Gay characters in children's cartoons

[Harbinger_]

I think you guys are over shooting this. Being straight is biologically normal. Should we not present that as a norm? Yes, homosexuality is a part of life, but we dont need to stuff it into entertainment for the hell of it. Especially a kid's show. If a kid is going to be gay, let them find that out for themselves instead of doing it because this character from this show is gay.

Edit: Plus, i dont want to have to explain ANYTHING about sex to my children. Keep it simple.

I completely agree with you on this whole-heartedly. It'd be nice if more people shared the same opinion.

Also I firmly believe that sexuality shouldn't exist in children's television.

 

[BringBackBuck]

BUT... from the Nature point of view, a homosexual being would be considered a failure, if it would live his sexual orientation out. A homosexual could not reproduce which is the measurement for how successful a being is, Nature-wise.

You are wrong. If you're going to use science, you should get it right.

Homosexuals exist in nature - all mammals have homosexual members. And those members REPRODUCE. Even before Sperm Banks, gay individuals would still "take one for the team" and have children the old fashioned way. It's a preference, not a rule.

Homosexuality is a desire - it doesn't prevent us from getting pregnant (or from getting someone pregnant) - we just prefer the alternative.

Do research on homosexual animals in the wild. They reproduce.

So please, do not try to spread intolerance or ignorance in the guise of weakly researched science.

Those words that you said right there, thank you for them.
You have no idea how good it feels to have someone else argue this point through science, at least partially.

Well if your definition of homosexuality is "someone who has sex with both genders", than your logic is entirely correct.

Personally I would call that bisexual.

 

[Farseer Lolotea]

I'm finding it worrying how many people are commenting with the assumption that a TV made for children should need to teach them about sexuality. Let's leave that to the parents.

A nice enough sentiment. But if you're anywhere where people think replacing sex-ed with abstinence classes is a good idea, trusting the birds and the bees to parents is probably not.

Remember when an interracial couple were seen as disgusting, let alone appearing together in public or on TV? Ha. [sarcasm] How far we've come, totally not judging others based upon their sexual preference to be with other consenting adults [/sarcasm].

Lol.

I don't directly remember, no. But I've heard it from people who know firsthand.

Almost makes me wonder what the next big "moral panic" will be.

 

[cracky6i9]

Both sides of the argument have their priorities wrong. I think sexual orientation in children cartoon/show characters is incredibly irrelevant. These shows should be more focused on teaching lessons in a fun and captivating way. I have no idea if the Count liked girls or boys, but he helped me count. Bert and Ernie are probably a gay couple, but I had no way of knowing that when I was kid, and it didn't really matter.

 

[ConeFTW]

Having a "gay" character would bring attention to the fact that that character is having sex with other men. Bringing attention to the sex part isn't a good strategy for a kid's cartoon.

You don't need to bring sex into it at all. So there's a guy holding hands with another guy, therefore kids are instantly going to know they are doing it six ways til sunday? Not at all.
If you see heterosexual couples in a kids tv show do they instantly assume they are having sex? No, that probably won't even cross their minds until they have heard sex mentioned form somewhere else.

 

[Farseer Lolotea]

I understand the thought behind that sort of thing; not wanting your kids to go get themselves a baby before they've even finished school or an STI... ever, sounds like sound parenting to me. It's just too bad how that want is executed in practice.

Those classes are usually (if not invariably) half-assed scare-tactic-fests that get a lot of things wrong. But don't you know...anything else would encourage kids to go out and screw around!

And back on topic:

If you see heterosexual couples in a kids tv show do they instantly assume they are having sex? No, that probably won't even cross their minds until they have heard sex mentioned form somewhere else.

I think that's really the whole point that many of us have been trying to make: If they're going to put in G-rated implied romance at all, why not mix up the configuration once in a while? Because if there is G-rated implied romance, it kind of shoots the "oh, noes, that would expose kids to TEH SECKS!" argument to hell.

 

[BringBackBuck]

I think you guys are over shooting this. Being straight is biologically normal. Should we not present that as a norm? Yes, homosexuality is a part of life, but we dont need to stuff it into entertainment for the hell of it. Especially a kid's show. If a kid is going to be gay, let them find that out for themselves instead of doing it because this character from this show is gay.

Edit: Plus, i dont want to have to explain ANYTHING about sex to my children. Keep it simple.

I completely agree with you on this whole-heartedly. It'd be nice if more people shared the same opinion.

Also I firmly believe that sexuality shouldn't exist in children's television.

I agree too, but not having explicit sexuality in children's programming doesn't mean that sexual preference isn't implied constantly. Every prince marries a princess. Every character with parents has a mummy and daddy. You don't need to go all brokeback mountain, just have 2 queens instead of a king and queen.

Edit: Just read my post. 2 queens? lol. No pun intended...

 

[Typhon1388]

All mammals have homosexual members

Any references or sources that prove all mammal species have homosexual members, or that homosexual wild animals reproduce?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animals_displaying_homosexual_behavior

Wikipedia is not the best place for solid information but just follow the links in the article's Bibliography to confirm what it states.

That page also mentions Roy and Silo. The 'gay' penguin males who raised an egg together, then separated after 6 years with one of them moving onto a heterosexual pairing. Fairly solid proof for a lot of the questions being asked in this thread.

 

[Zac Smith]

Even if children's cartoons had gay characters, i doubt the intended audience, mainly young children would even understand and or care about this. Children at that age don't really care about sexual orientation do they. This seems to me more like a way to get overally politically correct adults to feel better about themselves.

 

[LorahRoo]

Pretty sure he is trolling.

I'm not. Any sex in kids shows, imo, is not okay. Sure, have a flamboyant character, but that just plays on stereotypes. I feel the same about macho men and helpless princeses. Plus, whats the big diffrence between homosexuality and hetrosexuality? The sex. So, when my future kid walks up to me and asks me why spongebob and patrick can't get married but spongebob and sandy can, what do I say? Imo, best to educate them about this seperatley.

why educate about this separately?

Love is love whether you are homosexual or heterosexual. Hopefully by the time this generation does have children your sexuality will be as relevant as how you take your coffee and if they do ask don't lie.
If they really want to know why two people of the same gender can't get married tell them its because some people in society are prejudice against it, even though its completely normal. imo sexism is the same as all prejudices like racism or ageism.

Children are alot more intelligent than they are given credit for and they pick up on underlying issues between people faster that some adults can.

 

[Epic Fail 1977]

There's something that keeps cropping up in these gay threads that I just don't get.

nor·mal/ˈnôrməl/
Adjective: Usual, typical, or expected.
Noun: The usual, average, or typical state or condition.

I don't get how some people think that homosexuality fits that definition.

 

[BrEnNo1023]

Society just isn't ready for it yet. It would be lovely to make a point and spread the message that being homosexual is totally O.K, but your television show would be the target of heavy criticism and it would probably be taken off the air. I think that will change soon however.

It will change soon. And something like this only changes when someone or something (perhaps a TV show or a few TV shows with similar ideas) decides to break the line and do something different.

There's always resistance to change, even good change. It happened with women and their rights (still happens in certain instances in most of the world); there will be resistance, mostly by the adults who have been taught all their lives that it's wrong to be different..but the point of the Original Post is that teaching kids will help implement this change for the future. I don't think it's a bad idea to say 'hey guys, let's not all hate each other, lolk?' and try to change. What's the worst that can happen if it succeeds?

 

[postblitz]

I think you guys are over shooting this. Being straight is biologically normal. Should we not present that as a norm? Yes, homosexuality is a part of life, but we dont need to stuff it into entertainment for the hell of it. Especially a kid's show. If a kid is going to be gay, let them find that out for themselves instead of doing it because this character from this show is gay.

Edit: Plus, i dont want to have to explain ANYTHING about sex to my children. Keep it simple.

You don't need to explain anything about sex - explain about love.

Also...

Being straight is biologically normal? Um, no. Homosexuality exists all throughout nature. Homosexuality is as biologically "normal" as heterosexuality.

Please don't make such ignorant and offensive statements.

orly? it sure does exist but do you know why and what it stands for? or does the fact some animals turn homosexual motivate every action to promote homosexuality for humans as a normal state?

"Every male that sniffed a female was reported as sex, while anal intercourse with orgasm between males was only "revolving around" dominance, competition or greetings."

That + the fact homosexual animals don't very well get to have offspring should tell you more about the conditions' causality than it being the default.

I don't have a problem with homosexuals existing and living as ordinary citizens, but don't tell me they're biologically normal. they're a state of being to which u get following certain conditions.

 

[samonix]

I would like to bring attention to the characters of Syaoran and Tomoyo from Cardcaptor Sakura, a guilty pleasure of mine.

Cardcaptor Sakura is a Japanese children's anime marketed towards girls, however the American sub, Cardcaptors, which re-edited much of the original story, removed the homosexuality of these two characters. Cardcaptors was marketed towards boys instead of girls, and was quite a big failure.

Now I won't say Cardcaptor Sakura is a very deep or meaningful show, Tomoyo's sexuality is played for laughs and Syaoran's seems to get retconned with a very strange explanation to turn him straight. What is interesting, however, is how homosexuality is never regarded as being strange by any of the characters, is never explored in depth or becomes a major plot point in any episode - two characters just happen to be, quite overtly, gay.

Syaoran is not camp or feminine in any way, he's a 10 year-old badass and actually becomes slightly more girly and caring when he realizes he's straight.


So is it a cultural or a gender issue? Did the homosexuality get removed by the change from Japanese children to American children or the change from girls to boys?