Who celebrates Pride Month under the sea? SpongeBob SquarePants!
Nickelodeon almost broke the internet following a tweet in celebration of the Pride Month which has possibly implied that Spongebob Squarepants is a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Speculations that the porous sponge who lives in Bikini Bottom is gay erupted.
In the Twitter post that was written on Saturday, the network said that they are one with the LGBTQ+ community in celebrating Pride, not only this month but every month. Attached to the tweet is a photo of Korra, who was already known as a bisexual; "Henry Danger" actor Micheal D. Cohen who is a transgender; and the beloved jolly yellow sponge who resides in a pineapple under the sea.
Celebrating #Pride with the LGBTQ community and their allies this month and every month
(: by @ramzymasri) pic.twitter.com/pENmTaQB0h — Nickelodeon (@Nickelodeon) June 13, 2020
According to the New York Post, Spongebob first went on air in 1999 and fans have long been skeptical of his true sexuality. As the show went on more people suspected that the Spongebob may indeed be a member of the community, especially after the episode where he and his starfish best friend
Patrick acted as parents to an abandoned clam and Spongebob played the role of a full-time housewife, tending to the needs of the baby.
Rumors surrounded SpongeBob SquarePants' sexuality
In a report by Cheat Sheet, for more than two decades, Spongebob Squarepants has become an iconic character. He can arguably be the most famous fictional creature who lives under the sea, and like other famous people, he is not safe from any rumors.
In television shows, male protagonists usually have female partners or love interests, even in kids' shows. For example, Mickey and Minnie Mouse; Cosmo and Wanda; and Timmy Turner and his infatuation with Trixie Tang. However, it seemed that the jolly sponge is an outlier in this area.
Despite the fact that the nautical show has a lot of female characters, including Mrs. Puff, Sandy Cheeks, and Pearl, SpongeBob did not have any love interests. Moreover, the show has not presented anything that portrayed the sponge to be attracted to female characters. This led to the assumptions and speculations that he and Patrick may indeed be a couple.
Deceased creator said Spongebob was Asexual, not Gay
However, in 2005 the creator of the show tried to clear out SpongeBob's true sexual orientation once and for all.
In a report by People back in 2005, Stephen Hillenburg said that SpongeBob is not gay, but is asexual. Thus, this could explain why Nickelodeon added him to the picture since asexuals are also considered as part of the LGBTQ+ community. Hillenburg died back in 2018 after suffering from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Internet quick to embrace SpongeBob raising the rainbow flag
After Nickelodeon posted the tweet people have responded positively on the matter and were quick to accept the newly-outed sexual status of the beloved underwater character.
Twitter user @KalhanR even stated that she fully supports Spongebob being an icon of the community.
Meanwhile, quickly after posting, Nickelodeon disabled the reply button on their tweet, which people assumed was because the topic is not up for debate.
