By Marisa Dellatto NY Post
Absorbent and yellow and porous is he… and gay?
A Pride Month tweet from the official Nickelodeon Twitter account has the internet believing Spongebob Squarepants is not just a happy guy.
“Celebrating #Pride with the LGBTQ+ community and their allies this month and every month,” the kids network tweeted out Saturday afternoon, along with rainbow-embossed art of the beloved sea sponge, along with Korra from “The Legend of Korra,” who is bisexual, and the transgender actor Michael D. Cohen from “Henry Danger.”
Fans of the nautical cartoon, which began airing in 1999, have long-suspected Spongebob to be gay. In one 2002 episode called “Rock-a-Bye Bivalve,” Spongebob and his best friend Patrick parent an abandoned scallop like a married couple.
The internet quickly embraced the newly-out character.
“Oh, queer icon Spongebob Squarepants? Yes, we stan!!!!!,” wrote @KalhanR.
“Announcing Spongebob being gay then turning comments off cause it ain’t no debate,” tweeted @Drebae_, noting how the network turned off the ability to reply to their tweet. “Nickelodeon SNAPPED.”
“Spongebob gay? I mean he literally had a baby with Patrick,” said @hoe_vid_19.
However, creator Stephen Hillenburg, who died from ALS in 2018, had maintained that Spongebob was a member of the LGBTQ+ community by being asexual, not gay.
“We never intended them to be gay. I consider them to be almost asexual. We’re just trying to be funny and this has got nothing to do with the show,” he said in 2005, according to People.
