Did you grow up watching cartoons? In this blog post, I will highlight shows with gay cartoon characters.
One of the first gay cartoon characters allegedly is Bugs Bunny. There have been more than 200 cartoons with gay characters including Batman, Family Guy, and SpongeBob Squarepants. Just a few decades there wasn’t much representation of LGBTQ persons. Over time homosexuality has become more accepted and gay characters have been depicted in films and tv shows. I’m all about the gay community so yes, I’m doing another gay-centered blog post where I’ll be looking at shows with gay cartoon characters.
Best gay cartoon characters
Waylon Smithers Jr. in Simpsons
Simpsons has to be one of the longest-running cartoon series on television. The show has aired as long as I’ve been living. It was released in 1989 and is produced by Matt Groening. The show is about a family of 3 kids and a silly husband and his calm wife living in the town of Springfield. Besides being entertaining and over the top humorous the show has many cultural and political references with episodes including Donald Trump becoming President of the United States, citizens fighting against the prohibition of alcohol, and pranks against President Bush.
Waylon Smithers is one of the several LGBTQ characters in the show. Waylon is a personal assistant to Mr. Burns, a wealthy man who owns a plant. Mr. Burns is that bitter boss we’ve all had who never seems happy and treats his workers like crap. Damn, I’m getting flashbacks. Anyway, Waylon Smithers is romantically attracted to Mr. Burns. In one episode he actually kisses Mr. Burns on the lips but later admits that he was being just being respectful. Chile, no other man kisses another man on the lips as a form of respect. Where they do they at?
SpongeBob in Spongebob Square Pants
Spongebob Squarepants is a cartoon that by Stephen Hillenbury that was first aired in 1999. The show is about a yellow sponge named Spongebob living underwater in a place called Bikini Bottom. I was about 13 years old at the time so I was still watching cartoons. And boy, I can tell you there were so many hidden adult themes. The fact that the show’s setting is a place called Bikini Bottom tells you that there are adult aspects of the cartoon. There was one episode where Spongebob and his best friend Patrick were in a daze and as a viewer, you would’ve gotten dizzy yourself looking at the screen. In actuality, Spongebob and Patrick were really high.
Spongebob is a gay character in the show. There have been suspicions that he was gay but it wasn’t confirmed till recently. Just this year during Pride month which is in June Nickelodeon released a picture of him with a rainbow flag in the character. Assumptions can be wrong but this photo tells it all.
Robert Simmons in Hey Arnold
Hey Arnold is a Nickelodeon cartoon that aired in 1996. The show was created by Craig Bartlett and lasted for about 6 years. This was one of my absolute favorite cartoons. The show is about a football-shaped kid named Arnold who lives with his grandparents. The show is mostly kid-friendly but is comical and entertaining.
The gay character in Hey Arnold is Arnold’s teacher Peter Simmons. Peter never outright says he’s gay but hints are thrown in one episode “Arnold’s Thanksgiving”. Arnold and his classmate Helga go over to Robert’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. Robert’s family is there as well as Robert’s friend *coughs* Peter. Robert’s mother Pearl says she doesn’t know Peter was coming over for Thanksgiving dinner. Peter responds, “There’s a lot of things you don’t know”. Later on, Craig confirms that Peter and Robert were in a relationship.
Harley Quinn in Batman: Animated Series
Batman: Animated Series was one of my favorite cartoons growing up. I love watching superhero movies so I was fascinated with cartoons like Superman and Batman. Batman: Animated Series first aired in 1993. It was created by Bruce Timm and Radomski. The show focused on a wealthy man named Bruce Wayne who fights crime to avenge his parents’ death. The show’s setting is Gotham City which is full of criminals. What I liked about the show was its dark tone.
Harley Quinn is one of the female villains in Batman. She did have a relationship with the male villain Joker, which is a whole another big conversation. That was a toxic-ass relationship and she formed a more authentic relationship with another female villain Poison Ivy. There is no outward affection shown between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy on Batman: Animated Series. However, in the show Harley Quinn there is an episode where the females kiss each other.
Thelma in Scooby Doo, Where are You
The Scooby-Doo cartoon is one of the most popular cartoons ever have been created. It’s a franchise and business in that books, spin-off cartoons, movies, etc. have been created off the name Scooby-Doo. Of all cartoons reviewed in this blog post, Scooby-Doo is the most kid and family-friendly. The original Scooby-Doo cartoon was created in 1969 by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. As a little kid, I was never as excited about the show as other cartoons.
Velma is one of the gay characters in the Scooby-Doo series. She was one of my favorite characters in the show. I always sensed the gayness in her. Come on!!! Look at her big sweaters and that haircut. This may sound stereotypical but that look gave it away. I remember that Velma and another main character Shaggy was supposed to be dating each other. But that relationship never really blossomed. Just this Tony Cervone, the producer of the new Scooby series, confirmed that Velma is a lesbian. Well, as I just previously mentioned I already knew she was gay.
Northstar in X-Men
I love the X-men series. When I was a youngster I would watch the cartoon just about every day before I went to school. I don’t think any cartoon can match X-men. The storylines and pretty much every one of the characters engaged me. One of my favorite characters was Rogue. She was fierce, hot, and relatable.
I didn’t realize until now that X-Men had gay characters. Northstar is the first openly gay superhero in comics. And honey, he gives fierceness. He’s a hand-to-hand fighter that can fly. Unfortunately, Marvel never gave Northstar a major storyline. Hopefully, in the future, this changes. What I do like is that Marvel even showed a same-sex marriage between Northstar and his partner Kyle.
Stewie Griffin in Family Guy
Family Guy is another one of my favorite animated shows to watch. The show was created by Seth McFarlane and released in 1999 and is part of so many gay memes. The show is about the Griffin family. Each member of the family has an interesting personality: the father Peter Griffin is ignorant and doesn’t care who he offends with his jokes, the wife Lois is balanced, Brian is the friendly family dog, Stewie is the mischievous baby genius, and Meg & Brian are typical teenagers. What I like about the show is that it’s unfiltered and humorous. I remember I got a Christmas gift of the whole collection and binge-watched it for days.
Harold McBride in The Loud House
No, The Loud House is not about a bunch of smokers. It’s an animated series by Nickelodeon that was released in May 2016. The show is about a kid named Lincoln Loud who lives in a big family. The show is for kids but like a lot of cartoons, there are mature topics in the show. In the show, there are a couple of LGBTQ characters. Some of them are not open with their sexuality and gender identity but others are. One of the openly gay characters is Harold McBride.
Harold McBride is married to Howard McBride. Together, they raise their adopted child Clyde.
Big Gay Al in Southpark
Southpark brings back some of my college memories. The show was released in 1997 and is produced by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The show is about a bunch of young kids living in South Park, Colorado. It’s is very much an adult show with over-the-top humor. Many parents and other groups of people have complained against the show because of its adult references and poking at different groups of people. It was even banned in China. And yes, he’s even made fun of the gays.
Big Gay Al is one of the gay characters in South Park. In the gay world, he would be called a butch queen which is a masculine-looking man who’s very flamboyant. He was the definition of flamboyance with his pink shirt and handkerchief around his neck.
There were huge complaints about Big Gay Al in the gay community as stated in the article, “Big Gay Al’s BoatRide” by playing to the stereotype of gays being very feminine.
LGBTQ representation in cartoons
There have been tons of LGBTQ characters in cartoons. Most of the time it’s been implied. There have been lesbian, gay, and even transgender animated characters in both adult and kid cartoons.
The problems with LGBTQ representation in the media
There have been two main problems with LGBTQ representation in the media.
- LGBTQ characters weren’t really shown. There was actually a rule by Hollywood implemented in the 1930s stating that homosexual characters If they were shown it was very implicit. For instance, Bugs Bunny is a character that has been around for a few decades. But it didn’t really have there been speculations about his sexuality. Growing up I can count on both hands the number of times I saw queer characters on television and film.
- Homosexual characters have been portrayed as overly flamboyant and drag queens. I don’t have an issue with that but we exist in all types. And so, people look at television and film and justify stereotypes of LGBTQ persons based on what they see. As a queer black child, I myself actually thought other homosexuals and bisexual men were overly feminine because of how they have been portrayed in the media. Of course, as I got older I’ve exposed myself to the LGBTQ community and learned that the gay community comes in all personality types including, femme, butch queen, and masculine.
Despite the number of LGBTQ shows on Netflix and cable heterosexual white men dominate the tv screens. I don’t have any issues with heteronormativity and straight actors. I’m not trying to push a gay agenda. I don’t believe that every show and film has to have lead gay characters. But there needs to be LGBTQ representation in the media. When people see positive images of gay characters on television and in films, they are more likely to tolerate homosexuality.
Wrap Up
Gay cartoon characters have been around for a long time. I can remember watching cartoons as a kid and never thought about this. Tv show creators would not create openly gay characters to prevent getting backlash from homophobic parents and viewers.
In today’s time, homosexuality is more accepted so you’ll find more flamboyant gay cartoon characters than ever before. I was even surprised to see that Spongebob Squarepants. You’ll not only find gay characters but non-binary and non-gender-conforming characters.
