movies/tv Gay characters in a kids show?

[Fizz. 1,078]

Gays are too hard to add into TV recently, and I say this as someone who is. It ends up either being a plot point or overshadowing other relationships.

 

Until we reach the point in society where two people of the same sex can hold hands and not cause heads to turns, homosexuality is simply too distracting to practically put in a show.

[Lightning Dancer 28]

I don't think they should do this it  might end the show because of parent's outrage.  

 

 

But! Look at Spongebob (my little bro pointed this out) Spongebob and Patrick are possibly gay! I mean they are with eachother 24/7 they are practically dating! They even fight like a couple sometimes (well not for the same reasons that people fight over lol) But seriously could Spongebob be gay?

[Hemlock_Conium 46]

So we're gonna ignore the hinted lesbian relationship Princess Bubblegum and Marceline from adventure time have? And the hinted gay relationship between the cops in Gravity Falls?

[Ano170 162]

Honestly, I think it's a good idea - it would help teach children acceptance. If all children are ever exposed to at a young age is heterosexuality, can we blame them for thinking any other sexuality is somehow wrong or unnatural? I also think MLP would be capable of handling the subject delicately and with subtlety; heterosexual couples are canon in the show already, but are not heavily focused upon. I can easily imagine them doing the same with a homosexual couple.

 

Plus then Flutterdash could become canon, right Ano?

 

Ah heh, yeah, that too....

 

Honestly though? I don't think any show will be brave enough to do it for a few years. It's just too risky from a business perspective. Should it be that way? No, of course not. But I can't blame a show for not wanting to be cancelled. Of course, I would have a great deal of respect for any children's show that outright portrayed a gay character, rather than just the little inside jokes we get nowadays, but alas for now I think it is just a little too much to hope for.

[Hemlock_Conium 46]

There should be a law: You can't post on the internet unless you know basic grammar. You should know the difference between the following:

you're and your

its and it's

their, there, and they're

There is a difference between a typo and being stupid. It's not all of you, but it does seem to be a lot of you. How do you not know how to put a coherent thought together? You can't tell me what you typed makes sense to you. Try using punctuation. Put only one thought in a sentence. Separate concepts into paragraphs. Try reading a book to understand how educated people communicate.

Jeez, who took a dump in your cornflakes? Quit being such a harsh grammar-enthusiast. And plus, so what if they get a few minor words wrong once or twice? It's pretty annoying having someone correct you for a slip.

[Sazama Ichida 2,367]

I don't think they should do this it  might end the show because of parent's outrage.

 

 

But! Look at Spongebob (my little bro pointed this out) Spongebob and Patrick are possibly gay! I mean they are with eachother 24/7 they are practically dating! They even fight like a couple sometimes (well not for the same reasons that people fight over lol) But seriously could Spongebob be gay?

In at least 1 episode Spongebob actually KISSES Squidward. There's no "could be" about it. He IS gay lol.

 

And there's also this evidence:

[Lightning Dancer 28]

In at least 1 episode Spongebob actually KISSES Squidward. There's no "could be" about it. He IS gay lol.

 

And there's also this evidence:

Lol! I think your right he did kiss Squidward! Niw tat I think about it I think there's a love triangle! Patrick likes Spongebob and well Squidward likes Patrick more than Spongebob. XD

[Nerdy Luigi 2,065]

Lol! I think your right he did kiss Squidward! Niw tat I think about it I think there's a love triangle! Patrick likes Spongebob and well Squidward likes Patrick more than Spongebob. XD

 

 

He likely did, that episode did obviously show an affection (which is normally shown by spongebob) in a more extreme fashion.

 

But this is something I like to occasionally notice, are these slight hints of a homosexual character, we don't have on yet, though, that revealed himself/herself to be LGBT. Which is quite saddening.

Edited June 26, 2013 by Rainbow P.F. Sparkle

[MadHatter42 3]

I will say that if it ever happens, I don't think it will be for a while. I don't think we understand enough about the genealogy of homosexuality to make it a natural part of our life, and that fact that most states still won't allow gay marriage (go California!) shows how timid people still are about it, even if they are okay with it in real life. While I do hope one day we can integrate it seamlessly into everyday life, I think that including it in a cartoon will be the final sign of it's completion, not a step towards it.

[Taviscratch 453]

It should happen. It hasn't yet, but it it should and hopefully will soon. It might actually happen in the next 5 or so years, as pro-homosexuality views are actually that of almost HALF, if not OVER half of the US population.

 

And, yes, I am very happy about this statistic myself.

Personally I'm appalled at how its such a small majority in the US who are pro-homosexuality. To some it may seem that this is a lot of people, that around half aren't against homosexuality, but compared to many other places this is an astonishingly figure as it means that nearly half of Americans are anti-gay. That's terrible. However, it is going in the right direction. Who knows, maybe in a few hundred years, the US will have actually adopted contemporary values.

 

As for whether a kids show should be able to have a gay characters: Absolutely.

There's no reason they shouldn't be able to have explicitly homosexual characters instead of merely implying a certain character is gay. I don't mean it has to be in your face or anything but actually mentioning a character is gay doesn't seem like it will "corrupt our children". For instance, Rainbow appears, to me, to be lesbian (or at least bi) but DHX never made mentions her sexuality because the show would get immediately banned by Republicans. How much cooler would it be if Rainbow was said to be lesbian? It'd be 20% cooler if they explicitly said she was lesbian and every other character was cool with it.

[Radiance64 7,053]

AS far as I know, I don't think there's been a kids show with a gay character,they maybe perceived as gay but they arn't. Look at Spongebob, he seems a little gay, but then again his voice actor is gay.

 

But no, I don't think you'll see any serious gay stuff in a kids show, not right now anyways.

Tom Kenny isn't gay, he's married to a woman lol

Anyway, I guess I haven't seen any real gay characters on kid's shows, maybe implied stuff but that's about it.

[Thuja 3,659]

It isn't that big of a deal.  We have many heterosexual couples in children's movies and shows, does this mean they are shoving heterosexuality down the throats of the viewers?  I remember Mitch Downe from ParaNorman mentioning his boyfriend in passing at the end of the movie and people were angry about it.  It's not like he was making out with guys through-out the movie or even focusing on his being gay(or at least having a boyfriend).  The only person in the movie that was disappointed with his relationship status was Courtney and that's only because she had a crush on him.  A topic like Homosexuality or Trans-gender does not have to be overly complex or philosophical... 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nel883o_6SA

[SkyeRibbonPwny 406]

Well what if instead of straight up showing a gay couple, what if they taught the lesson behind it? I mean, a lesson on let people love who they love regardless of what you believe can be so easily done in MLP> What if its just simply a forbidden romance between a couple that isnt natural? like say.....a dragon and a  pony? or a griffon? 

Also, being gay is not a choice what the hell guys. 

I mean, all the social standings could go into it. Disgust, encouragmement, general difficulty, Yeah, I think MLP could handle it well and with tact and genius. 

Also dammit RD is not a lesbian geez. Pinkie, maybe, but not RD. 

Edited July 2, 2013 by SkyeRibbonPwny

[Steve 290]

i dont see what would be wrong with this

 

this will prolly happen in the next 20 years anyways since gay marriage is legalized in more states

 

but whether it happens or not, i dont care

[Durandal 623]

(Sorry about the late reply, I just now noticed it)
 

Hold on a minute. I admit I have never seen a full episode of SpongeBob, and I never watched Bert and Ernie, so maybe I'm wrong here. But my issue is this: Why is it assumed that two close friends are automatically gay? This is a bigotry going in the other direction. People are so eager to jump onto the pro-gay bandwagon that they have to stretch their imagination and find "gayness" in everything. It is, by definition, prejudice to assume two characters are gay, merely because of their close friendship. You can care and even love someone as a friend without being gay.

 
What? Since when was this assumed, and how is this bigotry? As well, your argument of assumptions being prejudice is a weak one. First of all, (as far as I've seen in both shows) there is absolutely no indication of sexuality at all in these shows - I've yet to see an episode where Spongebob finds interest in anyone, be they a girl, guy, or hermaphrodite. It's not handled by the show, so really one has to assume Spongebob is something, unless you intentionally leave his sexuality ambiguous.

 

Normally, when left without evidence, people will assume majority traits - for example, due to its prevalence, it is generally assumed that all characters are straight until proven otherwise. These are subconscious assumptions made when analyzing a person, they're harmless. Everyone is a little prejudiced.
 

Why the obsession with wanting gay characters? How would that be portrayed? Compare and contrast: Cadence and Shining Armor got married, so clearly they are traditional lovers. And obviously sex happens off camera. Otherwise where do little ponies come from? But the key element in the issue is the separation of sex from love.
 
Sex should not be portrayed in a kids' show. The most that should be shown is that a married pony has a baby. Now, once you remove sex, all that is left is platonic love. But is platonic love also gay? I say no. Once you remove sex from the relationship, you are left with deep friendship and caring. Therefore, it is impossible to portray “gay” in a show without sex. You can imply it to a degree: characters live together, care for each other, etc, but it would be illogical to conclude that said characters MUST be gay.

 
I can understand sex not wanting to be portrayed in a kid's show - that's meant for the classroom, not the living room. But what I don't understand is how you consider Vulgar Eros to be synonymous with Romantic love. There is more to a relationship than Vulgar Eros, or material attraction and the desire to reproduce. Romantic love encompasses a strong desire to connect intimately, which isn't seen in platonic relationships. So no, once you remove sex you aren't left with platonic love, you're left with emotional intimacy. Is this hard to portray? Yes, but it isn't impossible.
 
Again, you appear to be ignoring a bias. Assumptions are made all the time, and are often illogical - a man and a woman living together tend to be associated with a couple, whilst two men or two women are associated with roommates. This isn't always the case, but if you're left with ambiguity, you tend to make assumptions. You seem to be painting this as inherently wrong, when it's simply prevalent.
 

It is hypocritical to force this whole “pro gay” issue down everyone's throat (pardon the imagery). On the one hand the pro gay movement says everyone should be free to be who they are. But on the other hand they want to push people in that direction.
 
The whole issue is artificial. There is not nearly the bigotry that people claim there is. It is politically popular to talk about how “pro gay rights” you are. No matter how accepting our culture is, there will always be people who make their living by “hate bating” by finding bigotry that doesn't exist.

 
I've heard this before. The 'Gay Agenda', right? It's kind of amusing, because it's like a conspiracy theory. The gays, they're out to get us, man! They're in league with the Illuminati and NWO!
 
Oh-ho-ho, not nearly that much bigotry? I would like to direct you to how many countries actually legalize gay marriage - 13. Not enough to convince you? How about the number of countries where being a homosexual is illegal? Around 82.
 
There is a lot of bigotry out there against homosexuality. It's hilariously wrong to think there isn't.

[Gone Airbourne 21,977]

 Let me tell you something... 

 

Just as you said parents and people etc. will find any little excuse to complain about something. Honestly for me I would not mind it. I believe it is right to get kids to understand that everyone out there is an equal regardless of anything. 

 

Racism and hatred towards another for reasons such as that I cannot stand. 

[tranglam 28]

I don't know of a single childrens show that includes homosexuality education. But even though it is less known than in a show, Birdo from mario is actually a transvestite. It is deffinatly true that at this point children do need to know it's there and it isn't evil (Unless their parents believe it is) It may not ever catch on due to that reason..... Maybe if it were subtle.   Spongebob may be that subtle.....

Edited July 2, 2013 by tranglam

[Grtxkkyz 388]

What about this guy?:

He may be the freaking devil himself,but the way he dresses,acts and speaks is quite female-like.Thankfully,PPG never got complains from angry parents.Or did it?I'm not sure

[Runty 41]

I heard that, sometime in the past, Noddy got banned in some places. This was because he, apparently slept in the same bed with Big-ears.

Edited July 2, 2013 by Runty

[Passacaglia 6]

I think the topic of romantic relationships in kids' shows should be left alone, period. The children that these shows are targeted at aren't ready to seriously think about a relationship and there is no reason that a TV show should encourage them to do so. If they want to learn about relationships, fine, but they should look somewhere else.

[Twi Rubix 726]

I for one don't find it wrong in any way to have a homosexual on a kids show. I think there was one time, there was a character who was a parody of Silver Surfer in, I think.... Dexter's Laboratory? But the episode got removed due to him being a gay stereotype. But really, I see no reason for gay characters not being on kids shows. It's not like it's anything offensive or bad, right? If anything, I'd be interested to see one in the cartoons nowadays.

 

Gay couples on the other hand... I'm thinking that'd be a problem for some parents seeing that on a kids cartoon.

 

 

Technically there's already more than one kid's show with a gay couple in it. Besides Spongebob and Patrick there's also Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street. And if anyone disagrees I've found some Youtube videos that say otherwise.

Mind if I see one example? I haven't seen that show in years.

[Demosthenes 13]

I don't have a problem with seeing gay characters in a kid's show, but I think a lot of this is how they were brought up. The kid probably wouldn't mind seeing a gay character in a show unless they'd been raised to be narrow-minded -- but their parents might. Maybe in the future, when this whole thing is behind us and being gay isn't considered taboo anymore?

[Sazama Ichida 2,367]

I for one don't find it wrong in any way to have a homosexual on a kids show. I think there was one time, there was a character who was a parody of Silver Surfer in, I think.... Dexter's Laboratory? But the episode got removed due to him being a gay stereotype. But really, I see no reason for gay characters not being on kids shows. It's not like it's anything offensive or bad, right? If anything, I'd be interested to see one in the cartoons nowadays.

 

Gay couples on the other hand... I'm thinking that'd be a problem for some parents seeing that on a kids cartoon.

 

 

Mind if I see one example? I haven't seen that show in years.

Already posted some lol.

 

Anyway my answer is I don't really have any problems with it as long as it's kept subtle. Spongebob and Sesame Street are both great kidshows and there really isn't anything wrong with them. I think they're subtle enough.

[GrimCW 658]

tbh not sure why it can't/wouldn't happen. And tbh it HAS happened already.

 

Anyone recall Ren and Stimpy?

they were technically (though never directly stated as) a gay couple, but ALSO adding to it they were interracial (Dog and cat) as well!

double pun thrown into the mix just to mess with people, but the aired series had to dial down the gay part considerably for Nick to air it.

 

but more literal characters shouldn't be a problem IMO.

Edited July 3, 2013 by GrimCW

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,597]

To those saying no, because there is no way they could do it without shoving it down the kids throats...Just show two guys or two girls in a loving relationship. That's it. No sex, nothing like that, just show two people of the same sex that are in a relationship. If they can show straight couples constantly in this same scenario, how in the hell is it any different if a gay couple is shown?

 

I am gay, I would love to see this. Not because I would feel more accepted, but because it would show that society might actually be leaving such a dark age view, that being HOMOSEXUALS BLEH behind. This should not even be a controversy at this point. LGBT's do exist. You don't have to strictly acknowledge us, just don't act like we don't exist.