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SpongeBob SquarePants Is Officially an LGBTQ+ Icon—Thanks Nickelodeon!
The network tweeted a picture of the cartoon in celebration of Pride.
Great news gang—SpongeBob SquarePants is officially confirmed part of the LGBTQ+ community!
In celebration of Pride, Nickelodeon tweeted out a series of photos over the weekend—Michael D. Cohen, a trans actor from Henry Danger, Korra, our fave bi hero from Legend of Korra, and SpongeBob SquarePants himself.
\u201cCelebrating #Pride with the LGBTQ+ community and their allies this month and every month \ud83c\udf08 \u2063\n(\ud83c\udfa8: by @ramzymasri)\u201d— Nickelodeon (@Nickelodeon) 1592054553
Naturally, it took literal seconds for the internet to fly into a frenzy over the apparent reveal that SpongeBob is as gay for Patrick as we all always knew he was.
\u201cGAY SPONGEBOB STANS RISEEEEEEE\u201d— brittany (@brittany) 1592096177
None— m (@m) 1592123234
Of course, Nickelodeon didn’t explicitly say SpongeBob is the gay icon we’re all so eager to claim he is, but the tweet DOES suggest he’s part of the LGBTQ+ community.
While “SpongeBob is gay!!” parades swept across the internet, other diehard fans of the critter who lives in a pineapple under the sea began pointing out that we’ve actually known SpongeBob has his place under the LGBTQ+ umbrella for a long time now.
Back in 2005, creator Stephen Hillenburg said that he “never intended [SpongeBob and Patrick] to be gay. I consider them to be almost asexual.”
\u201cnickelodeon just fucking wrecked ALL of the aphobes by saying spongebob is asexual and lgbt+\u201d— \ud83d\udc90stone/mae\ud83c\udf3f (@\ud83d\udc90stone/mae\ud83c\udf3f) 1592072825
With so little asexual representation in media, it’s important not to erase SpongeBob’s ace identity, though some have pointed out that there’s still room for him to be homo- or bi-romantic and asexual.
\u201c\u201cspongebob is gay\u201d \u201cno, spongebob is asexual!\u201d lads. he\u2019s homoromantic asexual; you can have both.\u201d— ezra (@ezra) 1592072951
Regardless of the cartoon’s specific identity beyond the creator’s confirmation of his being asexual, Mr. SquarePants is definitely here to celebrate Pride with the rest of his community.
Also, there’s this:
