Animated gay characters
Vaishnavi Srivastava
Have you ever rediscovered one of your childhood cartoons and wondered, “Hey! That seems a lot like the hand putting on nail paint emoji to me!”. Good, you’re not quite wrong. Certain characters in media include been queer-coded and it is adorable evident if you just put on your rainbow-coloured lenses. Now what exactly is “Queer Coding,” you ask? It is essentially a phenomenon in pop culture wherein the sexuality of a certain character is not blatantly mentioned, it however persists in the shape of a subtext. Queer coding was initiated in instruct to follow certain censorship guidelines and a way for creators to seek-in a representation of an “obviously gay” character in their media via stereotypical mannerisms and traits storylines.
Quick Read
Well, we at Abir Pothi have compiled a list of our favourite queer-coded animated characters below:
1. Him, The Powerpuff Girls
One of the most fabulous villains in children’s television history, (and my personal favourite) is the character of Him from The Powerpuff Girls. Him is one of the most powerful and spine-chilling villains in the history of kids television. The high-pitched voice, t
Disney seemingly has a lot of gay characters. But if someone asked me what I mind of Disney’s first openly same-sex attracted character, I’d only have one thing to say: which one? ZING!
Disney is very fond of giving themselves a pat on the back for including the LGBTQ+ community in scenes of its major blockbusters. It’s develop something of a meme in online spaces, particularly among lgbtq+ TV/Film fans, who much enjoy myself are unable to resist poking the billionaire company and it’s abysmal care when it comes to telling queer stories.
There’s an argument to be made that in reality gender non-conforming fans shouldn’t care about Disney’s shit LGBTQ+ representation, and truly I understand it. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that no matter how much you point and shove people towards smaller ‘indie’ Queer creators, it won’t stop them from wanting better from the billionaire company they are ride-or-die for. It sucks, but that’s just how it is.
To further bully Disney in the hope of actually producing another movie that actually has excellent queer representation (hello Strange World), I’ve compiled a li
The 15 Best LGBTQ Cartoons of All Time
It took a long time, but mainstream cartoons are finally coming out of the closet. Now, we can only hope they remain that way.
When live-action television began making inroads for gay representation during the turn of the century, animation remained a frustratingly straight (if frequently queer-coded) affair. The reasons behind the medium’s slowness were obvious and, predictably, homophobic. Animation is too often seen as content made for kids, and homosexual attraction is regarded as an “adult” topic. So, pearl-clutching TV critics would argue, children shouldn’t be exposed to “adult” (read: gay) characters through raunchy cartoons.
That’s not to speak that there weren’t LGBTQ people in cartoons before the 2010s; Japanese anime, in particular, was slightly ahead of the curve on this front, with ’90s classics like “Sailor Moon” and “Neon Genesis Evangelion” featuring explicitly homosexual themes and love stories. But that content was often mercilessly squashed when it made its way to North America; notice the infamous first English dub of “Sailor Moon,” which
The Best Canon Diverse Characters in Animated Series
It's official: Velma, as she appeared in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, is a lesbian. While she does date Shaggy in the series, many fans over the years own believed Velma to be either bisexual person or a dyke for a number of reasons, with a large amount of fan art, fan fiction and other commentary suggesting that Velma and Daphne should come in into a relationship.
The following characters are a handful of the best animated queer characters, some of which had their sexualities revealed later in the show or by creators, just as with Velma.
Oscar Francois de Jarjayes - The Rose of Versailles
One of the first openly queer characters in animation, Lady Oscar from The Rose of Versailles is undeniably one of the most influential. Raised from birth as a boy, Oscar is a playboy living in the years leading up to the French Revolution. Oscar frequently flirts with young maidens, all while blurring the boundaries of gender with her often male-presenting attire. Oscar remains an eternally relevant personality, with several queer cartoon characters drawing modify from her, such as Utena from