SpongeBob SquarePants has formally turn into a member of the LGBTQ+ group.
The in style cartoon character’s standing as an LGBTQ+ icon has been confirmed by Nickelodeon, with the TV community posting a picture of SpongeBob, transgender actor Michael Cohen and Korra from ‘The Legend of Korra’, who’s bisexual, on Twitter.
The tweet learn: ”Celebrating #Pride with the LGBTQ+ group and their allies this month and each month (sic)”
The announcement prompted ”Spongebob is homosexual” to start out trending on Twitter – though Nickelodeon did not particularly affirm the character’s sexuality.
Speculation about SpongeBob’s sexual id has been swirling for years, however in 2005, Stephen Hillenburg – the present’s creator, who died in November 2018 – revealed he by no means meant for SpongeBob or his finest buddy, Patrick Starfish, ”to be homosexual”.
He defined on the time: ”I think about them to be virtually asexual. We’re simply attempting to be humorous and this has nothing to do with the present.”
Hillenburg additionally insisted the favored cartoon sequence preaches a message of ”tolerance”.
He mentioned: ”I do assume that the angle of the present is about tolerance. Everybody is completely different, and the present embraces that.
”No one is shut out.”
Nickelodeon turned off the feedback to the submit aside from individuals adopted by the community.
One Twitter consumer wrote: ”Announcing Spongebob being homosexual then turning feedback off trigger it ain’t no debate>>>
”Nickelodeon SNAPPED (sic)”
Another particular person mentioned on the micro-blogging platform: ”y’all are shocked spongebob homosexual? he is been hinting at it for years. (sic)”
‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ first aired in 1999 and is now the fifth-longest-running American animated sequence in historical past.
The money-spinning cartoon – which was became a Broadway present in 2017 – has gained a bunch of accolades through the years, together with 4 Emmy Awards and two BAFTA Children’s Awards.
