Should Gay Ponies be allowed?

[SingularPony4 2]

I'm my opinion I don't think there should be gay ponies on a kids show that is very neutral on all kinds of things, but yet there are so many people wanting Bon Bon and Lyra to be lesbians, are people being For real or just joking??

[Quinch 1,120]

Well, yes. Mind you, it is a cartoon and I doubt Hasbro would be willing to make it canon as long as they want FIM to be a thing in countries that frown on non-heteronormalcy.

A question in return, though - other than the aforementioned business one, what would be a reason for opposing same-gender relationships in children's shows?

[CheeryFox 23,821]

Yes. Because sexuality/diversity exists everywhere. 

[Prospekt 11,018]

One of the kids books implied that Scootaloo's aunts are a lesbian couple, and Mike Vogel confirmed it. But no characters seen in the actual show have been confirmed as LGBT.

[Here No Longer 5,276]

I don't see why not... Aside from some overly religious homophobes getting offended, but even then I personally couldn't care LESS about them.

[Jedishy 3,548]

I think relationships should be kept to a minimum as really I see no point in them in the show. However, if you can do good characters with a good story fine why not. But if you cram them in for the sake of diversity points I would find it annoyingly condescending. Basically, if you can get a Perfect Pear storyline go for it. But if you are just going to trot out some half baked background ponies to go see see we checked off the box then screw that 

38 minutes ago, SingularPony4 said:

 I don't think there should be gay ponies on a kids show that is very neutral on all kinds of things,

 

Why when there are straight couples on the show would it be an issue? 

[Guest]

Kids will see gay people in the real world where there is no way to censor it from them. Censoring them from a TV show is moot as it won't stop them from seeing them. We live in a world where it's becoming more and more accepted to be openly gay. The odds of being able to stop your child from being exposed to gay people are getting slimmer every day. May as well just accept it and let it happen.

[Steve Piranha 29,425]

I don’t see why it should be censored, but adding for the sake of it is a no no either. FIM has plenty of diversity from start, albeit of character type, which is what really matters 

[Metemponychosis 1,261]

Should they be allowed? Yes. Absolutely.

Should they be included? That depends. In my opinion, nothing kills a character faster than being built around something that only matters to the audience and not to the story. Plenty of examples of 'strong female characters' today whose only real characteristic is 'female', for example. Ideally, a character should be a character before being a gender identity.

Even more important: what is it that the character being gay, or straight, add to the story? If the answer is nothing, then it shouldn't be brought up.

[The Recherche 29,968]

Genuine query: why shouldn't it be permissible? It is one thing to not want children exposed to the sexual connotations of it, but that's usually a given, even with straight romance. I honestly don't mind whether or not there is an official gay couple in Friendship is Magic either way, but I see no reason it is impermissible.

[Passion 3,484]

6 hours ago, SingularPony4 said:

kids show

This is where your issue stems from. I can understand how in season 1 or even 2 you could consider this a 'kids show', but this entire enterprise quickly turned into a family one as it proved to appeal to greater age range than initially expected.

 

This topic is as thin as ice during spring meltdowns on your average lake. If this was a straightforward only kids show, I would have the audacity to say no. Why? Because this entire idea touches upon sexuality (since this is the main term that people associate it worldwide so far), something that is completely unneccesary in any show for small children just yet at all. They would not understand the idea at all, but it could introduce them into that world where, due to rising curiosity, you then get ~14yo teenagers doing what they're doing, if you catch my drift. Putting gay/lesbian couples in such show would only benefit someone's political agenda in place where it would garner no attention due to target audience. There are better places to teach those things to children in proper time.

 

However, I think it is obvious that the show's audience has shifted and expanded a bit beyond that. And with current audience being able to properly respect and distinguish diversity in on itself, I see no issues with that. This has long stopped being a pure kids show. This ship has sailed.

 

[EpicEnergy 23,218]

Definitely not, making any character in any movie/TV show gay or transgender is repulsive to me.

Subjective opinions aside, whether or not a show should have a gay or transgender character would depend on how well it is executed. Simply making a character gay for the sake of gaining more viewers or avoiding criticism for not having one, both are not good reasons and could possibly lead to the character's gayness being forced or sloppy writing regarding the character.

 

[Sepul-Coloratura 762]

That's a strange question to even ask about. What if not allowed? Officially announce that Equestria has no gays? What if allowed? Make them kiss on screen? Put in an unnecessary gay exposition moments about two background ponies to assure the audience that gay ponies exist in Equestria? Sexual orientation isn't a appropriate topic to write an MLP episode about and if something has nothing to do with the plot, just don't put in in the show.

[Megas 27,671]

Why shouldn't they be? Gay people exist, and they're just as normal as everyone else here. And if anything, the show's staff tends to agree between Lyra and Bon Bon, Scootaloo's aunts, and even the two male BG humans holding hands in Rollercoaster of Friendship

[O-78 28,606]

Whether they confirm or deny the existence of gay ponies in MLP, somebody will be pissed off. It should be allowed, but not included just for the sake of including it.

[OdellaLark 185]

Yeah, there should be. But I really really doubt it’d ever happen. There’d be ‘ship teasing’ but that’s about allwe can get. Which is kind of aggravating really. Having gay ponies on tv would be completley harmless. But of course parents would complain. 🙄 Cause having gay colorful ponies would be so harmful for their children to see. But I don’t think it’d be best for me to further state my views on that. So basically gay ponies should exist amd headcanoning characters like Lyra and Bom Bon as gay is 200% fine, and having them be a confirmed couple would be incredibly awesome. 

[FlareGun45 2,221]

My story already has a lesbian couple! Which means it'll be difficult to make international without edits. Some countries don't allow homosexuality in media, like the middle east.

But if kids shows have homosexuality and show it a more positive note, they grow up to be more accepting towards them!

Edited March 17, 2019 by FlareGun45

[cmarston1 5,959]

I don't really see why not. I mean its not like children won't be exposed to LGBT individuals later in life anyways.  Plus other children's cartoons have included LGBT characters, so I don't see why MLP FiM shouldn't.

Edited March 17, 2019 by cmarston1

[Twilight Luna 31,394]

And why not? It’s implied that Lyra and Bon Bon may be more than friends but no one is crying about that. How is this any different from the straight relationships on the show? 

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,558]

Obviously. Others have mentioned the best reasons why, like showing acceptance of gay people and such, so it is for all of that, but a personal reason I have is to watch homophobes lose their minds. That would be some popcorn-worthy entertainment. 

[Misty Shadow 7,901]

Totally, but I wouldn't want them forced in and I wouldn't want Hasbro making the decision not to officially have any of the characters come out as gay to be called homophobic. Like others pointed out, it's not a black-and-white issue and could create problems not only with overseas marketing of the show, but also marketing of the toys. Most people just don't care, but there are those parents who would complain.  

[Will Guide 21,360]

They should be allowed, but I personally think a good story about a person discovering their sexuality has already been done in fanfics, like in The Real Life of Flash Sentry or Spikes Comes Out. I recommend reading those.

Edited March 17, 2019 by St. Yoshi

[Goat-kun 2,527]

Sure. Just make those ponies that are hinted at being "very good friends" gay. Done and done. Pheew, that got my forehead all sweaty.

 

By the by, can we get an Astolfo hippogriff Easter egg? Now, while the philosophers are still divided about the quantity and quality of the gayness surrounding the subject in question, it would be much appreciated all the same.

[NavelColt 22,881]

15 hours ago, SingularPony4 said:

I'm my opinion I don't think there should be gay ponies on a kids show that is very neutral on all kinds of things

The show is crafted to be gender-neutral, age-neutral, etc, as it aims to be inclusive of both kids and their families. In other words, it's neutral in a way that promotes inclusiveness. Why then would such a show purposefully do anything that would be exclusive - the exact opposite of the show's entire framework of friendship, acceptance, etc, by purposefully shying away from ideas such as sexuality variation?

Sure, the show may not outright label characters as this or that, and part of that is to avoid ruffling the feathers of people in their audience who don't have an open mind, but it's also because that'd be exclusive. Cartoons, all forms of entertainment have the common goal of appealing to the imagination, to tell stories, let you build the world around the characters that isn't shown on screen, and most importantly to relate to the characters they show.

Why make a character gay or straight when you can leave it open to interpretation? If it's not important to the plot, or the character's development, there's no point. Nobody is left out of the chance to identify with a character due to a label.

Being neutral can have both positive connotations as well as negative ones, it's all about what the neutrality is trying to balance - in this case, inclusiveness or exclusion.

Nothing is as cut and dry as we may originally believe. 

As far as your question, yes and no. People like to ship characters, but it's a trivial thing a lot of the time. That's found in every fandom and shouldn't be weighed in a discussion about whether the show depicts characters as gay or not.

[MangoFoalix 24,961]

Why wouldn't they be allowed? I'm just saying that this thread title at first glance seems increidibly homophobic, it's like you think being gay is a disease or something. Just gonna leave this out here, yes they should be allowed no questions asked.