Does steven universe have gay characters

About a year ago I first started hearing about a little show called Steven Universe on Cartoon Network. It dealt with a little boy and his Gem friends saving the world. Then some gifs started appearing that made the show seem, well, pretty gay. LGBT fans have a tendency to latch onto any possible inference of a character being gay and treat their queerness as fact.

Speculation and hope. LGBT representation is still sadly lacking in every corner of media. It was a triumph when Legend of Korra acknowledged two of its main characters as bisexual in the last moments of its runbut LGBT fans still ached for more. Representation in shows meant for teens and adults is one thing, but to have a fun loving cartoon world acknowledge LGBT people exist and matter?

Ad — content continues below. After a year of putting it off, the talk about Steven Universe never let up. I finally gave it a shot. I sat down and just marathoned the whole thing in a few weeks. At first the show exceeded my expectations on the writing alone.

They are able to do more in their eleven minute episode runtime than most shows can do with forty. The world building is incredible. The characters are bright, hilarious, and heartfelt. The series basically follows the adventures of Steven and The Crystal Gems as they fight evil monsters and their daily interactions with the people of Beach City.

It was fun and cute but I was waiting.

Steven Universe: Normalizing LGBTQ+ Households and Non-Normative Ideas Through Love and Acceptance

Was it going to get gay? Then I saw Ruby and Sapphire. To sum it up for those not familiar with the show, The Crystal Gems are basically space rocks that take a somewhat human form. These Gems have the ability to fuse into more powerful Gems and that concept of fusion is central to the show.

Both of them, again, are shown to be female and openly affectionate to each other. They twirl each other around and kiss. In that episode Garnet sings to Jasper, an opposing Gem, about the relationship between Ruby and Sapphire that created her. I can see you hate the way we intermingle.

In later episodes we see Ruby and Sapphire openly flirting and the others characters refer to it as such. Their fusion is an expression of love and a defiance against gem culture which frowns on fusion between different types of gems. To see a lesbian couple in a kids show be open and affectionate would be one thing, but Steven Universe is all about making its character well rounded.

To not let them be anything but happy. Here, Ruby and Sapphire are allowed to bicker and be mean to each other. They have a fight, just like any other couple, which normalizes their relationship even more. They eventually make up in the end with a flurry of kisses, which is a rare instance of lesbian characters especially getting a happy ending.