Las Vegas Raiders rookie cornerback Damon Arnette recently mocked kids network Nickelodeon for suggesting animated character SpongeBob Squarepants is gay in a Pride Month tweet. The athlete argued that bringing up the character’s sexuality at all was premature given the cartoon’s general audience and emphasized that the character is “a sponge for kids.”
“So now spongebob gay lol….,” posted Arnette on Sunday, “2020 doing so many people wrong. He a sponge.. they tryna expose these kids to everything to (sic) early.”
So now spongebob gay lol… 2020 doing so many people wrong. He a sponge.. they tryna expose these kids to everything to early.
— Damon Arnette (@damon_arnette) June 14, 2020
Arnette then retweeted a post from a “SpongeBob Squarepants” Twitter account captioning the news of the character allegedly being gay. “N**** I ain’t gay,” the quote-tweet said.
On Monday, Arnette reiterated that the sexuality of a cartoon sponge need not be discussed and stated that he is not a “homophobe,” apparently in reaction to accusations.
“I’m sorry if I offended a lot of you guys,” the former Ohio star wrote. “I’m in no way a homophobe, I just feel like a sponge shouldn’t be gay OR straight.”
“It’s a sponge for kids,” he again emphasized.
I’m sorry if I offended a lot of you guys. I’m in no way a homophobe, I just feel like a sponge shouldn’t be gay OR straight. It’s a sponge for kids.
— Damon Arnette (@damon_arnette) June 15, 2020
“In a missive marking the beginning of Pride Month, Nickelodeon introduced a rainbow-colored version of their hit cartoon character, SpongeBob SquarePants, showing the anthropomorphic yellow sea creature dressed in his typical outfit of a white shirt and brown pants, but with the addition of a tie printed with the LGBTQ ‘pride’ flag,” The Daily Wire reported Sunday.
“Although the tweet doesn’t explicitly say SpongeBob is gay, the two other ‘rainbow’ character treatments, released alongside SpongeBob, are of queer characters,” the report added, a bisexual character from “The Legend of Korra” and a transgender actor, Michael D. Cohen, who plays Schwoz from “Henry Danger.”
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
As noted by The Daily Wire, the show’s creator Stephen Hillenburg said years ago that SpongeBob is “asexual.”
“We never intended them to be gay,” Hillenburg told People magazine of the sponge and his friend Patrick. “I consider them to be almost asexual. We’re just trying to be funny and this has got nothing to do with the show.”
Last year, animated PBS series “Arthur” kicked off its 22nd season with a gay wedding. In the episode, entitled “Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone,” third-grade teacher Mr. Ratburn marries a man as Arthur and his classmates look on. “It’s a brand new world!” one of the students yells after the children figure out Mr. Ratburn is marrying a man.
At the time, GLAAD, an organization representing the LGBT community, cheerfully commented on the shocking move by PBS. “Congratulations Mr. Ratburn!” the group tweeted, adding a rainbow emoji.
In 2017, Disney reboot film “Beauty and the Beast” included a character played by actor Josh Gad, LeFou, who struggled with his sexual attraction for Gaston, according to director Bill Condon. The director championed a “nice, exclusively gay moment” in the film.
Related: Nickelodeon Suggests SpongeBob SquarePants Is Gay In LGBTQ Pride Month Tweet
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