A brief mention in the recently released season three finale of the popular Australian kid’s cartoon makes Bluey another kid’s show to casually acknowledge queerness.
Bluey, an Australian cartoon that became incredibly popular due to its heartwarming stories and international distribution by Disney, made a brief reference to a queer couple in its Season 3 finale on April 14. One of Bluey’s friends, a chihuahua named Pretzel, told Bluey about his guinea pig running away and casually mentioned his two moms while doing so. Specifically, Pretzel says, “My mums told me he might come back, but he didn’t.” It’s just a quick moment, but it works to normalize queer couples in children’s lives and include those children who have queer parents and have not previously felt represented.
The show has previously been criticized by Australian viewers for its lack of diversity due to its focus on characters with two, well-off, straight parents, as well as its lack of explicit characters of color. This brief mention of a queer family is a solid step in the right direction, and the overall positive reaction to this inclusion will hopefully inspire the show to include more visibly diverse families.
Bluey is not the first kids’ show to have brief, casual acknowledgments of queerness, and follows the example of several other shows that have had explicit queer representation in the past few years. Arthur featured a gay wedding of the titular character’s teacher in 2019; Peppa Pig had an episode that featured a lesbian polar bear couple in 2022; Disney’s Big Hero Six spin-off, Baymax, featured a trans man buying tampons, and the Paw Patrol spin-off Rubble & Crew featured a nonbinary skateboarder. These moments of inclusion, despite being small and easy to miss, help casually include queer people in the conversation. In a time when queer people are constantly under attack, any small bit of inclusion, even a chihuahua saying he has two moms, feels good.
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