LGBTQ+ themes in My Little Pony
As societal norms change and progress, 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.
LGBT history in the franchise
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 Aunt Lofty and Aunt Holiday, the loving aunts of 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 Rarity and 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.
On September 9, 2019, Sunset Shimmer was confirmed to be bisexual by Katrina Hadley, who thought it was "pretty obvious".[1] In a Q&A, Big Jim said it was up to fans to determine whether or not Applejack & Rainbow Dash were a couple, which would most likely mean they were both LGBT in the first place.[2]
Although not confirmed, Wiz Kid and Curly Winds were shown to display behavior towards each other that seemed romantic in nature, such as blushing in each others presence,[3] holding hands,[4] cuddling[citation needed] and gazing into each others eyes romantically.[citation needed] Interestingly, the two appear to be good friends with Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon, whose pony counterparts were confirmed to be married in "The Last Problem".
LGBT in-universe
In Equestria at least, LGBT appears to have no real stigma attached to it, with no characters really reacting to Holiday and Lofty's relationship as if it were anything but the loving and sincere relationship it was. Likewise, Lyra and Bon Bon were able to get married, meaning same-sex marriage is legal in Equestria.
Borderline cases
- Sappho, an original-character created by Jenn Blake, appeared in a few amount of official works, all drawn by Blake herself. Blake's background for the character portrays here as a lesbian who is either in a relationship with Rarity, or has feelings for her. Additionally, the name Sappho is derived from the famous LGBT/Lesbian icon, Sappho of Lesbos.
- Little Cheese was described as being a boy, despite having a female animation model, though some other works, such as the Mobile game, describes Cheese as being a girl. Big Jim has said that their gender is whatever the viewer decides.
In crossovers
Arcee, and possibly Howlback, two transgender Cybertronians, have appeared in Transformers-based crossover events.
See also
References
- ↑ Hadley, Katrina (9/25/2019). FYI Sunset is bi. So there, haters. Retrieved on 9/25/2019.
- ↑ Big Jim's Q&A On the Friendship is Magic Finale (Also Confirming AJ's Parents Died) (10/23/2019). Retrieved on 10/23/2019.
- ↑ Equestria Girls: Holidays Unwrapped
- ↑ Equestria Girls: Rollercoaster of Friendship
