I promised I wouldn’t do this, but it’s Monday.
A recent survey of cartoon archivists revealed the following:
15% believe Snagglepuss became gay as the result of some genetic/psychosexual breakdown.
85% believe he was sucked into it.
As a kid, I, too, thought that Paul Lynde was just very funny, while Charles Nelson Reilly struck me, too, as being a little, um, “theatrical”?
But, now, I watch Lynde on old episodes of “Bewitched”, and he definitely sets off the gaydar.
It’s because he was pink. What orientation do you think a pink mountain lion would have?
Cartoon Anatomy is cartoon destiny.
Except…
The cartoons were pre-1970 and the club was post-1980. Then there was the 18th Century English furniture maker, Thomas Chippendale. No idea what his sexual orientation or speech pattern was, but most likely the source of the cartoon names was Olde Tom.
This doesn’t scream “gay” to you? 
He was born that way.
I think he was drawn into it quite early.
kunilou said:
With regards to The Cowardly Lion, it is fairly clear that the movie was using the gay mannerisms for shorthand to demonstrate his “unmanliness”. It was a process of equivocation: coward = unmanly = “gay”.
Gay in quotes because we’re never shown the Cowardly Lion fantasizing about men or trying to hump the Tin Man or anything, but the portrayal and mannerisms scream effeminate.
Snagglepuss might have been something similar - not so much intended to mean he likes male companionship, but rather just as shorthand to exemplify his non-masculinity.
Of course time has affected our expectations and interpretations.
By the time I was in High School, however, I had figured out these guys: http://www.threestooges.com/
I used to love to watch Snagglepuss when he first aired. It never occurred to me that he was gay; he just had this theatrical bent, and I had friends & relatives who were “theatrical.”
“Exit, stage left!”
But a lot of things went over my head in those days. :rolleyes:
While both he and the Cowardly Lion are somewhat effeminate, their voice pattern is very distinct from the modern idea of stereotypical gay speech. It actually reminds me more of things like Samantha from Sex and the City. The kind of affectation certain rich people take on.
I had missed the outing, too… thought he always was.
To flesh out more what I was saying about The Cowardly Lion, they were using shorthand of the audience’s expectations to flesh out the idea of him being a coward, using stereotypes of the time. He calls himself a sissy and gets ribbons in his hair, for cryin’ out loud.
In the '80s, they would have put him in big rimmed glasses and a pocket protector, and given him a sniveling/honking/preposterous laugh. Audiences would have immediately gotten it.
I don’t know nowadays what they would do. Have him argue Star Trek versus Star Gate - with himself? Speak with a French accent?
The Cowardly Lion was gay, not a nerd.
Yeah, it’s sad, believe me, Missy, When you’re born to be a sissy…
I’m afraid there’s no denyin’ I’m just a Dandy Lion…
Think about Gomer Pyle…wait…never mind…
Compared to their counterparts over at Warner Bros. the Goofy Gophers, Chip 'n Dale are straight as an arrow.
I had no idea that Snagglepuss was pink, as we had black and white TV all throughout my childhood. Didn’t know Gilligan’s shirt was red, neither.
ministryman, they were trying to depict him as a wimp, a scaredy-cat. In the '80s, a skinny guy with big rimmed glasses, buck teeth, and a goofy laugh would have screamed “WIMP”.
It is my contention (and not just mine) that they were actively using “sissy” stereotypes to depict “coward”. In the '80s they might have used “nerd” stereotypes to depict “coward”.
Now did the movie creators mean to depict The Cowardly Lion as a cock-craver, or did they just want to depict him as a wimp? Effiminacy was shorthand for their intent, not the end result sought.
Of course, one might argue they really did mean for him to be after men, that it was a shout out to homosexuals or something. But I think it more likely they were using stereotypes as shorthand, rather than making some social statement about sexual preference.
Irishman, your analysis makes a lot of sense to me. Back in 1939, “sissy” didn’t mean “gay” – “gay” (or homo or fruity or whatever) wasn’t a major category in popular culture. I’m thinking of Eric Blore’s characters in the Fred and Ginger films – he played fussy, prissy characters, usually a servant of some sort, but I don’t think there was any intent to show him as gay.
A study by Philadelphia’s Monell Chemical Senses Center, published in the Journal of Psychological Science reported that “gay men were found to be particularly good at detecting the musk of other gay men”.[6][7]
“What makes a muskrat guard his musk? Courage!”
Actually I thought the Tin Man gave off more of a gay vibe than the Cowardly Lion.
The problem with Snagglepuss or the Cowardly Lion is that you’re assuming that people’s perceptions were the same when they were created as how they are today. It’s a common fallacy.
People in 1939 or 1959 did not look at things the same way we do.
So to answer the OP: The characters were not designed or intended to be gay when they were created, but 21 century stereotyping makes people think they are now.