The all-time favorite kids network Nickelodeon recently announced they were celebrating Pride Month with a list of surprising characters, and one character in particular caught people’s attention. Earlier this week, the network tweeted rainbow photos of three beloved characters; Korra from The Legend of Korra, Schwoz Schwartz from Henry Danger, and the biggest surprise – SpongeBob SquarePants.
The characters of Korra and Schwoz Schwartz weren’t much of a surprise – they’ve been previously associated with the LGBTQ+ community throughout the shows and by the creators and actors portraying them, as you might remember. However, the sexuality of iconic childhood character Spongebob Squarepants has been a mystery for fans. It was previously believed the character was asexual, but this tweet has fans thinking otherwise.
While this tweet didn’t explicitly state anything regarding his sexuality, fans took it as a clear message. Some fans claimed they have always known, as there were many signs of this throughout the show, and others were excited about the news. This is a big step for the LGBTQ+ community, and to have the support of the network means a lot to them.
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Bryan Konietzko, co-creator of The Legend of Korra, spoke about this matter, saying, “it is long overdue that our media (including children’s media) stops treating non-heterosexual people as nonexistent, or as something merely to be mocked. I’m only sorry it took us so long to have this kind of representation in one of our stories.”
