CULTURE CLUB

Queer cartoons

Imean, it really couldn’t be more innocuous. Long- running PBS cartoon Arthur started its 22nd season earlier this year with the episode Mr Ratburn and the Someone Special, which saw Arthur’s teacher

(a rat) marry boyfriend Patrick ( an aardvark and chocolatier).

Whack jobs in Alabama and the not- nearly- one- million One Million Moms protested, resulting in Alabama Public Television pulling the episode from its schedule, showing a repeat instead.

Nonetheless, it seems something exciting is happening in cartoon land. Over the past few years, representation of LGBTQ characters has gradually increased. This rise has felt organic rather than stunt- driven, and borne out of a desire for children to see their families on screen.

This wasn’t even the fi rst time Arthur’s world has featured gay characters: a lesbian couple appeared in a 2005 episode of spin- off show Postcards from Buster, although PBS chose not to distribute the episode after complaints. Sigh. And in She- Ra and the Princesses of Power, we’re spoilt for choice.

The excellent Noelle ( Lumberjanes) Stevenson is at the helm of Netfl ix’s reboot which features a lesbian couple, Netossa and Spinnerella,

and Bow’s two dads are, well, gay, obviously. Bow himself is a fan of belly tops and swarthy pirates, although his sexuality remains undefi ned for now.

Moreover, the simmering chemistry between Adora and Catra is very much at the core of the entire series and the most recent episodes go some way to confi rm that Adora is bisexual if not gay.

Elsewhere, in Adventure Time, Princess Bubblegum and Marceline the vampire queen finally got to snog in the 2018 season finale, and Steven Universe continues its trippy queer adventure. The Cartoon Network show is the brainchild of former Adventure Time writer Rebecca Sugar who identifies as non- binary.

The series, now in its sixth season, is about half- human, half- gem Steven, who lives with his dad and a group of Crystal Gems: powerful female aliens who protect the world from all manner of threats and monsters. It’s believed that the show depicted animation’s fi rst gay wedding, between Crystal Gems Ruby and Sapphire.

But all this glorious representation doesn’t come free. Shamefully, Cartoon Network UK edited out a 2016 kiss between characters Rose Quartz and Pearl but let a straight smootch remain, saying they wanted to make the show “more comfortable for local kids and their parents”. Go fuck yourself, Cartoon Network UK.

That action is further proof of the two- steps- forward- one- step- back dance with which LGBTQ people are only too familiar. It sometimes feels as if we can’t achieve anything culturally without being slapped backwards by homophobes or transphobes.

Arthur author Marc Brown speaks of a desire to present children with images that refl ect their realities. Gay dads, lesbian mums, trans kids… all these things are the mundane reality for families in the UK.

Love is love, life is life.

But there’s no doubt in my mind that the unpleasant scenes outside Birmingham schools ( and elsewhere) are driven by the deepseated bigotry that LGBTQ people are “coming for the kids”.

Well, these cartoons and their wonderfully diverse casts are coming for the kids.

And it’s long overdue.

“It’s our two- stepsforward- one- stepback dance”