Cartoons that could not make gay characters explicite
The 15 Best LGBTQ Cartoons of All Time
It took a long time, but mainstream cartoons are finally coming out of the closet. Now, we can only hope they linger that way.
When live-action television began making inroads for gay representation during the turn of the century, animation remained a frustratingly straight (if frequently queer-coded) affair. The reasons behind the medium’s slowness were obvious and, predictably, homophobic. Animation is too often seen as content made for kids, and gay attraction is regarded as an “adult” topic. So, pearl-clutching TV critics would argue, children shouldn’t be exposed to “adult” (read: gay) characters through raunchy cartoons.
That’s not to speak that there weren’t LGBTQ people in cartoons before the 2010s; Japanese anime, in particular, was slightly ahead of the curve on this front, with ’90s classics like “Sailor Moon” and “Neon Genesis Evangelion” featuring explicitly gender non-conforming themes and love stories. But that content was often mercilessly squashed when it made its way to North America; notice the infamous first English dub of “Sailor Moon,” which t
Queer Representation in Anime
I was five years-old when I first entered the closet. I kissed a girl at recess and was scolded by my mentor, “girls shouldn’t smooch other girls on the lips.” (Note: If you peruse my name and are confused, this was 15 years pre-transition from female to male.) In contrast, the kisses I planted on boys at recess were acceptable. Surely this experience is not unusual for American children, particularly those having grown up in petty towns before the liberation of gender non-conforming youth in the 2010s. My bisexuality was not necessarily revolutionary, but exhibits of same gender attraction were definitely unwelcome. Yet there was another incident in my kindergarten career that kept me in the closet, one separate but unexpectedly linked to the topic of my sexuality.
It was the morning five year-old me was brought in for a parent/teacher conference regarding my interest in anime. I had drawn a picture of anime heroine Sailor Moon fighting villains, and the doubt was whether this was acceptable material for a youngster to be emulating. Sailor Moon is a popular Japanese animation of the 1990s that teaches lessons of acceptance, feminism, and friendship. American c
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Scrolling through social media, I came across an Instagram post of a woman that went viral for her Facebook rant about the reboot of the cartoon, The Proud Family:Louder and Prouder, for having “too much lgbtq+ in it”.
Sis — and I utilize that term loosely — was talking about new lgbtq+ cartoon characters, Barry and Randall Leibowitz-Jenkins, who are a gay, interracial couple and the parents of adopted children. And then there’s Penny Proud’s childhood friend Michael Collins who now identifies as gay and gender non-conforming.
I set up the woman, JuJu Israel, on Facebook and immediately noticed that she’s a hardcore holy roller. From experience, they’re usually the first in line to come for the gays. It always amazes me how these super religious people are so concerned about the life others are living instead of making sure they’re prepared for Jehovah’s return.
Anyway, JuJu’s claim to “wokeness” is that media is “coming for” kids, we’re living in Babylon and parents should not enable their children to watch Disney Plus unsupervised. She even references Michael wearing colors such as pink and purple as if it’s a bad influence.
One per
TV animators were forced to scrap LGBTQ-inclusive storylines due to a culture of fear. Experts say fans are changing that.
"Mysticons" author Sean Jara didn't place out to tell a story about an archer and pirate who fell in love.
But when the show's studio, Nelvana, pivoted the Nickelodeon series to center four teenage girls who become heroes established as Mysticons, instead of boys, Jara swapped his nearly all-male team for more women and LGBTQ writers to ensure the story onscreen was more accurately told.
Those queer writers were responsible for building out an arc between lesbian characters Zarya Moonwolf and Kitty Boon, whom fans loved so much they even gave them a ship name — MoonBoon.
By the second season, the two were a burgeoning couple with a planned episodic kiss.
The "Mysticons" showrunner then sent the script, as is customary, to the show's studios, Nelvana and YTV, the network Nickelodeon, and his producing partners.
"We sent in the first draft and thought, 'How are they going to react?'" Jara told Insider. "And they weren't fighting it. We got no notes on it."
But the moment never aired.
Although Nickelodeon supported the creative decision
2020 was animation’s biggest, gayest year so far
In Protest, after nearly seven years on the air, Steven Universe officially ended with the final episode of its epilogue series. Throughout its run, creator Rebecca Sugar and her team made bold strides in LGBTQ representation. When the show first premiered, all-ages animation was pretty bereft of queer characters. While shows like Adventure Day had whispers of past queer relationships, in 2013, cartoons just didn’t center on visibly LGBTQ characters.
But in 2020, Steven Space not only ended joyously, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power wrapped up with a world-saving peck between two female leads. Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts had a beautifully understated coming-out moment. And Disney Channel’s The Owl House featured a swoon-worthy, romantically charged gyrate sequence between two girls.
And older cartoons got in on the act as well. Adventure Time: Distant Lands — Obsidian turned the spotlight to Marceline and Bubblegum’s romantic association, which the show only made explicit in the final seconds of the final episode. Meanwhile, The Legend of Korra — with its brief yet definitive hand-holding scene — debuted on Netflix,