'SpongeBob Gay' trends after Nickelodeon shares colorful picture of SquarePants to celebrate Pride Month 2020
“SpongeBob gay,” wrote many on Twitter, causing the phrase to trend on Saturday, June 13. SpongeBob, of course, is the titular character of the Nickelodeon animated series ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ that premiered in 1999 and has since been immortalized in popular culture and memes.
What triggered this trend was the official Nickelodeon Twitter account sharing rather colorful artworks of SpongeBob, Schwoz Schwartz from 'Henry Danger,' and Korra from the 'Avatar' spin-off show 'Legend of Korra' with the caption: “Celebrating #Pride with the LGBTQ+ community and their allies this month and every month.”
The argument that SpongeBob is gay has been up there for a while now. In 2002, when the episode ‘Rock-a-Bye Bivalve’ first aired, it caused some controversy. In the episode, SpongeBob and Patrick Star adopted an abandoned baby scallop. SpongeBob took the role of the mother and Patrick of the father. The show was accused of promoting gay marriage. Not many, however, considered that sea sponges were neither male nor female.
In the same year, series creator Stephen Hillenburg addressed these issues. He said, “I always think of [the characters] as being somewhat asexual... I do think that the attitude of the show is about tolerance. Everybody is different, and the show embraces that. No one is shut out.”
While Nickelodeon has not specified anything -- SpongeBob may as well be gay, trans, asexual, or just an ally -- it turned off the option for anyone to reply to the tweet, keeping the ambiguity on the subject intact.
Twitter users, however, were all for it. One wrote, “Announcing Spongebob being gay then turning comments off cause it ain’t no debate. Nickelodeon snapped.”
Others once again pointed at the direction of the 2002 episode. A twitter user wrote, “Spongebob gay? I mean he literally had a baby with Patrick.” More still joked about the probable reactions of conservatives at the announcement, with GIFs and videos of people angrily running and shouting.
Addressing Hillenburg’s 2002 comments on SpongeBob, many also pointed out that asexuality was part of the queer umbrella. A Twitter user wrote, “A lot of people are saying ‘Spongebob is asexual according to Stephen Hillenburg’ and I just wanna point out that would still make him queer, aces are queer, he can be a gay ace, he’s allowed to wear the rainbow too, guys.”
Another wrote, “Everyone tweeting ‘SpongeBob gay’ as if Stephen Hillenburg didn't confirm that he's asexual like 15 years ago; sis he's been an LGBTQIA+ icon since 2005!”
“Nickelodeon just fucking wrecked all of the aphobes by saying SpongeBob is asexual and LGBTQIA+,” wrote another fan.
A Twitter user commented on the trend and marveled, “I love that it's not even ‘SpongeBob is gay’. Everyone went so feral so quickly that it's just ‘SpongeBob gay’.”