On LGBT+ rep in children’s shows
LGBT+ representation in children’s shows is a relatively new trend and something creators are struggling to get past executives. There is a stigma regarding LGBT+ characters and relationships in children show’s because many (homophobic) parents feel uncomfortable with and are strongly against “exposing” their children to the “dirty,” “sexual” world that is the LGBT+ community and “forcing the gay agenda” on them. Just take a look at this article written by someone raging about the little background kiss between two guys in Star vs. the Forces of Evil. This stigma is the biggest challenge for creators who want to have proper LGBT rep in shows for children and while there have been many great strides such as Steven Universe and Adventure Time, the fact of the matter is: it’s still a huge challenge. There have been other shows that have attempted LGBT rep too, but in the majority’s opinion, have failed miserably. And by “other shows” of course, I mean Voltron. Ah Voltron. Voltron was, indeed, a mess, and I’m not here to argue about Klance or Sheith or even Adam and whether or not his entire character was queerbating or not. But I would like to discuss that wedding scene at the end of the show.
Yes. This scene. This scene is quite controversial, not necessarily because it’s two men kissing (though I’m sure many homophobes reeaally didn’t like this precisely because of that), but because of everything that led up to it (and everything that didn’t) and also because it was, quite obviously, a PR bandage meant to appease (rightfully) angry LGBT and ally fans, who had been promised good LGBT+ representation and had been let down. The show was not perfect. In any way. At all. And their “LGBT+ rep” was terribly mishandled and disappointing, and this scene certainly does NOT make up for it. However, I would like to say that this scene is incredibly important and revolutionary (yes, I said it: it was revolutionary). And before anyone starts crying “but Sapphire and Ruby! And Princess Bubblegum and Marcelene! Both of these couples kissed on screen!” I would like to say: yes. They did. And those shows were revolutionary because of it as well. But before Voltron there had never been a children’s shows that showed two men (one of whom was a protagonist) kissing on their wedding day, at least not to my knowledge (if I’m wrong please correct me). I’m not saying you shouldn’t be angry that Voltron butchered it’s LGBT rep and let you down (it did, and you have a right to be angry and disappointed) I’m saying you should recognize this for the milestone that this is. This rising trend of LGBT+ rep in children’s shows is so, so, so important and great and amazing, but we are starting to see a pattern:
Sapphire and Ruby in Steven Universe
Two gay moms in Good Luck Charlie
Princess Bubblegum and Marceline in Adventure Time
Adora and Catra in She-ra
Netossa and Spinnerella in She-ra
Queena Neha and Annika in the Dragon Prince
Korra and Asami in the Legend of Korra
So much (I’m speaking relatively here) bi/gay/pan women representation is awesome! And we need more! But there is a serious lack of gay/bi/pan men in children’s shows and we also need more. There is also a stigma regarding m|m relationships because they’re usually seen as more “sexual” and less “pure” and “acceptable” than w|w relationships, especially when it comes to children being “exposed” to them. This is why the Voltron wedding scene is so important, because it challenges that stigma! Gravity Falls also had two men in a relationship and it’s also very important and deserves to be mentioned as well.
We need more m|m and male gay/bi/pan rep in children’s shows. We need to challenge this stigma that m|m relationships are not as acceptable or as “pure” as w|w relationships. We need more LGBT+ representation in children’s shows in general! We need gay, lesbian, bi, ace, demi, pan, nonbinary, genedrqueer, trans, etc. rep in ALL children’s media. But there are so many challenges, so much prejudice and stigma that get in our way. So what’s my point? What am I trying to say? My point is that we need to be patient. Overcoming these challenges is going to take time and effort and we can’t expect to have perfect representation in the first shows that will try to give it to us. We simply can’t. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be critical or that we should just settle for the little representation we get. NO. We SHOULD be critical. We shouldn’t be content. We should demand MORE and BETTER representation in children’s media (and all media honestly) because we deserve it and because LGBT+ children deserve it. Because we deserve for our identities to be normalized and properly represented. CHILDREN deserve to be able to see themselves in the books and shows an movies they like and the characters they fall in love with. But we also have to understand that this is not going to happen overnight. We have to understand that there are many challenges that get in the way of LGBT+ rep in children’s shows and we’re not going to overcome them in the two/three years it takes for an LGBT+ friendly show to release all its episodes. It’s going to take time and we have to be patient and supportive of the creators who want to give children LGBT+ rep (not that you should have to suffer through a show you hate just to support the creators, I’m not saying that). In short, we have to be patient. We shouldn’t have to be. We shouldn’t have to fight as hard as we do to get ONE gay character on a children’s show. And in order for things to change we have to be critical and demand more and better representation. But we have to be realistic and patient. Like I siad before, we can’t expect perfect representation in children’s shows overnight.
So, in conclusion: be critical of the representation we get in children’s shows. Demand better and demand more because we deserve it. But also be patient and realistic. It’s going to take time.
These shows that are struggling and that aren’t perfect walk so that the next ones can run (excuse the cheesiness).
