Nickelodeon announce that Spongebob is part of the LGBTQ+ community
15 June 2020, 14:01 | Updated: 15 June 2020, 16:01
"SpongeBob is asexual biromantic, thank you for coming to my TedTalk."
In case you were wondering, SpongeBob SquarePants is officially part of the LGBTQ+ community.
In a tweet posted on Saturday (June 13), Nickelodeon wrote: "Celebrating #Pride with the LGBTQ+ community and their allies this month and every month," alongside pictures of SpongeBob, Schwoz Schwartz from Henry Danger (played by Michael D. Cohen) and Korra from Avatar: The Last Airbender spin-off Legends of Korra.
READ MORE: Nickelodeon goes off air for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in tribute to George Floyd
Celebrating #Pride with the LGBTQ+ community and their allies this month and every month ๐ โฃ
— Nickelodeon (@Nickelodeon) June 13, 2020
(๐จ: by @ramzymasri) pic.twitter.com/pENmTaQB0h
Michael D. Cohen (who plays Schwoz) previously opened up about his own transition, and Korra identifies as bisexual.
While most people were surprised about SpongeBob's LGBTQ+ identity, many fans pointed out that SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg previously revealed to Wall Street Journal in 2002 that he intended the characters on the show to be asexual.
And in 2005, he doubled down in an interview with Reuters after a conservative group said the show was promoting a "gay agenda", saying: "We never intended them to be gay. I consider them to be almost asexual."
Many fans were absolutely thrilled to see SpongeBob included in the tweet, with people who identify as asexual also applauding Nickelodeon for including asexuals in the LGBTQ+ spectrum.
Fans were also living for the fact that Nickelodeon turned off the replies on the tweet, leaving no room for negative comments under the celebratory post.
I donโt care if spongebob is asexual, bisexual or gay, I stan him pic.twitter.com/qzLD47aCnv
— APOLLO๐ช (@ApolloLXXXIX) June 13, 2020
asexual spongebob is a queer icon https://t.co/IhqkN4lt5O
— tyler oakley (@tyleroakley) June 13, 2020
spongebob is asexual biromantic, thank you for coming to my tedtalk. pic.twitter.com/3K5wJDdBE4
— ๐๐๐ (@banditovee) June 13, 2020
A lot of people are saying โSpongebob is asexual according to Stephen Hillenburgโ and I just wanna point out that would still make him queer, aces are queer, he can be a gay ace, heโs allowed to wear the rainbow too guys #Pride #PrideMonth #AIsNotForAlly #AcesAreLGBTQ https://t.co/phqavPuDHr
— Elle Rose ๐ค๐ค๐ (@scretladyspider) June 13, 2020
nickelodeon turning off replies pic.twitter.com/PKkW0sGwzB
— mary goore (@dunwaIl) June 13, 2020
UH SPONGEBOB IS FUCKING ASEXUAL
— tayl๐ธr j๐คseph โข BLM/ACAB | PRIDE 2020 โช (@gem_drill) June 13, 2020
๐ค๐ค๐๐งฝ๐ณ๏ธโ๐ https://t.co/zYaX3fhH09 pic.twitter.com/iYxggyd5Br
Let's all give it up for our asexual icon, Spongebob! ๐ค๐ค๐ pic.twitter.com/QM0IEl75OX
— ๐ ๐ด๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐ข ๐ฒ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ (@is_spinel) June 13, 2020