Nickelodeon hints that Spongebob Squarepants is LGBTQ+ and fans are delighted

‘So happy for SpongeBob ... you love to see it’

Fans have been debating the sexuality of SpongeBob SquarePants, after Nickelodeon featured the character in a Pride message on social media.

On 13 June, the children’s TV channel posted on Twitter: “Celebrating #Pride with the LGBTQ+ community and their allies this month and every month”, alongside three images of characters from various Nickelodeon programmes – including SpongeBob.

The famous cartoon character wears a rainbow-striped tie and is drawn with a rainbow tint on his body; the other images depict characters Schwoz Schwartz from Henry Danger and Korra from The Legend of Korra, both of whom are canonically LGBTQ+ in their series.

Many fans and media outlets interpreted the tweet as an announcement that SpongeBob, who is voiced by Tom Kenny, identifies as gay, or somewhere on the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

One fan wrote: ”Did they just confirm SpongeBob as gay and then turn off the replies. If so I love this for him.”

Another posted: “so happy for SpongeBob ... really though you love to see it.”

Many people speculated that SpongeBob could in fact be asexual, leading to the word “asexual” to trend on Twitter.

Back in 2002, SpongeBob SquarePants creator Stephen Hillenburg suggested that the character might be asexual.

“Everybody is different, and the show embraces that,” he said. ”The character SpongeBob is an oddball. He’s kind of weird, but he’s kind of special,” he said.

“I always think of them as being somewhat asexual.”