An upcoming episode of My Little Pony will feature the show’s first same-sex couple, with Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty – guardians of the character Scootaloo – arriving on US television just in time for pride week.
The episode The Last Crusade has already screened in Europe but will be broadcast on Saturday on Discovery Family.
While the characters are new to the animated series, they have appeared in the books, whose writer, Michael Vogel, has quashed any suggestion that they may in fact be sisters.
“What a cute couple!” he tweeted in 2017, when someone shared an image of the pair. When another Twitter user asked if they were lesbians in the book, he replied: “Well, they aren’t sisters sooo … ”
Asked to clarify for a final time, Vogel doubled down.
When I say "cute couple" I'm saying that Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty are a cute couple. Yes.
— mktoon (@mktoon) October 12, 2017
Vogel tweeted again on Wednesday, celebrating the timing of the US broadcast.
“Doin’ what we can to bring more EQuality to EQuestria!! #PrideMonth,” he said.
Hey hey!!! @NicoleDubuc , @joshhaber and I doin what we can to bring more EQuality to EQuestria!! #PrideMonth https://t.co/YPOvvxT3v0
— mktoon (@mktoon) June 10, 2019
Vogel, who is gay, told BuzzFeed that the idea was a collaboration between him and the showrunners, Nicole Dubuc and Josh Haber.
“Nicole and I thought this was a great opportunity to organically introduce an LGBTQ couple in the series, and we asked Hasbro and they approved it,” he said.
“My Little Pony has always been about friendship and accepting people (or ponies) that are different from you. So it just felt like something important to do.”
I solemnly swear to protect the lesbian My Little Pony Couple from Bronies no matter what Cost! 🏳️🌈
— Kimmy 🍓 (@kxmmixmini) June 12, 2019
While the news has been roundly celebrated on social media and beyond, it hasn’t taken long for opposing voices to weigh in.
On Twitter, Australian conservative commentator Lyle Shelton – the former managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby who unsuccessfully led the country’s campaign against marriage equality last year – has taken a strong stance against the sweet and tiny gay cartoon ponies.
“It’s a brave new world folks & we need to push back while we can,” he tweeted. “Sitting outside politics is no longer an option for conservatives.”
We said indoctrinating your children & your grandchildren would be a consequence of 🏳️🌈 “marriage”. It’s a brave new world folks & we need to push back while we still can. Sitting outside politics is no longer an option for conservatives. https://t.co/tgyq9Y6xWI
— Lyle Shelton (@LyleShelton) June 12, 2019
The year is 2039, Lyle sits in a nursing home as a headline blares across his TV...
— B.T. Harman (@BT_Harman) June 12, 2019
WORLD POPULATION PLUMMETS AS RAMPANT LESBIANISM CONTINUES TO SURGE!
He raises a bony finger to the sky...
“THOSE PONIES...
I WARNED THEM ABOUT THOSE PONNNIIEEEEZZZZZ!!!!!!”
The news comes a month after the children’s show Arthur featured a same-sex wedding, when Arthur’s third-grade teacher, Mr Ratburn, married his boyfriend, an aardvark and chocolatier named Patrick. Alabama Public Television refused to screen the episode, with the network’s managing director calling it a “violation of trust”.
The episode of My Little Pony will air on Discovery Family in the US on Saturday.
