History of LGBTQ characters in animated series: 2000s

Anime and Western animated shows built upon the representation of LGBTQ characters in the previous decade and that which existed in the years before. The 2000s brought with it Queer Duck, the first animated TV series on U.S. television which featured homosexuality as a major theme, an alien named Roger in American Dad who had an ambiguous sexuality, and an assortment of other shows. This included the yuri-focused Simoun and Strawberry Panic. Thiw would set the stage for shows to come in the 2010s which further increased LGBTQ representation in animation.

To see the list of LGBTQ characters in the 2000s, please read the Animated series with LGBT characters: 2000s page, which is subdivided into pages for 2000–2004 and 2005–2009.

Anime rebounds in the early 2000s

In the early years of the 21st century, the Class S genre saw new life, even as Sailor Moon, came to a close, with no new anime films since 1995 (apart from one set to air in 2020). Sailor Moon stopped broadcasting on Cartoon Network's Toonami in October 2000 despite efforts by fans to continue its run. Apart from Sailor Moon, a key work for the yuri genre, there were a few anime shows with LGBTQ characters. Miami Guns, had two gay lovers and commandos named George and Anthony, while Asato Tsuzuki and Hisoka Kurosaki are a gay couple in Descendants of Darkness, and LGBTQ characters Shuichi Shindo and Eiri Yuki. The same year, one Western anime fan, Erica Friedman, created what would become Yuricon, a conference of those who appreciated yuri animation.

The following year, apart from the Puni Puni Poemy, with an "over-the-top magical girl premise" which lampooned yuri anime. At the same time, Yashima Sanae, a lesbian character in Hanaukyo Maid Team and two gay characters (Subaru Sumeragi and Seishirō Sakurazuka) who originally appeared in Tokyo Babylon.

In the later 2000s, from 2002 to 2004, brought influential anime series to Japanese television such as well-regarded .hack//sign, especially for its technical aspects, although controversial, had two lesbian characters: An Shoj/Tsukasa and Mariko Misono/Subaru. Two other shows, Godannar and Bleach, both had lesbian characters. They were Shadow Dunaway and Luna in Godannar and Chizuru Honshō in Bleach. In an interesting coincidence, Shinichi Watanabe who directed the Puni Puni Poemy series, also directed episodes of Godannar and Bleach, later going on to direct episodes of Baka and Test and No-Rin. Those two series also had their share of LGBTQ characters.

Two other popular series, Inuyasha and Gantz had gay characters: Jakotsu, Suzaku, and Chiaki Onizuka. The first series had a character named Jakotsu, while the other had a character with the name of Chiaki Onizuka. Other critically acclaimed shows, like Samurai Champloo and Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo also had gay characters. They were Izaac Titsingh and Peppo. The director of Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, Mahiro Maeda would later direct episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Furthermore, Fullmetal Alchemist had a genderqueer character named Envy, generally got good reviews, some praising it as "more than a mere anime" and "a powerful weekly drama." One anime, Kino's Journey, aired in 2003, focused on a "unique non-binary protagonist," named Kino. They were assigned female at birth but adopted "an androgynous persona." Kino used male and female pronouns while resisting attempts to pin down their gender as male or female.

Faltering LGBT representation in Western animation

In the early 2000s, LGBTQ representation in U.S. animation faltered, with under-representation of gay characters through the Fall 2000 television season for all broadcast shows, with trend continuing until at least 2003. One example of this trend was the presence of two one-time LGBTQ characters (Enos Fry and Old Man Waterfall) in episodes of Futurama who were killed off before the end of their respective episodes. In later years, some critics argued that Futurama has a "political and social commitment to its LGBT fans." There was also a stereotypical on-and-off-again gay couple in The Simpsons (Grady and Julio) and a few characters in The Venture Bros. (Steve Summers, Sasquatch, and King Gorilla). The Simpsons continued to tease at the sexual orientation of Smithers as he rode a float called “Stayin’ in the Closet!” during the annual gay pride parade in Springfield in the episode "Jaws Wired Shut" in January 2002. It wouldn't be until February 20, 2005, in the episode "There's Something About Marrying" that Patty, Marge's sister, would come out as lesbian.

Also during this period, Mission Hill featured a gay elderly couple in their late 60s, even winning an award from GLAAD for it, Family Guy aired episodes introducing the gay cousin of the series protagonist (Jasper) and a gay pedophile named Herbert, South Park introduced the boyfriend of Mrs. Garrison (Mr. Slave), and King of the Hill featured gay characters who became a couple: Bug Gribble and Juan Pedro. Apart from this, Drawn Together featured Xandir P. Wifflebottom, labeled as a "totally gay video game adventurer" in his debut episode and Foxxy Love, a bisexual character, while The Fairly OddParents featured a bisexual character (Sanjay) in the later 2000s. An openly bisexual woman (Kaikaina "Sister" Grif) appeared in episodes of Red vs. Blue, becoming a main character by the show's fifth season in 2006. Transgender characters also appeared in The Oblongs (Anna Bidet) and The Simpsons (Brunella Pommelhorst).

Two years after their premiere episode in 2003, Dean Toadblatt and Squidhat, characters in The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy were revealed to be gay lovers in the episode "One Crazy Summoner" where they married each other. One critic noted that while you could call them Cartoon Network's "first gay couple," it was actually Steven Universe that "broke down representation barriers" years later. Years later, Mark Hamill, who voiced of Larry 3000 in Time Squad, stated that Larry could be seen as gay, although the show never stated his sexuality explicitly, and Colonel Horace Gentleman was described by the creators of The Venture Bros., many years after his debut, as openly gay. Even so, the show's episodes seem to indicate he is pansexual. While these developments were transpiring, anime continued to remain popular, accounting for much of Japanese film production, capturing "single expressive gestures" and evoking "a particular mood through the careful use of color," featuring a litany of LGBTQ characters as noted earlier.

One show stood apart from this checkered representation: Queer Duck. It was the first U.S. animated TV series to have homosexuality as a major theme and was produced by Mike Reiss, a producer of Simpsons and The Critic. The show became relatively influential after premiering on Icebox.com, later shown on Showtime beginning in 2000. It was received positively by some in the LGBTQ community since it had lesbian, gay, and bisexual characters. In Canada, two shows stood out: Braceface with a canon gay character named Mark "Dion" Jones, and the gay foster dads of JFK, named Wally and Carl in Clone High while Phil and Chris would say they are gay lovers if it was "convenient." In New Zealand, the show bro'Town featured a genderqueer character named Brother Ken, who identified as Fa'afafine, the Samoan conception of a third gender. In the UK, Eddsworld featured bisexual and gay characters: Kim and Katya.

LGBTQ anime in the latter 2000s

From 2005 to 2009, a plethora of anime including LGBTQ characters began showing despite the fact that h anime began to decline after peaking in 2006 due to alternative forms of entertainment, less ad revenue, and other reasons, with TV Tokyo remaining one of the only channels airing anime shows. Between 2005 and 2006, lesbian characters premiered anime series such as the villaneous Nina Einstein in Code Geass, protagonist Tomari Kurusu in Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl, a host of characters in the unabashedly yuri Simoun, and various girls in Strawberry Panic. Sakurako Kimino, who had written the manga which the latter show was based on, later wrote the manga for Love Live! Sunshine!! and Love Live! which both turned into their own anime series. While Code Geass was said to have "yaoi-buying female fans", the other anime were different. Kashimashi was compared to another anime series, which involved gender switching, Ranma ½ and was positively reviewed by Erica Friedman, Western anime fan, who had come onto the scene in 2000. She argued the anime had normal ending reminiscent of something "that might have actually happened in real life." Friedman also positively reviewed Simoun', saying it was one of the best yuri anime of 2006 while she also criticized the character designs. She also reviewed Strawberry Panic! positively, while others panned the show. These characters showed the advancement of LGBTQ anime, which would go forward leaps and bounds in later years, despite the fact that none of these characters were listed by others, in later years, as examples of "cool" LGBT couples in anime.

From 2005 to 2006, the amount of gay characters in anime increased, including Duo and Zeig, in the widely panned Legend of DUO, while others panned the show. Kyousuke Iwaki and Youji Katou in the yaoi-themed Embracing Love, and Yasuyoshi Sano in the relatively popular Air Gear. Other series featured "relentlessly" lesbian Anna Kurauchi (in He Is My Master), and a host of bisexual characters: Jōji "George" Koizumi (Paradise Kiss), Mitori Shimabara and Clio Aquanaut (Tactical Roar) and Erika Kiriya (Tsuyokiss). Furthemore, Paradise Kiss featured Isabella Yamamoto, who has been described as "one of the most realistic and accepting portrayals of a transgender character in manga," while Mami, a lesbian or bisexual character, debuted in Ray the Animation, among other characters premiering at the time.

In 2007, the same year that some snickered at the speeches of Wataru Ishizaka who was campaigning for a local election in Tokyo, Erica Friedman listed a few anime with yuri themes. Apart from highlighting Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl, she also pointed out Devil Lady, saying it is "chock full of yuri," Stellvia as exploring the complex story behind two women, R.O.D the TV as having strong female characters, and Kannazuki no Miko as a popular series having themes including "giant robots and lesbian desire." She also included My-HiME, arguing it included the "sexiest psychotic lesbians in anime" although she warned people about possible fan service in the show. The same year, Tōka Gettan, an anime with yuri themes, premiered, as did Ice and Myself ; Yourself, both of which had lesbian characters: Asami Hoshino, Julia, Yuki Ice-T, and Hitomi Landsknecht. Also, Kei Yūki in the well-regarded Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture, Izumi Amakawa in the generally forgotten Kirarin Revolution, Masumi Okuyama in the somewhat praised Nodame Cantabile, and Leeron Littner in the critically acclaimed Gurren Lagann had gay characters. Gurren Lagann was also described as a show that acknowledges those who "don't fit the gender binary." Later years would bring shows like Black Butler with a transgender grim reaper, Hetalia: Axis Powers, for which fans speculated many characters were gay or bisexual, and the nicely animated but critically reviewed Mnemosyne which featured the lesbian couple Rin Asogi and Mimi, and bisexual individuals named the informants. Furthermore, Kanade Sakurai and Yukino Sakurai in Candy Boy, various characters in Sweet Blue Flowers, Mina Hazuki in Darker than Black were lesbian characters. It is also worth noting that Akira Nishimori, who had directed the 1994–1995 OVA of Ai no Kusabi, a yaoi series, also directed the 2007 series, Zombie-Loan, which featured a genderqueer and bisexual character with a split personality named Koyomi/Yomi Yoimachi. Sweet Blue Flowers itself also had a connection to a previous show: Kunihiko Ikuhara had previously worked on Revolutionary Girl Utena. Ikuhara specifically storyboarded the opening of Sweet Blue Flowers, while working on various episodes. He would later storyboard and direct various episodes of Penguindrum, which premiered in 2009, featuring various LGBTQ characters. Other shows, like Macross Frontier had no such connects, but still featured LGBT characters, like a flamboyant gay character named Bobby Margot. Junjo Romantica: Pure Romance, and Fullmetal Alchemist also included gay characters as well: Garfiel and Kyo Ijuuin. During this period, pansexual characters appeared in Idolmaster Xenoglossia and Magician's Academy, specifically Chihaya Kisaragi and Hapxier.

Unlike Western countries, Japan did not have a puritanical history saying that homosexuality is a "cardinal sin," meaning that there could be anime with gay characters, although this didn't translate to an easy ability to be out as gay in Japan, even as late as 2015. This manifested itself in the fact that yuri manga is often geared toward male readers which is relevant because anime has a "steady relationship" with manga. While the days of "laughably wrong" American anime dubs in the 1980s and 1990s had long past, anime began entering U.S. homes like never before, with fans able to get their hands on Japanese-language originals of animesthey watched, thanks to the internet. Anime further became entrenched in U.S. households with the launch of Adult Swim by Cartoon Network in 2001, aimed at those in the "older OVA & tape trading crowd," with a new fandom forming.

This fandom was, however, exclusive and elitist with newcomers expected to know how to use IRC, some basic Japanese, and so on. This began to change with the launching of Crunchyroll in 2006 by graduates of the University of California, Berkeley, becoming the first "anime streaming service," a model later used by Netflix, Funimation, and Amazon.com in the later 2010s. This trend echoes the argument, by some, the Japanese people had been long removed from anime itself since it had been exported to the West, especially since the 1990s even though others have pointed out that Japan's Seven Eras of History can be told through anime.

Rocky representation on Western TV

2005 was a banner year for LGBTQ characters on U.S. Most prominently, American Dad! introduced Roger, a protagonist said to be pansexual, due to the fact he assumed different aliases and a carousel of seemingly-endless lives. The same year, GLAAD began its annual “Where We Are on TV” report" starting its continuing effort to compile statistics on characters in the LGBTQ community, and other marginalized groups. Their first report listed Patty Bouvier in The Simpsons as a white lesbian character. The same year, American Dad also featured Linda Memari, a bisexual character and a gay couple: Greg Corbin and Terry Bates, who were regular characters for many years. The same year, there was also the introduction of Gangstalicious, a gay character in The Boondocks and Conrado Khaki, a pansexual character, in the Brazilian show, Fudêncio e Seus Amigos. However, there were also some backlash, with Postcards From Buster, a spinoff of Arthur, was pulled from PBS after featuring a lesbian couple in the episode "Sugartime!", criticized by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, who decried the episode as inappropriate. Years later, Rebecca Sugar described Spellings' idea as "absurd," saying she recognized the challenges of creating LGBTQ-friendly animation when she tried to enter the animation field. Not long after, Focus on the Family, a Christian fundamentalist organization, claimed that Spongebob SquarePants was "homosexual propaganda" leading series creator Stephen Hillenberg to again say he sees that Spongebob as asexual. This was ameliorated, partially, by the introduction of The Alchemist and Shore Leave as a gay couple in show, The Venture Bros., a lesbian character named Sarah in Family Guy. The show Moral Orel had two lesbian characters: Stephanie Putty and Coach Daniel Stopframe while the show, Lizzy the Lezzy premiered on Myspace which included LGBTQ characters: Lizzy a lesbian, Gary a gay man, and Nic the Bi-Chick, a bisexual man.

In the next two years, LGBTQ characters appeared in various animated shows. For instance, in 2007, a friendly and flirtatious Vietnamese trans woman, who runs a salon, named Cherry Pie, debuted in The Nutshack while ancestors of Patrick: "Princes Callous and Dingus respectively" were shown to be gay in an episode of Spongebob Squarepants while Bradley in South Park has a crush on another male character. Apart from that Jacques Janine Costeaul, a gay teacher, appeared in an episode of Fudêncio e Seus Amigos while Kimchi, Chowder's pet stick cloud, premiered, a character some have argued was genderqueer, because characters referred to the character with singular pronouns until a 2009 episode showed it to be male. Also, the show, Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World featured a lesbian couple (Dana Bernstein and Kirsten Kellogg) and two gay couples (Rick Brocka and Steve Ball, Chuck Masters and Evan Martinez The following year, Zezé Maria, a genderqueer character, premiered in Fudêncio e Seus Amigos, regarded by friends as a trans girl, shown attracted to men and women. The same year, Kevin in 6Teen, a one-time character and Sky Pilot in Venture Bros. were shown to be gay, while a lesbian couple (Jean Baptiste Le Ghei and Paul Guaye) and a transgender character (Alice) appeared in Superjail!. Venture Bros. also debuted a lesbian character: Virginia "Ginnie" Dunne.

GLAAD, for their part, bemoaned the lack of LGBT representation. They noted in the regular 2006–2007 season,LGBTQ characters only comprised 1.3% of all regular characters on major broadcast networks (NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, The CW, and UPN). In a report the next year, they noted in the 2007–2008 season, the FOX network only featured LGBT characters in animated comedies like The Simpsons and American Dad They also highlighted Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World, describing it as a satiric comedy which featured "the only Filipino-American and gay lead character on television" at the time. Their calculus changed in their next report, glad to report an increase in "LGBT-inclusive broadcast comedies," highlighting shows like Sit Down, Shut Up which featured a "gay Latino drama teacher," Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World, The Simpsons, and American Dad In the same report, GLAAD assessed the "considerable" LGBTQ representation in animated primetime programming, Rick and Steve and Sit Down, Shut Up were listed as shows with LGBT characters of color. Even so, GLAAD had their reservations about existing LGBTQ characters on television:

There is considerable LGBT representation in animated prime-time programming. On broadcast television, Marge's sister Patty on Fox's The Simpsons is a lesbian, and the show has frequently implied that Mr. Burns’ assistant Smithers is gay. Another animated Fox program, American Dad!, features an bisexual alien named Roger as a series regular, and gay couple Terry and Greg as recurring characters. Fox is also introducing a new animated series, Sit Down, Shut Up, which will include Andrew, a gay teacher, as a series regular. A new animated program in ABC's line-up, The Goode Family, will include a lesbian couple, Mo and Trish, as recurring characters. On cable, Logo's animated program Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World features one gay couple and one lesbian couple as series regulars, and one gay couple as recurring characters.One particularly noteworthy trend about the list of animated gay characters is the visibility of same-sex couples – two couples on broadcast, and three couples on cable. Unfortunately, the majority of animated LGBT characters are still recurring rather than regulars, and with the end of Drawn Together on Comedy Central, the only animated LGBT representations on cable appear on LGBT-focused cable network Logo.

2009 was a year that would change LGBTQ animation for years to come. The presence of gay and bisexual characters in The Cleveland Show, Sit Down, Shut Up, Archer, and The Nutshack was in keeping with previous years. The same was the case for the presence of two lesbian couples (Mo and Trish; Souki and Jenn) in a June 19, 2009 episode of The Goode Family ("A Tale of Two Lesbians") or the claims that Velma in the Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost animated film was lesbian. GLAAD painted a bleaker picture, noting that no black LGBT characters were regular characters on television networks, again noting American Dad, The Simpsons, and Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World. They stated that most animated LGBT characters were on FOX, lamenting that while South Park historically had LGBT characters and storylines, it could be "hit or miss" like Family Guy. Rather, that year, Rebecca Sugar, then a relatively unknown comic artist, walked in the doors of the Cartoon Network Studios offices in Burbank, California to pitch a seven-minute short for a show called Steven Universe that would premiere many years later. She would, the following year, begin working on Adventure Time, starting to change CN's then-focus on "boys" programming, even during the 2009 pitch meeting.

See also

• List of LGBT-related films by year
• List of animated series with LGBT characters
• Media portrayals of bisexuality
• Cross-dressing in film and television
• Media portrayal of lesbianism
• History of homosexuality in American film
• History of anime
• List of yuri works
• List of animated series with crossdressing characters
• List of anime by release date (1946–1959)
• List of animated films with LGBT characters
• List of fictional asexual characters
• List of fictional non-binary characters
• List of fictional pansexual characters
• List of television series with bisexual characters
• List of yuri anime and manga

References

Sources

• Cook, Carson (May 2018). "A History of LGBT Representation on TV". A content analysis of LGBT representation on broadcast and streaming television streaming television (Honors). University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
• Where We Are on TV Report: 2005–2006 (PDF) (Report). GLAAD. 2005. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
• Where We Are on TV Report: 2006–2007 (PDF) (Report). GLAAD. August 21, 2006. Retrieved April 4, 2020. The number of LGBT scripted representations on the six major broadcast networks will comprise only 1.3% of all series regular characters on the networks' 2006-07 schedule.
• Where We Are on TV Report: 2007–2008 (PDF) (Report). GLAAD. 2007. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
• Where We Are on TV Report: 2008–2009 (PDF) (Report). GLAAD. 2008. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
• Where We Are on TV Report: 2009–2010 (PDF) (Report). GLAAD. 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
• Where We Are on TV Report: 2010–2011 (PDF) (Report). GLAAD. 2010. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
• "Where We Are on TV Report: 2011–2012 Characters List". GLAAD. GLAAD. 2012. Archived from the original on September 4, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2020. See the overview page here.
• Where We Are on TV Report: 2012–2013 (PDF) (Report). GLAAD. 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2020.