ThisSteven Universefeature contains spoilers up to Last One Out of Beach City.
About a year ago I first started hearing about a little show calledSteven Universeon Cartoon data pipe.
It dealt with a little boy and his Gem friends saving the world.
Oh, that sounds cool, I thought.
I just didnt think it was really for me.
Then some gifs started appearing that made the show seem, well, pretty gay.
As a pansexual man, I wanted to get excited but Id been burned before.
Thats what I thought all that talk was.
LGBT representation is still sadly lacking in every corner of media.
Thats the kind of escapism a lot of people, young and old, need.
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After a year of putting it off, the talk aboutSteven Universenever let up.
Its basically The Lesbian Space Rocks Show!
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.
It was fun and cute but I was waiting.
Was it going to get gay?
Then I saw Ruby and Sapphire.
Yeah, its a lot more complicated than that but go with me here.
Both of them, again, are shown to be female and openly affectionate to each other.
This isnt just a friendly expression of love.
They twirl each other around and kiss.
In later episodes we see Ruby and Sapphire openly flirting and the others characters refer to it as such.
This is not subtext; its a canonical lesbian relationship.
As Garnet sings at one point, I am made of love and its stronger than you.
In the episode Keystone Motel, Garnet unfuses once again and Ruby and Sapphire argue.
This sounds simple, but its actually revolutionary.
With LGBTQ characters in media, theres a tendency to want to protect them.
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.
We also have Pearl.
Again, this is a lot of back-story but go with me here.
Pearl and Rose fought in a war together and Pearl was Roses solider.
Pearl would do anything for Rose, after she liberated Pearl from the constraints of Gem society.
This completely destroyed Pearl; especially after Rose sacrificed herself to allow Steven to be born.
Why cant I move on?
Its cute, its adorable, and its so beautifully gay.
They arent a one-notevery special episodeconcern.
As mentioned before, not all fusions are good.
Even when Lapis manages to escape from Jasper, it continues to haunt her.
I mention this because its powerful to see that relationships, even gay ones, can go sour.
Ive seen too many LGBT people stay in abusive relationships because they worry no one else will accept them.
This is only scratching the surface of whatSteven Universeis so great at.
The LGBT characters in these shows express love, but their relationships dont define them.
They have hopes and dreams outside of whom they want to end up with.
They get to be badass fighters and hilarious mentors.
They get to sing and dance in between preparing for an oncoming war.
The show has so many good morals that I could write a whole article about them, too.
The most powerful is what the show has to say about gender.
The main character of the show, Steven, openly bucks gender stereotypes.
Hes not ashamed to be feminine and wears his heart on this sleeve.
He cries when he has to and no one chastises him for it.
Everyone accepts it and there isnt a single disparaging comment.
The show bucks gender stereotypes even more when Steven fuses with a human, his best friend Connie.
Together, they form Stevonnie who has been confirmed to use gender-neutral pronouns and Garnet refers them as such.
Steven and Connie dont bat an eye at becoming a genderqueer character.
Steven Universeis what LGBTQ viewers need because its meant for kids.
The show is great on its own merits, but what it does for its gay relationships and characters?
That puts it over the top.
So if you need some escapism in this bigoted world?
Its a series where everyone is accepted for who they are and are celebrated for it.
LGBTQ people could use a show where they win in the end.
We are the Crystal Gems!
Well always save the day.
And if you think we cant?
Well always find a way.
