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LGBT representation inchildren's television is representation of LGBT topics, themes, and people in television programming meant for children. LGBT representation in children's programming was often uncommon to non-existent for much of television's history up to the 2010s, but has significantly increased since then.
WhenSailor Moon was released in the United States, elements of the story were removed because Optimum Productions, the Canadian company in charge of the English language product, claimed that some of the content “is not suitable for children.”[1] Earlychildren's programming addressing LGBT-related subject matter in the United States includes two episodes ofCBS Schoolbreak Special. "What If I'm Gay?" originally aired on March 31, 1987.[2] In September 2007,Dottie's Magic Pockets became the first available show for children in gay and lesbian families.[3]
VariousCartoon Network series, notablyAdventure Time andSteven Universe, have substantialLGBT representation in animation.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]She-Ra and the Princesses of Power showrunnerND Stevenson thanked Steven Universe show runnerRebecca Sugar for “blazing the trail” for queer representation in children's animation.[12]
Netflix hascontributed substantially to LGBT representation in animation throughout the 2010s and 2020s.[13] This includes series such asKipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts,She-Ra, andPower Rangers Dino Fury.[14][15][16]
In the second season finale ofWizards vs Aliens in 2013, the character Benny Sherwood usesNewton's third law of motion to come out, in response to his friend Tom wondering why he has never seen him date anyone, even the girls that seemingly like him in school. "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, which makes me the equal and opposite of you...I'll go on a date one day...just not with her...and not with a girl."[17][18]
The series finale of Nickelodeon'sThe Legend of Korra, in December 2014, showedKorra andAsami holding hands,[19] showing they are in a relationship.[20] As such, the show became one of the first western children's animation series to not only feature major LGBT characters, but also a lead LGBT character.[21][22] In July 2019,Michael Dante DiMartino, one of the series creators, in an interview withEW, noted that while the show's crew had always believed Kyoshi was bisexual, her feelings toward women and men were actually only explored in theyoung adult novel and in the comics branching off of the series.[23] Nickelodeon'sHey Arnold! was confirmed to have two gay characters, in July 2016 by show creatorCraig Bartlett:Eugene Horowitz and Mr. Robert Simmons. Neither identity was explicitly stated in the series.[24] In 2019, Nickelodeon releasedRocko's Modern Life: Static Cling, atelevision film and sequel to their 1993 seriesRocko's Modern Life through Netflix. The producers worked with GLAAD to ensure that the transgender character, in the form of cartoonist frog Rachel Bighead (known as Ralph Bighead in the original series) as well as a plotline involving her coming out to her parents, Ed and Bev Bighead, was respectful to the LGBTQ+ community and fit within the show itself.[25] In May 2021, Nickelodeon released aBlue's Clues & You! sing-along video on its YouTube channel that features drag queenNina West hosting apride parade. The animated short shows a variety of diverse animal families, including those with same-sex parents and non-binary characters.[26][27]
Disney series have often featured LGBTQ characters in its programming, since the founding of theDisney Channel, although these depictions have often been limited or characters have been secondary, rather than primary, characters, like Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland inGravity Falls,[28] and a lesbian (and interracial) married couple inDoc McStuffins.[29][30][31] The rebootThe Proud Family: Louder and Prouder features an interracial gay couple and a character who is confirmed to begender non-conforming and gay.[32]The Owl House, during its series run, dropped subtext and hints that several characters, likeLuz Noceda and Amity Blight, within the show areLGBTQ+, which has often either been confirmed in the show itself or onDana Terrace's Twitter account.[33][34] In 2017,Disney Channel in the United Kingdom aired acoming out scene onThe Lodge, where Josh (Joshua Sinclair-Evans) explains to another character that girls are "not his type". The scene was the first coming out scene to be aired on a Disney Channel series.[35][36] Also in 2017,Disney, the creators ofAndi Mack, had the character Cyrus Goodman played byJoshua Rush come out as gay.[37]
Hulu andDiscovery Family also had a range of representation.The Bravest Knight centers on Sir Cedric, his husband Prince Andrew (voiced by gay actorsTR Knight andWilson Cruz), and their daughter Nia.[38]My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic featuredAunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty, who are aunts to the young pegasus Scootaloo and are her guardians while Scootaloo's parents are away.[39] The pair were identified as a lesbian couple by one of the show runners, Michael Vogel. According to Vogel, he and writers Nicole Dubac and Josh Haber agreed to establish the two in their first appearance in the book as a lesbian couple, though without explicitly stating as such, so that they could establish this within the show itself.[40] Also, in 2021, Kevin Sullivan, a story editor forThe Loud House toldInsider that no one stopped him from using the word "lesbian" as part of a storyline involving Luna and Sam, her crush, and that he was proud of the whole episode. Sullivan added that the fact Luna wasn't more directly identified as a lesbian was not due to pressure from Nickelodeon.[41]
There has been long-standingcensorship of LGBTQ content including in children's television. WhenSailor Moon was released in the United States, elements of the story were removed because Optimum Productions, the Canadian company in charge of the English language product, claimed that some of the content "is not suitable for children."[1] In November 1994,Byker Grove featured the first gay kiss on UK children's television.[42] This scene caused outrage in the British tabloids and calls for producerMatthew Robinson to be sacked,[42] but the BBC strongly backed the storyline, which received countrywide support from gay teenagers, many teachers, and parents.[43]
WhenNelvana licensedCardcaptor Sakura in North America, dubbed the series into English withOcean Studios featuringCarly McKillip as Sakura, and released it under the nameCardcaptors,[44][45] the initial version of the dub covered all 70 episodes, although character names were changed, some Japanese text was changed to English, and subjects considered controversial at the time, such assame-sex relationships, were edited out. One of the censored themes was that of homosexual characters, including Tomoyo, who was changed from having a crush to being just a friend, and the gay relationship between Toya and Yukito, which was also portrayed as just friends.[46]
In 2005,PBS planned to release an episode of the children's seriesPostcards from Buster, titled "Sugartime", in which the animated bunny, Buster Baxter, visits the children of twolesbian mothers. When education secretaryMargaret Spellings stated disapproval of the planned episode, PBS withdrew plans for airing.[31] Spellings believed the episode to be inappropriate for children as well as a misuse of governmental funding that the show had received.[47] Apart from Reilly's statement, then-PBS chief operating officer Wayne Godwin said the episode brought up an issue that was "best left for parents and children to address together at a time and manner of their own choosing", while spokesperson Lea Sloan said it was "sensitive in today’s political climate."[48] Years later,Rebecca Sugar described Spellings' idea as "absurd," saying she recognized the challenges of creating LGBTQ+-friendly animation when she tried to enter the animation field.[49] At the time, the episode was one of the earliest confirmed representations of LGBTQ people "in US animated children's TV."[50]
In July 2016,The Loud House episode which introduced the interracial gay coupleHoward and Harold McBride, was censored by a South African broadcaster, DStv[51][52] despite the fact that it was met with "overwhelmingly positive reaction."[53] Despite the positive reaction from its audience and parents on social media, conservative parents, with the help of conservative watch groupOne Million Moms, pushed back with a campaign calling for the episode to be cancelled.[54] In addition, the creator ofSteven Universe,Rebecca Sugar was told point-blank by executives that queer romance could have ended her show,Steven Universe.[55] In 2020, Cartoon Network aired the final episodes of the Steven Universe epilogue miniseriesSteven Universe Future.[14] One year before, some Alabama broadcasters had banned theArthur episode titled "Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone", the Season 22 premiere, which featured Mr. Ratburn and Patrick marrying each other.[56][57]
In October 2017, it was reported that a kiss between two female characters, Zarya Moonwolf and Kitty Boon, on the Nickelodeon show,Mysticons, was in danger of being cut.[58] Despite this, the show showed the "development of a female-female romance," between Zarya, a main character, and her childhood friend, Kitty, known as "MoonBoon," culminating in romantic moments.[59] Jara added that while he was nervous and aware of possible roadblocks, Matt Ferguson, the show's director, supported it, as did his writing team, with Ferguson adding that pushback came from not from people who were "evil" but rather from those who were "trying to do the best job at their particular job."[60] Abbey White ofInsider reported that when the show's studio changed the series to center on four teenage girls, Jara brought in more women and queer writers to the show's writing team, who were "responsible for building out an arc between lesbian characters Zarya Moonwolf and Kitty Boon." Jara recalled that he sent in the script for a kiss of the two characters to the show's studios, and Nickelodeon, and fellow producers working on the show, but the moment never aired, despite support from Nickelodeon, because a partner was concerned that the storyline was not "age-appropriate" for young viewers.[41]
In May 2021, in response to a fan,Shadi Petosky described toInsider the challenges in producing herDanger & Eggs which follows a "youngmasc lesbian," D.D. Danger, said that she felt emboldened when Amazon picked up the show, but noted that the inclusion of overt "queer themes and elements of LGBTQ culture," driven by a queer crew and cast, was a hard-fought battle with "little arguments, and battles, and suspensions" as the show was in production. For instance, she was told to use the term "Rainbow Parade" rather than use the word "Pride."[61] Previously, in February 2018 said that the show was in limbo, with the loss of the crew, without "much concern or enthusiasm" about the show, saying it "just slipped through the cracks." She lamented that the show's fate is up the new executive team on the show and predicted the show would probably be cancelled as a result.[62]
Some groups have criticized LGBTQ representation in children's television, includingChristian fundamentalist organizations likeFocus on the Family,American Family Association, andTraditional Values Coalition[63][64][65] andsocially conservativeParents Television Council.
TheTraditional Values Coalition criticized aNickelodeon program in June 2002 entitledNick News Special Edition: My Family Is Different which featured children of gay and lesbian parents talking with children from households that oppose equal rights for gay and lesbian families, claiming it pushed a "pro-homosexual agenda" and was not suitable for children.[66][67] TheParents Television Council also claimed they had no problem with same-sex parents but did not think it was appropriate for Nickelodeon's young target audience.[68]
Focus on the Family, aChristian fundamentalist organization,[63][69] and theAmerican Family Association,[70] also a Christian fundamentalist organization,[71][65] claimed thatSpongeBob inSpongeBob SquarePants was "gay" or "homosexual propaganda",[72] joined by other organizations which said the same.[73][74] In response, series creatorStephen Hillenburg described SpongeBob as asexual, not gay.[75][76][77] In 2016, it was revealed that Hillenburg instructed those working on the show that SpongeBob should never have a romantic relationship, since he is asexual (as all real-life sea sponges are) and is too innocent for it.[78]
In 2020,One Million Moms, a project ofAmerican Family Association,[79] condemned an episode ofClifford the Big Red Dog aired onAmazon Prime Video andPBS Kids, titled "Dogbot", which featured Dr. and Rayla Mulberry, the two moms of Samantha Mulberry.[80] Six years prior, One Million Moms andFamily Research Council launched an email campaign against an episode ofGood Luck Charlie which debuted the channel's first lesbian couple on January 26, 2014.[81][82] In May 2022, thePeanutsMother's Day specialSnoopy Presents: To Mom (and Dad), With Love, which features a reference to same-sex couples due to the line "some kids have two moms", received backlash from conservative Christians.[83]
In 2023, thePBS Kids seriesWork It Out Wombats!, which features Duffy and Leiko, the moms of Louisa, aired.[84] The series caused controversy among anti-LGBT groups and Governor of Oklahoma,Kevin Stitt vetoed a measure to provide funding toOklahoma Educational Television Authority for airingWork It Out Wombats! andClifford the Big Red Dog.[85]
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Many children's television series have won or were nominated awards for their representation. In April 2018, theGLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming was first given at the29th GLAAD Media Awards toAndi Mack, acomedy-drama television series that aired onDisney Channel. Concerning the creation of this category, GLAAD CEOSarah Kate Ellis stated that it was added to "raise the bar for current and future LGBTQ inclusion in this hugely popular and impactful genre", arguing about the importance of younger individuals, that are "coming out earlier and in greater numbers, [to] see their lives and experiences reflected in thoughtful, loving, and affirming ways".[86] Throughout the award's history, there have only been two instances where a tie occurred: in 2020 whereHulu'sThe Bravest Knight andDisney+'sHigh School Musical: The Musical: The Series won, and again the following year with Hulu'sFirst Day andNetflix'sShe-Ra and the Princesses of Power winning. At the34th GLAAD Media Awards in 2023, the award was split into Animated and Live Action categories.
In 2020, theArthur episode entitled "Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone", the Season 22 premiere, was nominated for aGLAAD Media Award.[87] In 2021, theClifford the Big Red Dog episode "Dogbot" won for was nominated for aGLAAD Media Award.[88] Also that year, theSesame Street episode "Family Day" won aGLAAD award for Outstanding Children's Programming.[89][90][91] They returned in the season 53 episode "Family Picnic" which was nominated for aGLAAD award for Outstanding Children's Programming.[92][93]
In 2022,Power Rangers Dino Fury won a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming.[90] The same year, theMadagascar: A Little Wild episode "Whatever Floats Your Float" was nominated for aGLAAD Award for Outstanding Children's Programming.[89] In 2023, the series was nominated again for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming.[92] Also,The Bravest Knight won aGLAAD award tied withHigh School Musical: The Musical: The Series.[citation needed]
Our intention with the last scene was to make it as clear as possible that yes, Korra and Asami have romantic feelings for each other
The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe.
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