LGBTQ representation in animated series in 2020 and beyond

In the past year, various series have premiered on broadcast television and streaming platforms with LGBTQ characters and diverse casts. While there is still progress going forward, as every single major studio had failing, poor, or insufficient ratings for LGBTQ-inclusive films in 2019, according to the recent Studio Responsibility Index released by GLAAD, there were a number of LGBTQ characters in animated series which appeared in 2020 on platforms such as Netflix, HBO Max, CBS All Access / Paramount +,  YouTube, Cartoon Network, Rooster Teeth and Syfy’s TZGZ animation block, with hope for more in the years to come. Despite the dismal events of 2020, these series are making a big impact when it comes to interesting, strong, and complicated stories for LGBTQ characters, and should be praised for that, regardless of whether the shows are aimed at young adults, children, or mature adults.

Three big animated series ended this year: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, and Steven Universe Future. She-Ra began streaming on Netflix in November 2018, while Steven Universe Future, the limited epilogue series of the inclusive Cartoon Network series, Steven Universe, began in the fall of 2019, and Kipo, another Netflix show, began in January of this year. All three made strides in representation. In addition to those series, there were a host of new and continuing shows like the new all-ages series Cleopatra of Space, an existing all-ages animation titled DC Super Hero Girls, the Mexican animated series, Victor & Valentino, the mature animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks, and two YouTube-hosted series (Helluva Boss and My Pride: The Series) that all had LGBTQ characters as well. The same could be said about Magical Girl Friendship Squad, a wonderful mature animation which parodied the magical girl genre, specifically anime like Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura, its pilot series, Magical Girl Friendship Squad: Origins, the epilogue series titled Adventure Time: Distant Lands, and the children’s animated series The Owl House. Other series that shined included RWBY, a young adult animation, and the ongoing series, Big Mouth.

In 2020, lesbian characters appeared throughout these animated series. For example, the final season of Noelle Stevenson’s She-Ra ended with an episode where the two protagonists, Catra and Adora, shown above, kiss and save the world (and universe) from destruction, with the show’s villains defeated in one fell swoop. The show included a lesbian couple (Spinnerella and Netossa), and two other lesbian couples (Light Hope and Mara, Scorpia and Perfuma) were either shown in the show or identified by the show’s creators, while Huntara was shown to be a lesbian character who may have a crush on Adora. At the same time, characters like Pearl and Garnet (a fusion of two Gem beings, Ruby and Sapphire) were shown to be lesbians in the original series, Steven Universe, but not in the epilogue series. Even so, Bismuth was implied to have a crush on Pearl. Additionally, the two moms of a superhero girl, Jessica Cruz (also known as Green Lantern), were introduced in an April 2020 episode of DC Super Hero Girls, while the two moms of Akila (Theoda and Pothina) were introduced in an episode of Cleopatra of Space.

Apart from these examples, Xochi was strongly implied to be lesbian and be in a relationship with Amabel in Victor & Valentino, as a planned date in the Season 2 episode “Carmelita” between Xochi and Amabel was unknowingly foiled by the show’s protagonists. In The Owl House, Amity, a teenage witch, who falls in love with Luz, was confirmed as lesbian by show creator Dana Terrace. Noting is the mate of Hover in the show My Pride: The Series and Ilia Amitola, who has a crush on series protagonist Blake Belladonna, and a lesbian couple (Saphron and Terra Cotta-Arc) appeared for brief moments in the eighth volume/season of RWBY. In the case of Magical Girl Friendship Squad, Daisy, one of the protagonists who is living with a brown-skinned woman named Alex, was shown to be a lesbian, whether through having an ex who worked at a local urgent care clinic named Yolanda or Pansy, the “monogamous live-in girlfriend” in one of the alternative universes. Additionally, Daisy was said to have slept with every barista in a local coffee shop, while Nut, the animal companion of Alex and Daisy, had a former relationship with Verus, the villain. In October 2020, the creator of Star Trek: Lower Decks, Mike McMahan, in an interview with Variety, confirmed that Captain Amina Ramsey was ex-girlfriend of Beckett Mariner at Starfleet Academy, and promised that the series would explore more LGBTQ storylines in its second season.

Gay characters also appeared in various animated series in the past year. For instance, Adora’s friend, Bow, in She-Ra, has two dads, George and Lance, while Rogelio and Kyle were hinted to be in a gay relationship, confirmed by series creator Noelle Stevenson. Furthermore, there were multiple gay characters in The Hollow, and a character in The Owl House, Willow, a friend of Luz, has two dads. While Corvin having a crush on a character only known as “Coffee Dude” in Magical Girl Friendship Squad was implied, it was Kipo which made headlines when it came to gay characters. That is because Benson comes out as gay to Kipo, the show’s titular protagonist, a half-Korean and half-Black girl, who is also half-human and half-mutant. He later has a boyfriend named Troy, and their romance is an important subplot in the show’s final season, as shown in the above image.

The same could be said for bisexual characters, to an extent. In She-Ra, Bow and Glimmer, two of the show’s main characters, were implied to be bisexual, as was Sea Hawk, due to his relationship with a princess named Mermista, and previous relationship with a man named Falcon. More significant was a bisexual princess named Entrapta, who is autistic and Luz, a teenage Dominican-American witch in The Owl House, who is shown, and confirmed, to be bisexual. A mature animated series, Harley Quinn, on HBO Max, focused on the relationship between two bisexual women, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, which blossoms with various kisses and a romantic ending to the show’s most recent season. Another mature series, Helluva Boss, which had a pilot in November 2019, showed a few episodes this year, which featured two bisexual characters: Moxxie and Stolas. In a bold announcement, Arryn Zech, voice actor of Blake in RWBY confirmed that she was bisexual in a video stream. Additionally, the fact that Ramsey, in Star Trek: Lower Decks was Mariner’s ex-girlfriend, that Mariner previously dated Steve Levy, and that, as McMahan put it, “every Starfleet officer is probably at the baseline bisexual,” with none intentionally made straight or cisgender, strongly hints that she is bisexual – or perhaps even pansexual, which wouldn’t be a first for characters in 2020, as Blitzo, in Helluva Boss, is pansexual.

Finally, there were various non-binary, genderfluid, and trans characters in animated series in 2020, a true sign that things are changing in the realm of animated television. For one, in She-Ra is a non-binary shapeshifter named Double Trouble, who has a pivotal role in the show’s last two seasons, Asher, a friend of Kipo, confirmed to be non-binary by those working on the show, and Y5, a teenage scientist and rabbit with an ambiguous gender. Steven Universe Future, on the other had at least two non-binary characters. For one, the non-binary and intersex fusion of Steven and his friend, Connie, Stevonnie, makes a reappearance in the series. Secondly, a non-binary person, appears and helps Steven get over his feelings of resentment toward his friends “leaving him” and is shown to be the partner of Sadie, a singer of a former band in the town. Apart from this, every single Gem being featured in the show is a non-binary woman, as asserted by series creator Rebecca Sugar. May Marigold in RWBY is a trans woman, as is a new character in Big Mouth named Natalie, and Jewelstar, voiced by a trans male actor, Alex Blue Davis, appeared in an episode of She-Ra.

And, perhaps the most interesting intersection of gender and sexuality in 2020 was the episode “Obsidian” of Adventure Time: Distant Lands, which focused on the relationship between a bisexual woman Marceline “Marcy” the Vampire Queen and Princess Bonnibel “Bonnie” Bubblegum, of a not-yet-known sexual orientation. In the final episode of the original series, Adventure Time, Marcy and Bonnie had kissed, making their relationship canon, with this episode giving more of their backstory and their relationship together.

With these 15 animated series, and others like The Loud House, BoJack Horseman, Castlevania, Hoops, and DuckTales, along with minor characters in Clifford the Big Red Dog and T.O.T.S, there is hope in the future for diverse storylines and expanded representation. For one, it is possible that Kipo will come back in 2021, not just in a comic form, but as a movie, as the series creator, Rad Sechrist, promoted a hashtag for a movie about Wolf, one of the story’s protagonists. Secondly, in January 2021, the final season of Carmen Sandiego will premiere on Netflix, which could end with a lesbian relationship between Carmen and Julia “Jules” Argent, and the new series, DeadEndia, streaming the same year will have a trans teenager named Barney as one of the protagonists.

Next year may bring the second season of The Owl House, with a growing relationship between the two teenage witches, Luz and Amity, a new season of the all-ages animation, Lumberjanes, the mature animated series Hazbin Hotel – created by the same people as Helluva Boss – chock full of LGBTQ characters, the series, Q-Force, which centers around a group of LGBTQ superheroes, the animated web series Gen:Lock, which features a genderfluid character named Val(entina) Romanyszyn, and the upcoming series S.A.L.E.M.: The Secret Archive of Legends, Enchantments, and Monsters. For the latter series, it has already been established that one of the protagonists (Salem) is non-binary and pansexual cryptid, joined by a gay photographer named Oliver, and an asexual psychic medium named Petra. If McMahan follows through on his promise in the interview he had with Variety magazine, the next season of Star Trek: Lower Decks will explore Mariner’s implied bisexual identity and if rumors are true, then the third season of Final Space will have LGBTQ characters. Similarly, the original pitches of Sara Eissa’s animated action-adventure series, Astur’s Rebellion, which Crunchyroll turned down this year, which has a diverse cast, and the 2d animated series Recorded by Arizal, the prelude which aired on Rooster Teeth, both had LGBTQ protagonists. If these series move into production, then this would expand further stories for LGBTQ characters in animation. So, there’s a lot to look forward to in 2021 in terms of animated series and these developments will undoubtedly affect the ongoing war between streaming platforms for more subscribers, profits for themselves, and film distribution itself.