My Little Pony will feature a lesbian couple when it airs in the US this Saturday, just in time for Pride Month.
Episode 12 of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Season 9 – the final season – sees Aunt Holiday (Jackie Blackmore) and Auntie Lofty (Saffron Henderson) become the official guardians of Scootaloo (Madeleine Peters) in absence of the character’s parents who are often away for work.
Seemingly confirming that they are not aunts who are sisters, Aunt Holiday nudges her partner at one point and snaps back: ‘Lofty! Don’t tease my brother.’
Writer-and-producer Michael Vogel who is a former vice president of development for Hasbro – the company behind the original My Little Pony – celebrated the moment in a Monday tweet.
Vogel had confirmed the characters’ relationship last October after questions flowed in following his declaration that they were a ‘cute couple’. But he didn’t explicitly refer to them as a romantic couple.
He responded to a follower who asked whether they were lesbians in the book: ‘Well they aren’t sisters so….’
After further probing he added: ‘When I say “cute couple” I’m saying that Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty are a cute couple. Yes.’
Vogel – who is gay – said that it’s great to offer young people something he didn’t get when he was a child.