Openly LGBT Ponies

[Steve Piranha 28,751]

IIRC, Caramel was seen with a girlfriend in the Hearts & Hooves day ep?

 

Sadly, it does seem unlikely MLP will ever go there, which is a real shame as other cartoons (Korra, Steven Universe etc) are including more non-straight characters lately. I think the closest thing we have is Lyra and Bon Bon in EQG Rainbow Rocks:

 

 

 

 

 

but I'm pretty sure that's just fanservice and not likely to be confirmed or seen in FiM itself. We can dream though~

Yeah, me too, as Lyra was with a stallion in Filly Vanilli 

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

There are some LGBT in prime time sit coms (Modern Families, for instance) + Smithers in The Simpsons is implied (no doubt, many others, I don't watch much TV)

 

But, in a TVY kid's cartoon? Not going to happen, Hasbro wouldn't let them get within a million miles of it.  Too controversial.

 

That being said, given the M/F ratio in Ponyville, IMO you've got 3 possibilities

1) For some reason, Ponyville is WAY outside EQ norms.

2) Polygamy (1 male + many females)  Historically the most common human pattern, the 20th century is pretty atypical.

3) Lesbianism is widespread & (at least implicitly) tolerated.

2) is most likely, given how horses live in the real world; ie, one stallion and several mares, with one "lead mare" being large and in charge. Tho there might be more stallions around than we see, the show just doesn't focus on them as much as on the mares.

[Conred 274]

It look like next episode will challenge the Lyra/BonBon headcanon

[Positively Pinkie 109]

Egh

 

I don't really mind LGBTQ people that much, but it would feel forced political stuff in the show if they 'd just throw it in to make people happy.

Maybe some jokes about a stallion looking like a mare or visa versa. I can see that happening or some cross dressing joke. Some pony who willfully explains going trans, hopefully not.

And Gay/Lesbian, only if that gets to be really subtle.

[Jackie Snack 1,498]

For the life of me, I can't find it, but I remember seeing something from Lauren Faust on her DA account that she never intended to bring up the issue of orientation in the show. Granted, now that she's no longer there, it could change, but it's most likely not gonna happen. With the state of the fandom, I hope it doesn't. Sure, I would love to see it, but...

 

Hmm...

 

Now that I think about it, the fandom would tear itself in two and burn itself down. I wish to see this now. xD

[Batbrony 15,994]

In my opinion, the world should embrace the way the Brothers Grimm did things and expose everything to children as is necessary to teach lessons and morals. Censorship leads to weak minded children.

 

Spoilers for sensitive topic

 

 

 

I agree that censorship leads to weak-minded children who don't know how to critically think or debate, but what you seem to be suggesting, at least in regards to this particular topic, is that children need to be taught one way to think about it.  Now with certain moral lessons, a black-and-white approach, such as "Hey kids, murder's wrong, always" is perfectly acceptable, but homosexuality?  Our problem right now with that topic is that the two camps don't know HOW to talk about it.  I myself am a Christian.  I've thought a lot about this topic, and decided that, according to my faith, I personally need to condemn active homosexual behavior as a sin, just like any other sin.  For most Christians who take this stance, it's a question of loving God before loving man.  Where too many fall short, unfortunately, is in not trying to love man as well as love God, to a certain extent, at least.  While I don't think I could ever personally advocate for gay marriage, as I think that too would be sinful, I'm not about to do anything to prevent gay marriage from becoming lawful in this country either (unless the right for religious organizations to be exempt from ordaining gay marriages is threatened, of course).  My ideal hope is that gay marriage does eventually become legal in all 50 states (though I'd prefer to see the states themselves do that, not the federal government, but that's for legal reasons), but more importantly than any sort of legal milestone, I want to see LGBT people and their allies learn to live alongside in peace and harmony with people who don't believe that homosexuality is morally sound, and vice versa.  The problem right now with this debate is there is no debate, only extreme partisanship and both sides trying to stamp the other out.  So yeah, if homosexuality were presented in that manner to children on a television program, as there simply being one answer to this debate, that would only make things worse.  The true path to harmony in this matter is people learning to accept and understand one another even if they don't agree on everything, not demanding conformity to one particular set of beliefs in the matter on everyone's part.

 

Apologies for the wall of text, just needed to get that out there.  It always takes a lot of words to explain my views on the matter.  TL;DR version, I try to love every human being to the best of my imperfect capacity, but I can't love every human behavior.  Sometimes I gotta put God before the world, but that doesn't mean I need to treat anyone with hate in response, and I would hope people who disagree with me in this matter and profess to be such great proponents of love would agree that the true measure of our willingness to love is in showing it to our ideological opponents as much as our allies, friends, and loved ones.

 

Also, I apologize if I misread your post, Silver Letter, and you really do want children exposed to all ideas, not just particular ones.

 

 

 

As for the OP itself, the simple facts are there are no confirmed LGBT characters at this point.  If I were a betting man, I doubt the writers would, given the nature of the program's target audience, ever attempt to explicitly show LGBT people unless it were the very end of the series.  As is, they promote themes of inclusiveness more than most kids shows do (at least, in as good a manner as they do) that you can easily include the LGBT community in discussions about the show.  And in many ways, I think if they tried to force it in there, the debate it would set off could actually blow up in the writers' faces; I'm not saying that's a good thing, but it's simply true that it would set off a s***storm and possibly drown out the great themes the show is always trying to promote.  So right now, something like that on a Y-rated TV program might just have to fly under the radar in the realm of the fandom's fanon.

[Jackie Snack 1,498]

Spoilers for sensitive topic

 

 

 

I agree that censorship leads to weak-minded children who don't know how to critically think or debate, but what you seem to be suggesting, at least in regards to this particular topic, is that children need to be taught one way to think about it.  Now with certain moral lessons, a black-and-white approach, such as "Hey kids, murder's wrong, always" is perfectly acceptable, but homosexuality?  Our problem right now with that topic is that the two camps don't know HOW to talk about it.  I myself am a Christian.  I've thought a lot about this topic, and decided that, according to my faith, I personally need to condemn active homosexual behavior as a sin, just like any other sin.  For most Christians who take this stance, it's a question of loving God before loving man.  Where too many fall short, unfortunately, is in not trying to love man as well as love God, to a certain extent, at least.  While I don't think I could ever personally advocate for gay marriage, as I think that too would be sinful, I'm not about to do anything to prevent gay marriage from becoming lawful in this country either (unless the right for religious organizations to be exempt from ordaining gay marriages is threatened, of course).  My ideal hope is that gay marriage does eventually become legal in all 50 states (though I'd prefer to see the states themselves do that, not the federal government, but that's for legal reasons), but more importantly than any sort of legal milestone, I want to see LGBT people and their allies learn to live alongside in peace and harmony with people who don't believe that homosexuality is morally sound, and vice versa.  The problem right now with this debate is there is no debate, only extreme partisanship and both sides trying to stamp the other out.  So yeah, if homosexuality were presented in that manner to children on a television program, as there simply being one answer to this debate, that would only make things worse.  The true path to harmony in this matter is people learning to accept and understand one another even if they don't agree on everything, not demanding conformity to one particular set of beliefs in the matter on everyone's part.

 

Apologies for the wall of text, just needed to get that out there.  It always takes a lot of words to explain my views on the matter.  TL;DR version, I try to love every human being to the best of my imperfect capacity, but I can't love every human behavior.  Sometimes I gotta put God before the world, but that doesn't mean I need to treat anyone with hate in response, and I would hope people who disagree with me in this matter and profess to be such great proponents of love would agree that the true measure of our willingness to love is in showing it to our ideological opponents as much as our allies, friends, and loved ones.

 

Also, I apologize if I misread your post, Silver Letter, and you really do want children exposed to all ideas, not just particular ones.

 

 

 

As for the OP itself, the simple facts are there are no confirmed LGBT characters at this point.  If I were a betting man, I doubt the writers would, given the nature of the program's target audience, ever attempt to explicitly show LGBT people unless it were the very end of the series.  As is, they promote themes of inclusiveness more than most kids shows do (at least, in as good a manner as they do) that you can easily include the LGBT community in discussions about the show.  And in many ways, I think if they tried to force it in there, the debate it would set off could actually blow up in the writers' faces; I'm not saying that's a good thing, but it's simply true that it would set off a s***storm and possibly drown out the great themes the show is always trying to promote.  So right now, something like that on a Y-rated TV program might just have to fly under the radar in the realm of the fandom's fanon.

Very well put and thought out. Nice to see someone who may not agree with a topic, but does not stop others from exploring it. 

[Batbrony 15,994]

Very well put and thought out. Nice to see someone who may not agree with a topic, but does not stop others from exploring it. 

 

Thank you.   It's a huge reason I joined the fandom in the first place 3 years ago; I was so impressed by how accepting it was and continues to be of pretty much anyone.  Seemed to be a calm community in the midst of raging Internet s***storms (not that our fandom hasn't had those either, mind you, we just seem to be pretty good at maintaining calm and harmony for the most part  ).

[Jackie Snack 1,498]

Thank you.   It's a huge reason I joined the fandom in the first place 3 years ago; I was so impressed by how accepting it was and continues to be of pretty much anyone.  Seemed to be a calm community in the midst of raging Internet s***storms (not that our fandom hasn't had those either, mind you, we just seem to be pretty good at maintaining calm and harmony for the most part  ).

I base it on experience, because every community I joined eventually killed itself. I stay on the fringe of the fandom and make sure I reach out to the calmer ones nowadays. This one is diverse enough to stay balanced, with more than sensible people, such as yourself.

[Batbrony 15,994]

I base it on experience, because every community I joined eventually killed itself. I stay on the fringe of the fandom and make sure I reach out to the calmer ones nowadays. This one is diverse enough to stay balanced, with more than sensible people, such as yourself.

 

Amen to that.  It's why most Internet fandoms terrify me if you try to delve deeper than the fringes of them.  Even the few good ones don't seem to self-regulate themselves as well as ours does, for the most part.  Glad you decided to join our forums recently, hope they prove to be as calm as you hope and you enjoy your time here. 

[Jackie Snack 1,498]

Amen to that.  It's why most Internet fandoms terrify me if you try to delve deeper than the fringes of them.  Even the few good ones don't seem to self-regulate themselves as well as ours does, for the most part.  Glad you decided to join our forums recently, hope they prove to be as calm as you hope and you enjoy your time here. 

Thankies. With any luck, I'll be here for a while. 

[Manman20x6 359]

Well, the new episode has a nonbinary character whose preferred pronouns are "it/its/itself".

 

Although that may not be because it's genderqueer but rather because 

it's a blob monster whose species has no concept of sex or gender

.

Edited May 16, 2015 by Manman20x6

[Nerdy Luigi 2,064]

There could be, but that has not been revealed by Hasbro. Likely won't be.

[Trine 665]

I don't think anypony is confirmed in LGBT. But imagination also works which is nice too ^^

[cider float 2,535]

I think this is the closest you'll get on that...

 

[Unikitty 1,211]

Wasn't it bad enough that the premier focused on freakin' Communism? I mean, not only am I personally against this stuff, aren't ponies controversial enough already, and even more so with the recent premier? I think that it would be a step too far if this happened.

 

Well firstly, they didn't. The episode wasn't about communism(and even if it was your complaint is moot due to them pointing out 'Our Town' was a bad place). It was about being yourself and not feeling ashamed of having skills others don't. Secondly, the show isn't controversial, only the brony fandom is - and that has little impact on the show itself.

 

Now back on topic. As others have said, there isn't really any confirmed LGBT relationships in the series. Scant few relationships at all, with Mr. and Mrs. Cake being the only ones coming to mind. I think this is perfectly fine. Not that I don't support the equal rights movement(I certainly do), but I think it's fine to not have it a focus in this. The demographic isn't at a stage in life where relationships are prominent issues. Mr. and Mrs. Cake are a focus due to being parents.

Having an episode about LGBT rights purely for the sake of having it would be pandering to an outside demographic and isn't needed in this show. Kids of this age aren't wondering about who can marry who. They don't care, so there's no reason why it should be a topic forced on them. Part of FiM's charm is that their viewers can relate to the characters and events. Now whilst adult viewers could, their core viewers are children who wouldn't be able to relate to the topic. They'd be far better off doing an episode about safety.

[Spikey-Wikey 378]

I'm hoping that Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops are a couple.

[Denim&Venöm 16,461]

Seems like the 100th episode w/ LyraBon is probably as close as were gonna get. The writers pushed the envelope far enough to imply at it, yet made it just ambiguous enough that both sides for and against the relationship could be proven right. That's a challenge in of itself and I'm impressed w/ how they handled it. 

[Luna the Great of all the Russias 2,690]

Seems like the 100th episode w/ LyraBon is probably as close as were gonna get. The writers pushed the envelope far enough to imply at it, yet made it just ambiguous enough that both sides for and against the relationship could be proven right. That's a challenge in of itself and I'm impressed w/ how they handled it. 

I think Lyra and Bonbon's interactions with one another were specific enough to make possibility of non-hetereosexual couple relationship viable. But other than that I'm assuming rest of MLPFIM characters are heterosexual unless otherwise stated or specifically indicated; few instances of "bedroom eyes", hugs, etc. is not enough for me to believe in possibility of said character actually being non-heterosexual in canon. I'm not denying existence of non-heterosexuals in MLPFIM universe but it's safer to assume given character is heterosexual rather than non-heterosexual because, after all, heterosexuals make up majority of population in reality; if people believe reverse is true (which seems to be the case sometimes) then Equestria would have severe population problem unless they make it mandatory that each homosexual couple must also have heterosexual relations and have at least 2 children. I think people want LGBT ponies so badly in canon that they'll interpret even littlest things as indication of supposed legitimate evidence of non-heterosexual attractions. And I don't consider evidence from comic valid because it has been stated to be built off of canon of show but otherwise is its own separate universe.

 

If they were ever to make homosexual character, I'm hoping revealing such information is more subtle/casual rather than basically forcing it to people's faces by going "HEY! HEY! LOOK AT ME! I'M GAY! I'M GAY! HEY DID I EVER TELL YOU I'M GAY?" making their sexuality single defining trait (though this applies to anything really). Anyway, even if they depict non-heterosexual couples, I don't expect couple relationships in general is specific topic MLPFIM would go too far into; if they did they would have to make message general enough for children to be able to relate to it.

Edited July 7, 2015 by Tsaritsa Luna

[cider float 2,535]

the only one we can be pretty sure of there sexuality is rarity who seems to be straight judging by the simple ways episode 

Twilight's interest in Flash Sentry is pretty straightforward.

[TubeSock2018 325]

Wasn't it bad enough that the premier focused on freakin' Communism? I mean, not only am I personally against this stuff, aren't ponies controversial enough already, and even more so with the recent premier? I think that it would be a step too far if this happened.

I really hope you're joking about the communism bit because that's not how communism operates.

Financially, everyone should be equal. Talent wise and expressing oneself, as was seen oppressed in the premiere, no.

Communism promotes individuality as much as capitalism. You have a special talent for helping others and understanding science? Here you go, the government will pay for your medicial school. You suck at school and hate math, but like working outside? Here you go, a job in manual labor.

It is nothing like the premiere's town of equality.

 

This guy explains the episode's themes a lot better.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gMD1p2nU7Io

 

But yeah, it had nothing to do with communism.

[cider float 2,535]

If you want more LGBT themes you can try looking at Steven Universe.

[ThatOneComrade 1,091]

An openly LGBT+ pony, huh? Wouldn't that just be something.

Yeah, they could do it, and I'd be the last to complain if they did, but I'm a-ok if they chose not to. There's still too much of a stigma against the LGBT+ mixed with kids and that'll take some time to wear off. The last thing Hasbro wants is to be the first to open that can of worms, you know? Because then MLP wouldn't be remembered as a cartoon about little pastel ponies learning about friendship, it'd be the first show to flat-out show an LGBT character. People would make a bigger deal out of it than it really needs to be.

 

So I'm cool with MLP sticking with the safe, politically safe content. Maybe G5 will have more luck; who knows?

[manic 121]

I doubt it'd happen. Parents just aren't ready for that, and heads would explode (along with the contract). Not saying it's right to do, but I want the show to go on as long as possible. The closest we'll get for now is Lyrabon.