LGBTQ+ themes in My Little Pony: Difference between revisions

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[[File:S9E26 Lyra and Bon Bon together forever.png|thumb|270px|[[Wedding of Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon|The wedding of Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon]], the first shown, confirmed marriage between two same-sex individuals]]
 
{{Q|With Josh and Nicole running the final season together, it was something we all wanted to do — bring this out couple into the final season and make them [LGBT people] ‘officially’ a part of the MLP world. My Little Pony has always been about friendship and accepting people (or ponies) that are different from you. So it just felt like something important to do.|[[NicoleMichael DubucVogel]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.redstate.com/alexparker/2019/06/13/woking-toddlers-little-pony-introduces-first-animated-maned-lesbians-discovery-family/ |title=There's Going To Be A Lesbian Couple On "My Little Pony" |last=Strapagiel |first=Lauren |date=June 12, 2019 |website= |publisher= |accessdate=May 3 2020 |quote=}}</ref>}}
 
As societal norms change and progress, '''{{W|LGBT}}''' representation in ''[[My Little Pony]]'' progressed greatly. In the late [[2010s]], numerous characters were confirmed to be LGBT and a handful of new ones were introduced. In an out-of-universe perspective, ''My Little Pony'' was the target of numerous anti-LGBT controversies and strikes, due to its depiction of rainbows and other iconography attributed with LGBT culture in the earlier seasons, to outrage regarding same-sex couples in the later seasons.
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Unfortunately due to the cultural climate of media in the 80s all the way to most of the 2010s, LGBT representation was rare and often reserved for more adult media, and was often used as more of a joke rather than a fundamental feature of a character. Starting in the later years of the 2010s, cartoons and television shows aimed at children and Networks themselves tended to be more comfortable with the idea of LGBT characters. ''Avatar: The Legend of Korra'' and ''Adventure Time'' famously built long-form story arcs around same sex couples and ''Steven Universe'' featured many LGBT figures as main characters and often had LGBT themes and plots as main focuses for storylines.
 
In 2017, ''My Little Pony'' received its first same-sex couple in the form of {{IDWFIM|Aunt Lofty}} and {{IDWFIM|Aunt Holiday}}, the loving aunts of {{IDWFIM|Scootaloo}}. These characters were later brought into the cartoon canon debuting in "[[The Last Crusade]]" in which they were the driving force as to why Scootaloo got to stay in Ponyville. Though their comic counterparts were never technically confirmed, they were quite romantic with each other and it was written in the ''[[Ponyville Mysteries]]'' novels, which the comics were sequels to, that they kissed each other, essentially confirming they were in love.
 
In [[2018]], ''[[Equestria Girls: Rollercoaster of Friendship]]'' was released, and was originally set to feature a romantic relationship between {{EQG|Rarity}} and {{EQG|Applejack}}, but it was eventually dropped. This was referenced in the next two ''[[Equestria Girls]]'' specials, ''[[Equestria Girls: Spring Breakdown]]'' and ''[[Equestria Girls: Sunset Shimmer's Backstage Pass]]'' in which Rarity fell for a young man named [[Ragamuffin]] and Applejack fell for a musician named [[Dirk Thistleweed]], both of whom resembled the other strongly.