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LGBT representation in children's television programming is representation of LGBT topics, themes, and people in television programming meant for children. LGBT representation in children's programming was often uncommon to non-existent for much of television's history up to the 2010s, but has significantly increased since then.
EastSiders is an American dark comedy web series created by Kit Williamson. It premiered on YouTube on December 14, 2012, and began streaming through Logo TV's website on April 23, 2013. Set in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, the series follows couple Thom and Cal (Williamson) as they struggle with infidelity and substance abuse. It also explores the relationship between Kathy, Cal's best friend, and her boyfriend Ian as they reach their six-month anniversary, making it Kathy's longest relationship.
Rebecca Rea Sugar is an American animator and screenwriter. She is best known for being the creator of the Cartoon Network series Steven Universe, making her the first non-binary person to independently create a series for the network; prior to coming out as non-binary, Sugar was described as the first woman to do so. Until 2013, Sugar was a writer and storyboard artist on the animated television series Adventure Time. Her work on the two series has earned her seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Sugar is bisexual, non-binary, and genderqueer, using both she/her and they/them pronouns. Sugar's queerness has served as the inspiration for her to stress the importance of LGBT representation in the arts, especially in children's entertainment.
Faking It is an American romantic comedy television series that premiered on MTV on April 22, 2014, starring Rita Volk, Katie Stevens, Gregg Sulkin, Michael Willett, and Bailey De Young. The series was created by Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov. Carter Covington developed the series and serves as the executive producer. An eight-episode first season was ordered by MTV in October 2013. MTV announced a 10-episode second season set to premiere on September 23, 2014. In August 2014, the show won a Teen Choice Award for "Choice TV Breakout Show". In October 2014, MTV ordered 10 more episodes, meaning season two would have a total of 20 episodes. The series features the first intersex main character on a television show, and included television's first intersex character played by an intersex actor.
Natasha Negovanlis is a Canadian actress, writer, producer, and singer. She achieved international recognition for portraying Carmilla Karnstein in the web series Carmilla (2014–2016) and in the 2017 feature film based on the series.
Carmilla is a Canadian single-frame web series co-created by Jordan Hall, Steph Ouaknine, and Jay Bennett. The series stars Elise Bauman and Natasha Negovanlis, and is loosely based on the novella of the same name by Sheridan Le Fanu. The series premiered on the Vervegirl YouTube channel on August 19, 2014. U by Kotex is the executive producer of the web series. The series takes place at the fictional Silas University in Styria, Austria, and is told through vlogs recorded by Laura, a first-year student. When Laura begins investigating the disappearance of her roommate, she is assigned a new roommate named Carmilla.
Bee and PuppyCat is an American adult animated streaming television series created and written by Natasha Allegri. The series revolves around Bee, an unemployed woman in her early twenties, who encounters a mysterious creature named PuppyCat. She adopts this apparent cat-dog hybrid, and together they go on a series of temporary jobs to pay off her monthly rent. These bizarre jobs take the duo across strange worlds out in space. The original series was produced by Frederator Studios with the animation initially outsourced to South Korean studio Dong Woo Animation.
The Most Popular Girls in School is an American adult stop-motion animated comedy web series that debuted on YouTube on May 1, 2012. Created by Mark Cope and Carlo Moss, the series animates Barbie, Ken and other fashion dolls, usually with customized costumes and hairstyles, as various characters. MPGIS follows the exploits of a fictional high school cheer leading team in Overland Park, Kansas and their friends, family and enemies. Variety described the series as "Mean Girls meets South Park". The first episode has been viewed over 11 million times, and many episodes have received views in the millions.
Just Add Magic is an American live-action family television series, loosely based on the 2010 book of the same name by Cindy Callaghan. It was produced by Amazon Studios. A pilot was produced in 2015 and the series commissioned for a full season the following year. Amazon renewed the series for a second season in June 2016 after it "set a record as the most successful Amazon Original Kids premiere weekend in terms of U.S. Prime Video streams and hours."
OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes is an American animated television series created by Ian Jones-Quartey for Cartoon Network. The show is based on Jones-Quartey's pilot Lakewood Plaza Turbo, which was released as part of Cartoon Network's 2013 Summer Shorts project. It was produced by Cartoon Network Studios. The web series premiered on Cartoon Network's YouTube channel and on Cartoon Network Video on February 4, 2016.
K Alexander (born October 9, 1992) is a Canadian actor, writer, web series creator and YouTube personality, best known as LaFontaine in the popular LGBT web series Carmilla (2014–2016). In 2016, their Kickstarter and Indiegogo-funded web series Couple-ish (2015–2017) was nominated for a Streamy Award.
Sharon Belle is a Canadian actress, best known for her role in the web series Carmilla and Couple-ish.
That's My DJ is a Canadian web series created by D. W. Waterson. The series, created in 2014, follows the lives of several people who work in the Toronto nightlife industry. It has been funded through various Indiegogo crowdfunding campaigns. The first season originally premiered online in 2014, before being re-released in 2016, following the release of the second season on YouTube. A third and final season premiered online July 7, 2017.
Grown-ish is an American sitcom series and a spin-off of the ABC series Black-ish. The single-camera comedy follows the Johnson family's children as they go to college and begin their journeys to adulthood, only to quickly discover that not everything goes their way once they leave the nest. The first four seasons follow eldest daughter Zoey, with Deon Cole, Trevor Jackson, Francia Raisa, Emily Arlook, Jordan Buhat, Chloe Bailey, Halle Bailey, Luka Sabbat and Chris Parnell also starring, while the fifth season onward follows eldest son and Zoey's younger brother Andre Junior as he attends college after Zoey's graduation, with Diggy Simmons and Daniella Perkins also starring.
The depiction of LGBTQ characters in animated series in the 2010s changed significantly from the previous decade; especially in Western animation. This included Rebecca Sugar's Steven Universe which aired on Cartoon Network and praised for going "above and beyond when it comes to inclusive storytelling" The 2010s also brought with it shows such as Adventure Time, The Legend of Korra, BoJack Horseman, OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, Amphibia, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and The Bravest Knight, among others, all of which had strong LGBTQ characters. Representation of LGBTQ characters would only continue to grow in the 2020s.
Netflix has contributed substantially to LGBTQ representation in animation throughout the 2010s and 2020s. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, and transgender characters have appeared in various animated series, and some animated films on the streaming platform. GLAAD described Netflix as a company taking "impressive strides in viewership and impact," when it came to LGBTQ representation. Examples of original Netflix animated series with a large presence of LGBTQ characters include Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. In January 2021, GLAAD specifically highlighted the She-Ra and the Princesses of Power series finale which confirmed "its lead two characters, Catra and Adora, were queer and in love," and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts which starred Benson, a gay character, and his love interest, Troy.
The Disney Channel, which launched in 1983, Disney XD, which began in 2009, Disney Junior, which launched in 2011, and shows on Disney+, along with the short-lived Toon Disney, have all occasionally featured lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) characters in their programming.
References
- ↑ "Fantasy Life (Couple-ish Extended Theme Song )". Archived from the original on 2016-11-22. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ↑ "Five Reasons You Should Be Watching "Couple-ish" - AfterEllen". 15 December 2015.
- ↑ "Couple-ish Episode 1". YouTube .
- ↑ "LGBT-Based Web Series 'Couple-ish' Releases First Episode | The Daily Fandom". 10 December 2015. Archived from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
- ↑ "Couple-ish Episode 22". YouTube .
- ↑ Couple-ish [@coupleish] (29 April 2017). "Heeere we go. Season 2 has begun. New episodes every Saturday at 5pm EST." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ↑ Couple-ish [@coupleish] (17 September 2017). "The finale is finally here." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ↑ "Couple-ish Kickstarter".
- ↑ ""Couple-ish" stars non-binary & queer characters you'll fall in love with - AfterEllen". 28 October 2015. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
- ↑ "Couple-ish Season 2". Indiegogo. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ↑ "Web Series Wednesday – Couple-ish". 27 January 2016.
- ↑ "6th Annual Nominees" . Retrieved 2016-09-20.
