, once when a writer of the movie “Frozen” suggested she wasn’t opposed to giving protagonist, Elsa, a female love interest, and again when a creator of Ernie and Bert revealed that the famous roommates are indeed a gay couple. Rowling, no stranger to controversy, revealed years ago that Albus Dumblore is gay, provoking huge backlash. He later apologized for his comment, but at the time, Arnette was echoing a discomfort similar to the kind expressed in the aftermath of other announcements about beloved characters’ preferences: J.K. He’s a sponge.they tryna expose these kids to everything to early.” On the weekend Arnette tweeted: “So now spongebob gay lol … 2020 doing so many people wrong. For a combination of both of these styles, check out NFL player Damon Arnette’s comments on the character’s sexuality. Though much of the response is positive (especially from gay fans who deemed SpongeBob and his pal Patrick queer icons long ago), a lot of it is predictably homophobic, in both the 8-year-old boy sense and in the more insidious, grown up, social conservative sense. The reaction to Nickelodeon’s recent announcement has a similar flavour. (Go on YouTube and behold the endless stream of years-old YouTube compilation videos with titles like “SPONGEBOB IS GAY TRIPLE PROOF.”) When I was a camp counsellor in the late 2000’s, my 8-year-old male campers were vocal fans of the show, but they often vacillated between raving about how much they loved it and deriding its main character for what they perceived as “gay” behaviour. (In 2005, the founder of the social conservative group Focus on the Family objected to an educational video produced by a non-profit in which SpongeBob appears dancing to the Sister Sledge song “We are Family.”) Many right-wing Christians certainly did. If you grew up watching the show or you’re familiar with its main character (his penchant for dressing in drag, his affection for his surly neighbour, Squidward, and his campy demeanour in general) you’re probably familiar with this long-held suspicion - or perhaps you held it yourself. The statement was immediately interpreted as solid proof of what many fans of the show have long suspected: that SpongeBob, the plucky sponge of Bikini Bottom is gay.
Cohen, bisexual cartoon character Avatar Korra, and a rainbow-tinged SpongeBob: “Celebrating Pride Month with the LGBTQ+ community and their allies this month and every month.” On the weekend, Nickelodeon tweeted the following statement alongside photos of actor Michael D. However, this incredible news was overshadowed (in my corner of social media, anyway) by another recent landmark announcement involving the LGBTQ community: apparently SpongeBob SquarePants, the protagonist of the Nickelodeon show of the same name, is a card-carrying member of said community. Representatives of ViacomCBS, the parent company of Nickelodeon, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.In a landmark decision Monday, the United States Supreme Court ruled that gay and transgender employees are protected under federal civil rights law from discrimination at work.
no more discourse in my spongebob post please June 13, 2020 Some users also pointed out that Nickelodeon appeared to disable replies on the original tweet. Scott Glaza J-APOLLO J-SherlocksLeftNipple June 14, 2020 Many fans applauded the network for its Pride message. Some users seemed to take the message as an opportunity to debate the fictional character's sexual orientation. Many Twitter users seemed to interpret Nickelodeon's tweet as announcing the character of SpongeBob as a member and/or ally of the LGBTQ community. Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of the "SpongeBob SquarePants" series, told Reuters in 2005, as cited in a People Magazine article, that the SpongeBob character is neither gay or nor straight, but rather that he is asexual.