Cartoons, like people, can be gay and that’s okay. Unless they want to express that gayness in the form of public displays of cartoon affection, in which case Cartoon Network wants them to get a room already. The network recently replaced a brief onscreen kiss on the lips between two male characters on its show Clarence with an even briefer onscreen kiss on the cheek, a move that was confirmed by the show’s writer on Twitter.
In a tweet that has since been deleted, Clarence writer Spencer Rothbell said, “originally the guy had flowers and they kissed on the mouth,” in response to a fan’s question about whether he had experienced difficulties incorporating a gay couple into the show. However, Rothbell later softened his stance, saying that overall, even a toned-down kiss was a positive step forward: “It’s such a minor throwaway moment but I guess it’s better than nothing…Maybe one day the main character can be gay and it won’t be a big deal,” he said.
Cartoon Network was forced to censor the kiss, of course, because if it lets two cartoon men kiss on the lips then soon it will have cartoon men kissing cartoon dogs and cartoon dolphins and all sorts of cartoon things, unraveling the moral fabric of cartoon society.