# Are there any out gay CHARACTERS on Disney or Nickoledeon? If not... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 3, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210 "2013-08-03T01:10:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/1 "2013-08-03T01:10:20Z")
how long do you think it will be before that changes? For that matter, are there any openly gay actors playing characters on a show on either network? [(Prompted by this article about Raven-Symone.)](http://hollywoodlife.com/2013/08/02/raven-symone-gay-comes-out-twitter-finally-get-married/) ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/2 "2013-08-03T01:21:05Z")
Oooo! That’s so GAY-ven. 😃 Damn, she’s cute too. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/3 "2013-08-03T01:21:55Z")
An upcoming episode of GOOD LUCK CHARLIE is apparently set to feature a lesbian couple. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/4 "2013-08-03T01:30:30Z")
No gay characters on the Disney Channel, although TV guide just announced that an episode of the show “Good Luck, Charlie” set to air next year will have a lesbian couple. [http://www.tvguide.com/News/Disney-Channel-Same-Sex-Couple-1066972.aspx?rss=breakingnews&utm\_source=feedly](http://www.tvguide.com/News/Disney-Channel-Same-Sex-Couple-1066972.aspx?rss=breakingnews&utm_source=feedly) No openly gay characters on Nickelodeon, although the Canadian high school drama/soap “Degrassi: The Next Generation”, which aired on Nickelodeon’s sister channel, N (now Teen Nick), had gay characters. No idea about actors. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/5 "2013-08-03T01:43:56Z")
Captain Li Shang, from _Mulan,_ who slowly fell head-over-heels in love with Ping. Until he found out that Ping had girl parts, at which point he … remained in love with her. Big, two-handed slap in the face to the whole “born that way” idea for sexual orientation, but what are ya gonna do? Good to see that they’re finally addressing this issue. Next up for Disney: Cannibalism! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/6 "2013-08-03T01:55:07Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Captain Li Shang, from _Mulan,_ who slowly fell head-over-heels in love with Ping. > > Until he found out that Ping had girl parts, at which point he … remained in love with her. Big, two-handed slap in the face to the whole “born that way” idea for sexual orientation Ah, but to quote the world’s leading expert on the subject: _“'Baby, you were born this way, no matter gay, straight or bi.”_ ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/7 "2013-08-03T02:54:15Z")
**High School Musical** ’s Ryan Evans is as gay as Disney could get away with on air, and is explicitly gay in the stage version. That musical number he did with Chad in HSM2 was pretty homoerotic (& in the next scene they’re wearing each other’s shirts). **Drake & Bell** has it’s moments too. The writers of these types of shows seem to love sneaking crap past the radar. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/8 "2013-08-03T02:58:01Z")
Wikipedia has several [lists of TV shows with LGBT characters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_television_programs_with_LGBT_characters), but a quick look through them didn’t turn up any Disney or Nick shows. This doesn’t mean there haven’t been any, of course. Sorry this is so vague, but a few years back I remember reading about some family or children’s TV show that had a little boy character with stereotypically gay interests and mannerisms. I want to say that this show was mostly about a family and that this boy was the friend of one of their children. Whatever this show was I never saw it and I don’t know what it was called or what channel it aired on, but IIRC what I read was that the show’s creators did intend for this character to be gay. I feel like the article even said there was a “vision of the future” scene where the adult version of this character was shown with a man who was implied to be his boyfriend. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/9 "2013-08-03T03:24:20Z")
Slightly OT: The comic strip “For Better or For Worse” has a character, Lawrence, who came out in his late teens. When it happened, in the mid 1990s, the strip’s creator said that she had always known that Lawrence would be gay, from the time she introduced him to the strip as a preschooler, and was simply waiting for him to be old enough to recognize it. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/10 "2013-08-03T03:31:37Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Sorry this is so vague, but a few years back I remember reading about some family or children’s TV show that had a little boy character with stereotypically gay interests and mannerisms. I want to say that this show was mostly about a family and that this boy was the friend of one of their children. Whatever this show was I never saw it and I don’t know what it was called or what channel it aired on, but IIRC what I read was that the show’s creators did intend for this character to be gay. I feel like the article even said there was a “vision of the future” scene where the adult version of this character was shown with a man who was implied to be his boyfriend. This sounds very familiar, but for the life of me I can’t think of the show name either. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/11 "2013-08-03T03:48:35Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > This sounds very familiar, but for the life of me I can’t think of the show name either. [Oliver Beene](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Beene). The gay kid was Oliver’s best friend, Michael. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/12 "2013-08-03T04:21:45Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Captain Li Shang, from _Mulan,_ who slowly fell head-over-heels in love with Ping. > > Until he found out that Ping had girl parts, at which point he … remained in love with her. Big, two-handed slap in the face to the whole “born that way” idea for sexual orientation, but what are ya gonna do? Eh. Victor/Victoria did it long before. Usually the men are dragged kicking and screaming into the realization they’re falling in love with this supposed other man and then the big reveal and all is well. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/13 "2013-08-03T04:35:27Z")
Raven-Symone is coming out? I thought she had been openly gay for several years now. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/14 "2013-08-03T14:11:34Z")
The kids’ networks will be slower than the adult ones to have gay characters, even absent any bias against them. A lot of characters on such networks’ shows will be young enough that they don’t really have any well-defined sexuality. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/15 "2013-08-03T15:20:14Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Eh. Victor/Victoria did it long before. Usually the men are dragged kicking and screaming into the realization they’re falling in love with this supposed other man and then the big reveal and all is well. For that matter, it goes back at least to Twelfth Night by Shakespeare. Count Orsino loves him some Viola in drag. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/16 "2013-08-03T15:24:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The kids’ networks will be slower than the adult ones to have gay characters, even absent any bias against them. A lot of characters on such networks’ shows will be young enough that they don’t really have any well-defined sexuality. I don’t think there are actually a lot of shows about children that young. And while I’m not up on current children’s shows, when I was a kid it was certainly very common for characters on children’s shows to have heterosexual crushes, so it’s not like the sexual orientations of child/adolescent characters has traditionally been left unaddressed. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/17 "2013-08-03T15:28:15Z")
I do not and can not accept that SpongeBob Squarepants is straight. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/18 "2013-08-03T15:49:14Z")
My kids watch a cartoon called Sophia the First. The castle steward is queer as a three dollar bill, although they don’t expressly assign any sexuality to him. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/19 "2013-08-03T15:58:07Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > I do not and can not accept that SpongeBob Squarepants is straight. He’s in love with a [gay fish](http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/224099/im-going-home). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210/20 "2013-08-03T16:02:31Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > I do not and can not accept that SpongeBob Squarepants is straight. Oh, he is. He’s got the hots for Sandy the squirrel, but those pesky scuba suits get in the way. 😃 Squidward, however, is DEFINITELY gay, although involuntarily celibate. I wonder if Larry the Lobster is too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-out-gay-characters-on-disney-or-nickoledeon-if-not/665210.md?page=2)