Happy Pride month to a certain yellow sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea! On Saturday (June 13th), Nickelodeon seemed to confirm many folks' longtime suspicions that the character of Spongebob Squarepants from the series of the same name is, in fact, gay. Although they didn't explicitly state it, the network shared a post on Twitter celebrating Pride month, which included some photos of a few of their characters that are apart of the LGBTQ+ community. One of the photos depicted a rainbow-fied Spongebob smiling wide.

Actor Justice Smith, known for his work in Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, The Get Down and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, came out as queer on an Instagram post regarding the recent protests against systemic racism and police brutality. In the post, Justice expresses his disappointment over how many Black Lives Matter supporters at these protests and in general do not show equal support for Black trans and queer individuals. He also reveals that he and Queen Sugar star Nicholas Ashe are a couple.

“@nckash and I protested today in New Orleans,” he begins. “We chanted ‘Black Trans Lives Matter’ ‘Black Queer Lives Matter’ ‘All Black Lives Matter’. As a black queer man myself, I was disappointed to see certain people eager to say Black Lives Matter, but hold their tongue when Trans/Queer was added. I want to reiterate this sentiment: if your revolution does not include Black Queer voices, it is anti-black.”

He goes on to highlight the death of Tony McDade, a Black trans man who was murdered by police in Tallahassee last week. “If your revolution is okay with letting black trans people like #TonyMcDade slip through the cracks in order to solely liberate black cishet men, it is anti-black. You are trying to push yourself through the door of a system designed against you, and then shut the door behind you. It is in our conditioning to get as close to whiteness, straightness, maleness as we can because that’s where the power is. And if we appeal to it, maybe it’ll give us a slice.”

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“But the revolution is not about appeal,” he stresses. “It is about demanding what should have been given to us from the beginning. What should have been given to black, queer, and trans individuals from the beginning. Which is the right to exist. To live and prosper in public. Without fear of persecution or threat of violence.”

“There is so much tragedy on the timeline these last couple of days,” he points out, “so I added some photos of me and Nic to show some #blackboyjoy #blacklove #blackqueerlove. You’ve been my rock and guiding light through all of this and I love you so much. I know that on the other side of this Is change, though the fight is far from over. #justicefortonymcdade #justiceforninapop #justiceforgeorgefloyd #justiceforahmaud #justiceforbreonna #sayhername #defundthepolice #endwhitesupremacy.” Congrats to Justice on finding love and speaking out!

As society continues to progress, the rise of representation from all facets of culture is now being encouraged to be put on display. Representation from race, religion, subcultures, and sexual orientation have seen a massive spike in mainstream media and television. And now, Apple TV’s new docuseries, Visible: Out On Television, will examine the presence of the LGBTQIA+ community in film and television. 

The five-episode series will explore the history of the queer community in media and television dating back nearly 50 years when the first openly gay sitcom character appeared on the 1971 show, All In The Family. Visible will also investigate the early taboos, homophobia, and early censorship the LGBTQ community was forced to endure throughout the rise of influential television programming. 

Visible will touch on everything from historical events like Stonewall and the AIDS epidemic to the rise of queer influence with shows like Queer Eye and Pose. In recent history, we’ve seen popular personalities like Kid Cudi and Pete Davidson reach out to the stars of Queer Eye for their expertise, and the hip-hop realm openly accept the gay community. And now, Visible will provide the masses of an introspective look into the on-screen gay community. 

Visible will also feature a line-up of interviews from some of the relevant entertainment icons in the queer community including Ellen DeGeneres, Rachel Maddow, Billy Porter, Indya Moore, Anderson Cooper, Lena Waithe, Asia Kate Dillon, and Oprah. 

Check out the groundbreaking new trailer for Visible: Out On Television below and be on the lookout for the docuseries to hit the Apple TV+ streaming service on Feb. 14. 

Gender and sexuality are two topics that have been discussed quite a bit over the last few years. The LGBTQ+ community has seen a lot more visibility over the last little while which has led to more inclusion in the media, particularly TV shows and movies. One of the examples of this is CW’s brand new series, “Batwoman.” The title character, otherwise known as Kate Kane, is played by actress Ruby Rose who has been quite open in the past about her sexuality. 

On the latest episode of the series, Kane comes out to Gotham City as gay. This revelation comes as quite the risk because the more she tells about herself, the more likely it is people will figure out she is “Batwoman.” It’s important to note that Kane made this decision after seeing another character struggle to come out to their parents.

Kara Danvers players Supergirl who is the one who ends up writing the article about Kane’s sexuality. Perhaps the most significant part of this revelation is the fact that “Batwoman” is now the first openly gay title character in a superhero series. This is a huge step for LGBTQ+ visibility and with “Batwoman” leading the way, we could see other series take this route in the future.

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Like most of us, it looks like YG wants to start the new year off with a fresh start and a clean slate. In his case, that means addressing certain claims that have been made about him in order to move forward. YG took to Twitter just ten minutes after the ball dropped and 2020 began, to pen an apology to the LGBTQ community (or, as he spelled it, "kommunity"). In his tweet, he wrote, "it’s been brought to my attention that my old views on life was ignorant. i apologize to the LGBTQ kommunity for ever komin across like i was anything but respectful and accepting. Live. Love. Ya Life. Gang!"