Congrats to Spongebob Squarepants on coming out! We think.
Nickelodeon posted a somewhat cryptic tweet on Saturday, June 13, about celebrating Pride with the LGBTQ community and their allies not only this month but every month.
Celebrating #Pride with the LGBTQ+ community and their allies this month and every month 🌈
(🎨: by @ramzymasri) pic.twitter.com/pENmTaQB0h— Nickelodeon (@Nickelodeon) June 13, 2020
The adored cartoon character was included in the tweet, leading many to believe that he was either gay or part of the LGBTQ community. Others featured were Schwoz Schwartz from Henry Danger and Korra from the Avatar spin-off show Legend of Korra.
What Nickelodeon did, and perhaps in a clever way, is not address Spongebob’s sexuality or even mention if he is part of the LGBTQ community in the tweet. It was left open to interpretation.
Reactions on social media about the news were mixed with many claiming they’ve known for years that Spongebob might be gay or bi.
“We always knew Spongebob had a little sugar in his tank.”
“Duh they just realized this? Let him life his damn life in the pineapple under the sea.”
“I think he is bi because he had a crush on Sandy & was a baby momma to Patrick & is In love with Squidward.”
Another big hypothesis about Nickelodeon’s tweet is that Spongebob is simply an ally of the community as that word is used as the caption.
The network was praised, regardless, for the news. RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Violet Chachki and many more showed them nothing but love for their decision with naysayers being constantly shut down over the matter.
Spongebob Squarepants made its debut over two decades ago in 1999. It is the fifth-longest running American animated series that has generated a whopping $13 billion dollars for the network itself as of late 2017.