Spongebob, gay? Finally? Nickelodeon published a tweet on Saturday that many are taking as Spongebob's coming out.
Spongebob, illuminated in rainbow colors, was featured alongside Avatar Korra from The Legend of Korra who identifies as bisexual, and actor Michael D. Cohen from Henry Danger who made a gender transition 20 years ago, in a tweet from the network celebrating LGBTQ Pride.
Wrote Nickelodeon: “Celebrating #Pride with the LGBTQ+ community and their allies this month and every month.”
Spongebob's late creator Stephen Hillenburg, spoke out 15 years ago when Spongebob came under attack from conservative groups. Hillenburg proclaimed that the undersea character was asexual, but of course a lot can change in 15 years.
“We never intended them to be gay,” said Hillenburg in 2005. “I consider them to be almost asexual. We're just trying to be funny and this has got nothing to do with the show.”
In any case, SpongeBob has developed into a queer icon and that doesn't appear likely to change anytime soon.
