A song in the children’s cartoon show Blue’s Clues features a drag queen singing to children about gay, transgender, and nonbinary animals.
“It’s the Blue’s Clues’ And You Pride Parade, and we need you to sing along as the ‘Families Go Marching’ proudly!” the Nickelodeon show’s broadcaster instructs viewers as the segment opens.
“Hi Blue, look at all these families. It’s time for a pride parade,” a cartoon version of RuPaul’s Drag Race star Nina West says in the video, which was shared on social media.
The singer, who is holding a microphone with a raised fist icon, then points to a parade of animals, one of which has a family with “two mommies … [who] love each other so proudly.”
Other families have “two daddies,” “babas [that] are nonbinary,” trans members,” “ace, bi, and pan grown-ups,” and “allies to the queer community.”
“This house is a family of kings and queens,” West sings about another family in the parade.
“Love is love is love, you see,” the song concludes.
Another video in the pride series features Blue and host Josh opening mail from children who talk about equality, sexual orientation, and the various pride flags. The segment also shows children who speak highly of gay and transgender people in their own lives and what they mean to them.
<mediadc-iframe data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1622315833076,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000178-a2f2-d5f9-a9fd-bff637160000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1622315833076,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000178-a2f2-d5f9-a9fd-bff637160000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"iFrameEmbedCode":"","_id":"00000179-b98f-da70-a3ff-bbaf109c0000","_type":"00000161-b425-d761-a563-f7e77e270000"}”>iFrame ObjectNickelodeon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
Other shows have added gay and transgender members to their casts, including the Rugrats reboot that now includes an openly lesbian mother.
“Betty is a single mom with her own business who has twins and still has time to hang out with her friends and her community, and I think it’s just so great because examples of living your life happily and healthily as an out queer person is just such a beacon for young queer people who may not have examples of that,” said Betty’s voice actor, Natalie Morales.
“And yeah, Betty is a fictional cartoon, but even cartoons were hugely influential for me as a kid, and if I’d been watching Rugrats and seen Betty casually talking about her ex-girlfriend, I think at least a part of me would have felt like things might be OK in the future,” Morales added.
The Star Wars franchise also added a pair of “trans-non-binary Jedi” characters.
“In honor of #TransDayOfVisibility we’re proud to unveil an exclusive cover highlighting Terec and Ceret, trans non-binary Jedi, currently featured in Marvel’s The High Republic comic,” a Lucasfilm Instagram post read. “We support trans lives, and we are passionate and committed to broadening our representation in a galaxy far, far away.”
