• Nickelodeon tweeted a Pride Month message on Saturday, writing: “Celebrating Pride with the LGBTQ+ community and their allies this month and every month.”
  • The tweet included pictures of three characters: Spongebob SquarePants, Schwoz Schwartz from “Henry Danger,” and Korra from “The Legend of Korra.”
  • The message sparked speculation over SpongeBob’s sexuality – which the show’s creator previously commented on, saying the character is asexual.
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Nickelodeon shared a tweet in honor of Pride Month on Saturday that has drawn both debate and celebration, mostly because of its inclusion of SpongeBob Squarepants – the beloved, fictional sea sponge, the protagonist of his eponymous cartoon series.

“Celebrating Pride with the LGBTQ+ community and their allies this month and every month,” the tweet read.

The message included three images of characters with rainbow-themed designs or backdrops: one of SpongeBob SquarePants, a photo of Schwoz Schwartz (Micahel D. Cohen) from “Henry Danger,” and a depiction of animated character Korra from a spin-off of “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” “The Legend of Korra.”

Cohen, the actor who plays Schoz Schwartz, told Time in 2019 that he had transitioned from female to male about 20 years ago.

The character Korra, also featured in Nickelodeon's tweet, identifies as bisexual in the cartoon show, according to USA Today.

Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of the "SpongeBob SquarePants" series, told Reuters in 2005, as cited in a People Magazine article, that the SpongeBob character is neither gay or nor straight, but rather that he is asexual.

https://twitter.com/banditovee/status/1271913249345175558?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Many Twitter users seemed to interpret Nickelodeon's tweet as announcing the character of SpongeBob as a member and/or ally of the LGBTQ community. Some users seemed to take the message as an opportunity to debate the fictional character's sexual orientation. Many fans applauded the network for its Pride message.

Some users also pointed out that Nickelodeon appeared to disable replies on the original tweet.

Representatives of ViacomCBS, the parent company of Nickelodeon, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.