The Battle for LGBT+ Content in Cartoons

The saddest part of this fight for representation is that now that its starting to happen, some people complain its ruining cartoons.

Here’s a short comment!

let just say wow

Just an observation and I could be entirely wrong on this, but most cartoons with LGBT representation that I see, tends to lean towards women+women relationships. I mean yeah the Steven universe lore makes it more complex, but in general gay men tend to be either in the background (usually parents, which admittedly is very cool) or non-existent, and I wonder if maybe lesbian relationships are easier for the execs to swallow or if it's just that most cartoons that included them are oriented more towards women and thus have them in the forefront. Maybe they just have more female (or female presenting) characters in the shows so there's more opportunities for relationships to be established? I honestly don't know the cause, but it might be something worth looking into more deeply.


PS - Not saying that any of these shows are doing anything wrong, they're awesome. I'm just wondering if maybe there's a void ready for more shows?

I've just realised that the vast majority of same sex relationships (at least when it comes to main/important characters) are f/f.

Where's the guys at?

And yeah, USA is very far behind and slow on LGBTQ rights sadly

Sapphic characters:

Ruby, Sapphire, Garnet, Pearl, Rose, Bismuth - Steven Universe
Marceline, Princess Bubblegum - Adventure Time
Korra, Asami - Avatar
Adora, Catra, Netossa, Spinnerella - She Ra
Enid, Red Action - OK KO
AJ, Sue (aka Jeff's moms) - Clarence
Amabel, Xochi - Victor and Valentino
Luna, Sam - The Loud House
Kelsey, Stacks, Jasmine, Laura, Kat, Tabitha, Courtney - Craig of the Creek
Reggie, Connely - Twelve Forever
Frankie - Elliot from Earth
Shannon, her gf - 3Below: Tales of Arcadia
D.D. Danger, Reina - Danger & Eggs
Jackie, her gf - SVTFOE
Luz, Amity, Eda, Raine - The Owl House
Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, Lyra Heartstrings, Sweetie Drops - MLP
Ally, Jessie, Yunan, Olivia, Sasha - Amphibia
Penumbra - DuckTales
Norma, Badya - Dead End
Velma, Coco - Scooby Doo

56 characters

Achillean characters:

Benson, Troy - Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts
Adam, Mira's dads - The Hollow
Shiro, his husband who only appeared for 5 seconds, his ex dead boyfriend who we only know was his bf because of a tweet - Voltron
Howard, Harold (aka Clyde's dads) - The Loud House
George, Lance (aka Bow's dads) - She Ra
Willow's dads - The Owl House
Violet and Lena's dads - DuckTales
Barney, Logan - Dead End

18 characters

Trans characters:

Double Trouble - She Ra
Raine - The Owl House
Dana Dufresne - The Loud House
Zadie, Milo - Danger & Eggs
Rachel - Rocko's Modern Life
Shep, Rainbow Quartz - Steven Universe
Barney - Dead End

8 characters

AroAce characters:

Lilith - The Owl House

1 character

ok this is slightly offtopic to the video but finding out the character asher from kipo is nonbinary made me so happy
my name is actually asher(chosen name not given name) and i identify as nonbinary and just finding out that a character in a cartoon i love shares name and gender identity with me literally made me start crying with happiness
it feels absolutely great to have a character i can project myself onto more than with other characters in media who are nonbinary(that doesn’t mean i don’t but i am able to more with asher)
this is why representation matters so much, we are able to project ourselves onto these lgbtq characters way easier than cishet characters in media, and for me the fact that a character is so much like me makes me so happy to the point where i’m probably going to end up having kipo be my primary special interest for the next few months because this single side character gave me the good chemicals and i desire more of the good chemicals

I love how Disney recently went and put LGBTQ cartoon, like the owl house.

I think that the problem Is not the fact such couples exist, but the fact that Many times this Is Made very forcefuly, only look at dc/Marvel cómic divisions, they're in red numbers because they change the race and sexuality of characters long Time ago stablished, and the original characters created in such way aré poorly done(im looking at you, kibblesmith), that's why the owl house works, Dana created actual characters with identities and not mete panflets.

Another issues that Many People perceive Is a sort of war against the concept of atractive women: all the times that classic heroines aré shown in a non-attractive way, they have a huge backlash(and this Is why manga artist aré celebrated, because they don't fear to show atractive women who Also happen to have a good development)

And finally: they issues of the fact that the Male figure seems to be attacked, only look at what happened with Kevin smith's He-man, the backlash It Is having would had been avoided if He-man character had been treated with More respect, and that's what Many People wants: good aspirational Male roles

👍

I noticed something about the opening montage. Of the dozen characters, they were exclusively female/wlw couples. There seem to be significantly more lesbian couples than gay couples in cartoons, and mlm relationships in general are less common. I wonder why that is, but personally that something we need to work on next.

Such a great Video! Thank you.

Well we know who you voted for prez 😑

We’ve surely made a lot of progress in the past 20 years alone. Hopefully by the time the century ends, things are a little more acceptable

It's nice to hear perspectives like yours as not too long ago I was a hardcore Catholic and pretty much homophobic and transphobic as a result (mostly out of blind allegiance to an institution that acts like that often, despite what Pope Francis is portrayed to be, and had you asked me why I opposed marriage equality my answer would've boiled down to "because the Church said so") and I remember that I refused to watch Steven Universe because of some of the characters and I met people who were salty because of the ending of Korra but for the wrong reasons.

Since for the most part I think I'm straight I watch these videos to better have an idea of how important representation is for people and I thank you for the video.

Why is no one but kipo fighting for gay male rep aside from the 2 token gay dads that barely show up

ok

I'm from the UK, and even though I can confirm that the Rainbow Quartz scene was edited, we are not a homophobic country (even though we do have some of those people here, unfortunately).

Ruby and Sapphire still hug and kiss in the UK episodes. I think the 'We Need to Talk' scene was only cut down because it looked kind of suggestive so some executives. Same happened with Marty's "one large woman and multiple smaller ones" line.

Bruh imagine evolving to become intelligent just to hate on your own species.

You didn't knew that The Owl House has lgbt characters also

y’all not rockin with loving who you want?

The thing is that it will become A LOT better in some years because this is the first generation that will grow up with this shows and laws so if we want it or not (most of us want it, some people dont) the kids will see LGBTQ as something normal or at less ok

as a Bisexual person with gender dysphoria..I like this video...very opening!!!

No group of people is entitled to representation, that's entirely up to the creators.

I don't think foreign funding is the issue as to why progressive cartoons aren't doing as well as you'd like. I think that , although concepts have been wildly imaginative, story execution has been lacking. Storylines tend to be generic. Its like reality television, if you've seen one you've seen them all. I mean, you can only have so many prom episodes.

Most of the time they exist for like a few seconds or in the background so they can be cut out.

I honestly don't care if there is LGBTQ+ content in children's programing AS LONG AS THEY LET US PARENTS KNOW. You shouldn't have to discover your kid was watching this after the fact. WE NEED DISCLAIMERS AND WARNINGS. Let us parents decide.

We are almost halfway through 2022 and the struggle for representation is still there. The Owl House and Lightyear are continuing the chipping of that stubborn wall that conservatives(and their sub-groups of deplorables) love to hold up, but we are slowly but surely breaking through :)

I grew up throughout the 2000's and its funny because the idea of a gay relationship in media was never that big of a deal for me sense I watched alot of anime that always (strongly hinted but never committed) to relationships like that being a possibility. Although im older im happy that theres shows like She Ra, Owl House and Steven Universe which more openingly show this form of affection being just as legitimate as hetero relationships. This is one of those against all odds kinds of concepts in cartoons (hell it was for shows aimed at adults not too long ago) so im happy theres creators who had the spine to just do it and do it well.
Also "Princess Prom" on She Ra is one of my favorite eps of the series so im glad that's a thing despite all the bullshit they had to deal with.

There should be Christian content in cartoons, not lgbtq.

It’s been two years since this video was made, and one of the most significant updates is the Disney show The Owl House, which has canonical representation of bisexual, lesbian, non-binary, and neurodivergent characters! The LGBT content is presented blatantly and, in theory, would be incredibly hard to censor.

Unfortunately, Disney is still Disney, and its third season got cancelled. Then (after one hell of a fight) they managed to negotiate up to 3 44-minute specials (instead of a full ~20 22-minute episode season). All because it “didn’t fit the Disney brand”. There is also a fair amount of overseas censorship (or at least, attempts? It’s still Very Gay, no matter how Platonic the voiceover tries to be)

For a brief moment, it seemed like Disney was going to take an actual step forward for the LGBT community. TOH could have been the ATLA for this generation of kids—relatable characters, important themes and lessons, beautiful animation, a range of parental units represented, diversity in sexuality, gender identity, and races. Idk man, it drives me mad thinking what it could’ve been, the closer and closer we get to actually getting good, consistent, everyday representation, the harder those money-seeking execs fight back just in case the homophobes find out and cause a singularity to their bank account in the Cayman Islands.

TBH the LoK lesbian ending plot just seemed random just to get the oh wow your progressive shock factor honestly bad writing, the others did a good job at least.

This was videos before the owl house

The beenie guy from the horse thing was awesome

Just a heads up here that noelle is an outdated name for the showrunner of shera. He currently goes by N.D. Stevenson, with pronouns he/him

You know you never see 2 gay guys ever and if you do its very very rare in cartoons i wonder why

Finally someone who watched the hollow too 😀

WE COULD HAVE GOTTEN MORE STEVEN UNIVERSE????!!!!! THAT IS LIKE MY FAVORITE SHOW!!!

I thinked that the Ruby and Sapphire’s marriage it was for feast their fusion

If something needs to get pushed in, that means it shouldn't be there in the first place
People don't know who they truly are or what they want. But it's until you're in a corner with no escape and you only have the options handed. You'll face true confrontation with the self.

Interesting so your saying have opposite opinions of lgbt is not being a good person and being homophobic

coming for them bigoted parents lets gooooo

And now we have Lumity.

This video is depressingly relevant today. There really needs to be an updated version of this video at some point in the future to include shows like The Owl House, Dead End Paranormal Park and even movies too.

Welcome to pride month 2024

I think we should stop pushing it onto children, end of story. Gtfo

It would be different if this was about shows for adults, but for this stuff to be in kids shows just isn't right and kids don't need to see it. Kinda weird for people to be so passionate about showing kids this stuff. At the LEAST there should be a warning on these shows/episodes that include this stuff so it can be easy for parents to avoid it if it's going exist