User:Gracekmeyers/Cartoon Network and LGBT representation

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Cartoon Network, an American TV channel which launched in 1992, and Adult Swim, its adult-oriented nighttime programming block which launched in 2001, has regularly featured lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) characters in its programming.

In the 2010s, Cartoon Network featured multiple cartoons whose main characters expressed their identity and were featured in LGBT-focused storylines. These characters include Garnet, Pearl, and Princess Bubblegum. The network hosted shows which were said to be "strong champions for LGBT representation," such as Adventure Time and Steven Universe. This representation was difficult to achieve, as Rebecca Sugar, the creator of Steven Universe, was told by executives that the inclusion of a central queer romance could have ended her show. At the time the iconic wedding episode of Steven Universe was first drafted, gay marriage was not yet legal in the United States.^[1]

The role of Cartoon Network shows in LGBTQ representation would continue in the 2020s, with the airing of Steven Universe Future on the network and Adventure Time: Distant Lands streaming on HBO Max, along with characters in DC Super Hero Girls. Other series, like OK K.O.!: Let's Be Heroes and Craig of the Creek would have LGBTQ characters as well. In December 2020, Amy Friedman, head of programming for Cartoon Network and HBO Max Kids & Family, stated that they are looking "at ourselves across the inclusion and equity spectrum," including the LGBTQ+ community, to evaluate projects in production, development, and post-greenlighting.

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Comparison to other networks[edit]

Some reviewers argue that, when Disney and Cartoon Network are compared, it is "easy to see who actually cares about LGBT representation," noting that for shows on Cartoon Network, "LGBT characters aren't centered around their sexuality." The Disney Channel has struggled with LGBTQ representation in their animated series, and their content has often included LGBT stereotypes, one example being queer-coded characters in Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Mulan.

Streaming on Disney+, The animated series The Owl House is a newer series by Disney that is a positive example of the company incorporating LGBTQ+ representation into their shows. Airing in 2020, The Owl House concerns protagonist Luz Noceda, a 14-year-old Dominican-American girl who makes history as Disney’s first openly bisexual protagonist.^[2]

Lesbian characters[edit]

See also: List of lesbian characters in animation

Many Cartoon Network series had lesbian characters over the years. This included Steven Universe, Clarence, OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, We Bare Bears, Victor and Valentino, DC Super Hero Girls, Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Craig of the Creek and Elliott from Earth. There were also lesbian characters in Adult Swim series like Moral Orel.

Steven Universe [add/edit]

Main articles: Steven Universe, Steven Universe Future, and Steven Universe: The Movie

Some of the most prominent lesbian characters in Steven Universe were Ruby and Sapphire, who fuse as Garnet. This was first shown in the Season 1 finale, "Jail Break" which aired on March 12, 2015. Some critics called the episode "one of the queerest episodes of a children's cartoon in the history of television" as it involved Ruby and Sapphire, the two Gem beings, celebrating their relationship. In their 2015 report, GLAAD stated that the show reflected the "diversity of the real world," noting that one of thehow's protagonists, Garnet, is "the physical form of two female-presenting Gem beings who are in love" On January 4, the episode "The Answer" aired, focusing on how the romantic relationship between Ruby and Sapphire, who were in a permafusion named Garnet (an embodiment of their love), developed, leading some to say the show has "heavy queer undertones." "The Answer," an episode depicting the romantic meeting of two female characters, Ruby and Sapphire, earned the show its second Emmy nomination, one of the six for the show. In the summer of 2018, Steven Universe would make headlines with a gay wedding between two characters: Ruby and Sapphire, challenging Cartoon Network's history of "not overtly depicting same-sex marriage" as Sugar struggled to get any LGBTQ+ representation on the show, with the network ultimately accepting her reasoning.

The episode, "Reunited," which aired on July 6, which she and the crew had worked on for years, was praised as an example of the network's frank portrayal of "sexuality and gender identity in children's programming," and it was positively received by the LGBTQ+ community and fans. This episode made Steven Universe the first kid's show on U.S. television to feature a lesbian wedding. The creator of Gravity Falls, Alex Hirsch, believed that because of this episode, it meant that Sugar was moving everyone in kid's programming forward in terms of LGBTQ+ representation. ND Stevenson praised the episode as "bold and courageous," serving as a moment which "knocked down so many walls" for other storytellers.

Steven Universe creator Rebecca Sugar acknowledges the difficulties in earning LGBTQ visibility in cartoons, especially because the shows are geared toward children. Sugar told Entertainment Weekly, “ “We need to let children know that they belong in this world,” she says. “You can’t wait to tell them that until after they grow up or the damage will be done. You have to tell them while they’re still children that they deserve love and that they deserve support and that people will be excited to hear their story. When you don’t show any children stories about LGBTQIA characters and then they grow up, they’re not going to tell their own stories because they’re gonna think that they’re inappropriate and they’re going to have a very good reason to think that because they’ve been told that through their entire childhood.”^[1] Steven Universe characters Ruby and Sapphire are a positive example of LGBTQ relationships in kids animation.

Other lesbian characters in the series included Pearl, who had feelings for Rose Quartz, the mother of the series protagonist, and Bismuth. In the latter case, Bismuth was implied to have a crush on Pearl in the Steven Universe Future episode "Bismuth Casual."

Craig of the Creek [add/edit]

Main article: Craig of the Creek

Two lesbian characters were confirmed in Craig of the Creek in April 2018. In their debut episode, "The Curse," Tabitha refuses to go to college in favor of spending time with Courtney, who blushes, and they hold hands at the conclusion of the episode. In "The Haunted Dollhouse", they have feelings for each other, which is confirmed, and they kiss.

J.P.'s openly lesbian older sister, in the episode "Jextra Perrestrial" is shown to be in a relationship with a girl named Kat.^[3] Laura is voiced by openly lesbian comedian Fortune Feimster. In the episode "Cousin of the Creek", Jasmine tells her cousin "I am texting my girlfriend, mind your business."

The season 4 episode "Fire and Ice" focuses on Kelsey and Stacks' relationship as they confessed their love to each other.

Gay characters[edit]

See also: List of gay characters in animation

Some Cartoon Network series have been confirmed to include gay characters. This includes DreamWorks Dragons, Clarence, Steven Universe, Summer Camp Island, Craig of the Creek, OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes and Young Justice. Adult Swim shows like Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Mission Hill, The Venture Bros., and Mike Tyson Mysteries also featured gay characters.

Space Ghost Coast to Coast, which aired on Cartoon Network (1994-1999; 2001); Adult Swim (2001-2004), and GameTap (2006-2008), included a gay character. On December 25, 1994, Lokar, a locust alien and member of the Council of Doom, was introduced in the Space Ghost Coast to Coast Christmas special A Space Ghost Christmas. Supplementary material for the series had Lokar referred to himself as a Confirmed bachelor while an article on the official Cartoon Network website featured a reference to a slang word for gay sex. His sexuality was confirmed in audio commentaries for the Space Ghost Coast to Coast Volume 2 DVD and it was revealed that Lokar died at some point during the series. However this was eventually contradicted when Lokar returned in the Season 11 episode "Stephen" in where he is shown to be alive and well.

Mission Hill, which aired on The WB from 1999 to 2000 and Adult Swim in 2002, Gus Duncz and Wally Langford, a gay elderly couple in their late 60s, even winning an award from GLAAD for this representation. In The Venture Bros., which aired on Adult Swim from 2004 to 2018, Colonel Horace Gentleman is always, openly, and proudly gay. However, he has an ex-wife, Mz. Quymn, as indicated in the episode "Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman," and a former lover, Kiki, shown in the episode "Past Tense," who he lived with at his home in Tangiers, Morocco for years. Also, The Alchemist and Shore Leave were in an on-again, off-again relationship, shown in episodes such as "Fallen Arches." According to the show creators, The Alchemist is gay in a way that is "just incidental" while Shore Leave is a very "openly swishy queer proud guy."

The Oblongs features Biff who is implied to be gay. He was confirmed to be gay in a bonus feature from The Oblongs Complete Series DVD.

On May 18, 1996, Silver Spooner, the sidekick to Barbequor, appeared in an episode of Dexter's Laboratory titled "Dial M for Monkey: Barbequor." Both characters are parodies of Silver Surfer and Galactus, with the episode banned. While some said this was because Silver Spooner was a stereotype of gay men, with complaints to that effect after it aired, others said it had more to do with copyright infringement as the estate of Jack Kirby threatened to sue Cartoon Network over the parody character. The episode was, in later broadcasts, and on its Season 1 DVD (Region 1), replaced with "Dexter's Lab: A Story", an episode from season two.

Courage the Cowardly Dog featured Lieutenant Gidley and General Horton. They were confirmed to be a couple in 2019.

Time Squad which aired from 2001 to 2003 on Cartoon Network, arguably had a gay character. In 2012, the voice actor of Larry 3000, Mark Hamill, implied that Larry could easily have been interpreted as gay, due to his femininity and presentation as the "gay best friend" to Cleopatra in "Shop like an Egyptian", even though Larry has stated on multiple occasions he dislikes humans in general. However, the show never directly stated his sexuality. Even so, Hamill described Larry 3000 as "fierce" and "flamboyant."

In the August 2005 episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, titled "One Crazy Summoner", it was revealed that Dean Toadblatt and Squidhat, were gay lovers, marrying each other in the episode. One critic noted that while you could call them Cartoon Network's "first gay couple," it was actually Steven Universe, also airing on Cartoon Network, that "broke down representation barriers" years later.

Jean Baptiste Le Ghei and Paul Guaye are inmates and a recurring couple as shown in the Superjail! episode "Superbar" and others. In an interview with the creators of the show, co-creator Christy Karacas called them well-rounded characters, who are a couple, with Paul as more feminine and intelligent than Jean who is "the bad boy."

The first two seasons of DreamWorks Dragons aired on Cartoon Network from 2012 to 2014, and from 2015-2018 aired on Netflix. In February 2019, Gobber, the blacksmith of Berk, Stoick's closest friend, who appears in the films of the How to Train Your Dragon and DreamWorks Dragons: Rescue Riders was confirmed as gay In an episode of The Boondocks, aired in June 2015, many gay characters appeared, including Gangstalicious, a closet homosexual who goes to great lengths to keep his identity as a gay man hidden from the public. Marquess of Queensbury, appeared on Mike Tyson Mysteries, which started on October 27, 2014. Eric Thurm of The A.V. Club argued that Marquess was a gay characterand he was based on a man named John Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry.

Spencer Rothbell, a writer, head of storywriting, and voice actor of multiple characters, for the show Clarence, said in October 2014 that they had to change a scene in the episode "Neighborhood Grill", which showed two gay characters after pushback from Cartoon Network executives. According to Rothbell, the original scene showed the two characters kissing on the lips, noting that "originally the guy had flowers and they kissed on the mouth." Later he lamented that the scene in the episode is "better than nothing," adding that "maybe one day the main character can be gay and it won't be a big deal." Despite this step back, there were some moves forward.

A Steven Universe storyboarder stated in 2017 that Harold Smiley and Quentin Frowney were a gay couple which was also confirmed by official artbook released the same year, titled Steven Universe: Art & Origins which showed that episode concept art for "Future Boy Zoltron" indicated that Mr. Smiley and Mr. Frowney were in a relationship. In Summer Camp Island, Ghost the Boy, a ghost and Betsy's ex-boyfriend, has two dads Kent and Cole as his parents, introduced in a July 2018 episode. Young Justice, in July 2019, introduced Wyynde, a gay character.

Raj and Shawn in Craig of the Creek, Honeysuckle Rangers from a neighborhood nearby, are implied to have feelings for each other in several episodes. Their relationship was eventually confirmed in the season 4 episode "Creek Talent Extravaganza." Raj is voiced by openly gay actor Parvesh Cheena. Joff and Nick Army, two recurring heroes, in OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes are a married couple. In the final episode of the series, in September 2019 both have a same-sex wedding.  Before the episode aired, Jones-Quartey confirmed Army and Joff as a canon gay couple.

Journalists for Insider said that Eduardo "Ed" Dorado Jr in Young Justice was gay in June 2021. This was confirmed by Greg Weisman in July 2021. In the Elliott from Earthepisode "Wednesday Part 4", a male alien mentions his husband.

Transgender characters[edit]

See also: List of fictional trans characters § Animation and anime, List of fictional intersex characters § Animation and anime, and List of fictional non-binary characters § Anime and animation

Transgender cartoon characters remain underrepresented in Cartoon Network and other major animation networks. The practical absence of the trans experience is indicative of improvements networks have to make for fully representing all sectors of the LGBTQ+ Community. There are multiple examples of gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters and plot lines, but there has not been adequate transgender inclusion.^[4] Without explicit representation in Cartoon Network characters, members of the trans community have identified certain characters that they can connect with, like Lars from Steven Universe, that have personal transformations or conceal parts of their identity. Characters like Lars relate in certain respects to the transgender experience, like feelings of societal pressure and conformity. Lars is highly concerned with how people perceive him, he acts out, and he puts on a toxic masculinity facade in order to seem "cool."^[4]

Trans characters appeared in Superjail! and The Oblongs. Superjail! included Alice, a hulking and muscular head prison guard of Superjail and a trans woman who regularly engages in sadomasochistic rituals with the prisoners, and rebuffs The Warden's constant advances as shown in episodes like "Jailbot 2.0." Alice was originally a male prison guard, but discovered her true self after falling in love with a homosexual warden. After being fired due to transphobia, she was hired by the Warden. Alice has breast implants and considers herself a woman in public settings. She does not appear to be on horomone treatment and fans note that it is apparent in the show that she has not undergone gender reassignment surgery. ^[5]

Non-binary characters[edit]

In the Cartoon Network series Steven Universe, OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, Summer Camp Island, Steven Universe Future, and Craig of the Creek, featured non-binary characters.

Steven Universe introduced a non-binary and intersex character named Stevonnie on January 19, 2015. Stevonnie is a fusion between Steven and Connie debuted in the January 15th episode Alone Together, using they/them pronouns. Rebecca Sugar, the show creator, said that Stevonnie challenges gender norms as a "metaphor for all the terrifying firsts in a first relationship." Later, the show earned a Emmy nomination in 2018 for the episode "Jungle Moon" centered around Stevonnie, a non-binary character.

In OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, Gregg, a minor character, was confirmed as non-binary by the series creator. In Summer Camp Island, Puddle is a non-binary alien who uses they/them pronouns and their husband, Alien King, is the king of their planet. The limited epilogue series, Steven Universe Future began airing on Cartoon Network in late 2019. The series included one-time non-binary characters like Shep, the romantic interest of Sadie.

In December 2018,Transformers: Cyberverse writer Mae Catt confirmed that the character Acid Storm was genderqueer, saying they like to switch between male and female genders.

2019 saw the introduction of Violet Harper, in the third season of Young Justice. They questioned their gender identity in the episode "Influence". Halo comes out as non-binary in season 4 and starts switching to they/them pronouns.

Craig of the Creek confirmed in December 2019 that the show had a non-binary character named Angel José.^[3] Their voice actor, Angel Lorenzana, who also uses they/them pronouns, an agender storyboard artist for the show, confirmed this. In later tweets, they added that their "cartoon self" used they/them before themselves, gave a shout out to the show's crew, and said that while this is a small contribution to LGBTQ+ representation, they hope "fans can take comfort knowing that there's also non-binary people working behind the scenes" on every of the show's episodes. Additionally, there is a non-binary character named Merkid who appears as a mermaid in the episode "Beyond the Creek" and cameos in the episode "In the Key of the Creek."^{[citation needed]}

Challenges faced by creators [added section]

Rob Sorcher, chief content officer at Cartoon Network, spoke about the factors that go into content decisions for storylines. One important factor to consider was that Steven Universe aired in nearly 200 countries that had culturally conservative audiences. A common challenge when designing kids animations and cartoons is considering conservative and religious audiences who will often vocalize backlash on non-traditional storylines. Scorcher explained, "On a personal level, as a gay executive, I was taking extra pains to be sure that inside my company, I'm being completely neutral - really listening to all the business issues going on around the world," Sorcher says. "And that there's not the optics of me coming in with an 'agenda' to drive through the content."^[6] When Rebecca Sugar originally pitched the Steven Universe episode with a lesbian wedding, she encountered challenges presenting it to the Cartoon Network. Sugar was able to convince network officers that the wedding was organic to the show’s development and a natural progression of Ruby and Sapphire’s relationship. When the wedding episodes—a double episode titled “Reunited”—aired in 2018, network policy progressed. Scorcher noted that it became standard policy for the network to treat homosexual relationships like heterosexual relationships.^[6]

OK K.O.![add/edit]

Main article: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes

The OK K.O.! Cartoon Network series positively impacted LGBTQ+ representation in animation. The series displayed multiple queer couples throughout the series, including Lord Boxman and Professor Venomous, and Enid and Red Action. ^[2]

Red Action in OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes is a lesbian character. She later entered a relationship with Enid, and kissed her in the episode "Red Action 3: Grudgement Day". It was later confirmed that Yellow was possibly Red's ex-girlfriend. On the day of the series finale, Jones-Quartey called Enid and Red a "committed couple," and saying their relationship developed "very naturally."

Some reviewers stated that Enid has possible romantic feelings toward Elodie. Jones-Quartey later said that Red Action and Enid "run a dojo together and kiss."

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