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Pic of Spongebob SquarePants with a rainbow color effect applied to it | Nickelodeon announced Spongebob is part of the LGBT community

SpongeBob LGBTQ+ Confirmation

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Overview

SpongeBob LGBTQ+ Confirmation refers to the animation studio Nickelodeon confirming that cartoon character SpongeBob Squarepants is an LGBTQ+ character. The confirmation was followed by viral discussions online, with SpongeBob trending on Twitter.

Background

On June 13th, 2020, animation studio Nickelodeon made a tweet[1] in support of the LGBTQ+ Pride Month, writing, "Celebrating #Pride with the LGBTQ+ community and their allies this month and every month," along with the images of transitioned actor Michael D. Cohen, canonically bisexual Legend of Korra main character Korra and SpongeBob SquarePants titular main character. The tweet received over 107,300 retweets and 317,800 likes in two days (shown below).


Nickelodeon nick @Nickelodeon Celebrating #Pride with the LGBTQ+ community and their allies this month and every month (8: by @ramzymasri) 9:22 AM · Jun 13, 2020 · Twitter Web App

Precursor

In October 2002, creator of SpongeBob SquarePants Stephen Hillenburg, when asked about SpongeBob being a popular character among the gay community, responded that he considered SpongeBob to be "somewhat asexual."

Everybody is different, and the show embraces that. The character SpongeBob is an oddball. He's kind of weird, but he's kind of special. I always think of them as being somewhat asexual.

Developments

Following the tweet, Nickelodeon temporarily disabled replies to the post.

Online Reactions

The tweet was sparked viral debate online, with SpongebBob being the top Twitter trend in the United States from 5pm to 7pm on June 13th.[2]

The tweet was followed with multiple viral memes about the confirmation being posted on Twitter, Instagram, Reddit and other online platforms. For example, a June 13th tweet[3] by @cconsumetherich received over 2,300 retweets and 14,400 likes in two days (shown below, left). A June 14th, post by Redditor[4] Psych_Riot received over 13,800 upvotes in one day (shown below, center).


Mack tvas @cconsumetherich how are we surprised that spongebob gay when he was literally the og of this 2:18 PM · Jun 13, 2020 · Twitter for iPhone People who thought SpongeBob is gay years ago People hearing "SpongeBob is gay" now People when they hear he's actually Asexual because he's a sponge and a cartoon character Who Cares? NICKELODEON 00 what inspired you to make spongebob gay? MONEY

Search Interest

External References

[1] Twitter – @Nickelodeon

[2] Get Day Trends – Twitter Trends in United States

[3] Twitter – @cconsumetherich

[4] Reddit- He. Is. A. Sponge.

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Everything is Terrible
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Everything is Terrible


You guys remember that one time Spongebob gave birth to four smaller versions of himself and nothing came of it? Gave birth, ON COMMAND, just to one up a squirrel. You know what, forget all this LGBTQ+-Carry the Decimal B.S. and let's just focus on what a fuckin' power move that was.

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Jill
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Jill Moderator

In 2005 Hillenburg stated: "I consider them (Spongebob and Patrick) to be almost asexual. We’re just trying to be funny and this [their sexuality] has got nothing to do with the show." I don't personally have a problem with this eventually being extrapolated into him being actually 'confirmed Ace' but this choice sounds more like Hillenburg just had no interest in writing romantic things or going this direction with the show.

Sponges are definitely capable of asexual reproduction (Spongebob himself even does this in the show as a joke), they are also able to reproduce sexually. However, as sponges are sedentary organisms, their sexual reproduction isn't really like that of most animals.

Nick did not call Spongebob gay. The tweet says "Celebrating #Pride with the LGBTQ+ community and their allies this month and every month" and has a picture of Spongebob with a rainbow like hue along with Korra and Schwoz from Henry Danger. As many other people have pointed out, asexual is often considered part of the LGBTQ+ community. There is some controversy as to if Ace's should or should not be included in this. However, the claim 'Nick said Spongebob is gay' is false.

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